Thursday, August 12, 2010
Thing #18: Online Productivity Tools
Wow! As the document appeared from Zoho, I think I actually jumped with surprise. I was a bit confused on how to publish to my blog but stayed with it and finally figured it out! Ta-da!
As I played with Zoho, I found it VERY easy to use due to the similarities with Microsoft Office. Students would have a very easy time making the transition. I can see teaching students to use this application to ease document accessibility. No more excuses like "But teacher, I emailed it to you. I must have the wrong address." or "I don't know what's wrong with my flash drive, must have a virus!"
Thing #17: Playing in the sandbox
I found several creative ideas for using wikis. My goals for the year include using wikis to 1) have students write books reviews and add comments, 2) start book clubs for students and faculty, 3) use a wiki to communicate with district librarians, 4) try to get my principal to use a wiki to disperse campus plan information and get feedback on the plan. Lofty goals but goals none the less.
Thing #16: Wikis
SJCPL Subject guides: This site has a huge amount of information presented in a very organized way. It seemed to be quite user friendly. Thing only negative thing I found was links that are not active anymore. tends to be frustrating for adults -- kids would really turn off.
Book Lovers Wiki: I loved this wiki. Of course, I could have spent hours reading book reviews. Must press on!
Library Success: I found this wiki to be FULL of very useful information. What a great professional resource.
CSLA Event wiki: I am familiar with wikis like this. The instructional technology specialist in my district creates a wiki when he goes to TCEA. We also use wikis like to when organizing our district technology showcase.
Albany library staff wiki: I thought this was an interesting way to present information. I question allowing unrestricted access though.
Library Bloggers wiki: This site has a lot of good information on it but you have to do some wading to get to it.
Sample school wikis: I would like to try to start using wikis more at my school. Students could create them to review books and teachers could share successful lesson ideas and more.
Teacherllibrarian wiki: This is an example of a wiki I would love to get started at my school.
Book Lovers Wiki: I loved this wiki. Of course, I could have spent hours reading book reviews. Must press on!
Library Success: I found this wiki to be FULL of very useful information. What a great professional resource.
CSLA Event wiki: I am familiar with wikis like this. The instructional technology specialist in my district creates a wiki when he goes to TCEA. We also use wikis like to when organizing our district technology showcase.
Albany library staff wiki: I thought this was an interesting way to present information. I question allowing unrestricted access though.
Library Bloggers wiki: This site has a lot of good information on it but you have to do some wading to get to it.
Sample school wikis: I would like to try to start using wikis more at my school. Students could create them to review books and teachers could share successful lesson ideas and more.
Teacherllibrarian wiki: This is an example of a wiki I would love to get started at my school.
Thing #15: Future of Libraries Web 2.0
I read the article "Away from Icebergs" by Rick Anderson. As much as I cling to books, I agree with his idea of limiting our "just in case" collection. Frequently, my students come to the library for research with a very specific topic. Usually we don't have books on that topic. In the past, that would cause a disappointed student to change the topic but not now. With all the information we have access to online, students can chose a topic they are interested in.
I also agree with the idea that all the technology we use must be user friendly. All of my students don't have the opportunity to come to the library for instruction so it's a hit or miss process for my lessons. I love using applications that are easy to figure out or can be taught by other students.
I also read the article "Into a New World of Librarianship" by Michael Stephens. I agree with every point he made. Librarians in a Web 2.0 age need to be need to listen to users when planning, offer access to Web 2.0 tools but not go crazy for technology. Too often in the education world, we jump into something new only to find later that it didn't meet our needs at all. Technology needs to enhance education, not take it over.
Stpehens says a librarian must get content. I think the role of a librarian has changed so much from the "keeper of the books" to one of "information acquisition goddess." Students have to be able to find and evaluate information on a daily basis.
When I think of Library 2.0 I see an evolving vision of books, both print and ebooks, technology, and information aquisition. However, most of all, the vision needs to be driven by the love of learning and reading.
I also agree with the idea that all the technology we use must be user friendly. All of my students don't have the opportunity to come to the library for instruction so it's a hit or miss process for my lessons. I love using applications that are easy to figure out or can be taught by other students.
I also read the article "Into a New World of Librarianship" by Michael Stephens. I agree with every point he made. Librarians in a Web 2.0 age need to be need to listen to users when planning, offer access to Web 2.0 tools but not go crazy for technology. Too often in the education world, we jump into something new only to find later that it didn't meet our needs at all. Technology needs to enhance education, not take it over.
Stpehens says a librarian must get content. I think the role of a librarian has changed so much from the "keeper of the books" to one of "information acquisition goddess." Students have to be able to find and evaluate information on a daily basis.
When I think of Library 2.0 I see an evolving vision of books, both print and ebooks, technology, and information aquisition. However, most of all, the vision needs to be driven by the love of learning and reading.
Thing #14: Technorati
Technorati was very confusing to me. I tried to search on School Library learning 2.0 and got no results in either blogs or posts. I found the blog directory and found no results there. In the tag list, I found the tags most used in the last month but didn't figure out how to search by tag. Ugh! I am frustrated!
I created an account and then tried to claim my bog. I hit a brick wall. On the ESC 1 23 Things site, everytime I tried to open the link for claiming my bog, I was redirected to back to the 23 things site. I never was able to figure it out.
I can see where Technorati would be helpful for some but I don't see myself using it much. So many of the other tools have have learned about are much more useful to me.
I created an account and then tried to claim my bog. I hit a brick wall. On the ESC 1 23 Things site, everytime I tried to open the link for claiming my bog, I was redirected to back to the 23 things site. I never was able to figure it out.
I can see where Technorati would be helpful for some but I don't see myself using it much. So many of the other tools have have learned about are much more useful to me.
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