Week 4

Thing #8

RSS feeds are a great way to streamline information. In the school library setting, students could create their own homepages, e.g. iGoogle, and establish RSS feeds to receive updates about the library (research tips, new book arrivals, etc.).

As to the future of RSS feeds and the public, one of my current concerns is the future of journalism. We need professionals to continue to ask the important questions. News is getting more limited in the companies who provide it. As newspapers fold and people go to the internet more and more, who will pay the journalists to be there, asking the tough questions. True, there can and will be lots of individuals who post on blogs, etc., but who will be the reliable sources the public can trust for indepth reporting?

Thing #9

Technorati is easy to use and interesting. The school library blogs link wouldn't work for me. I like the RSS feeds, but finding the time to keep up with all the posts is more than I can handle at this point. I think some people post just for the sake of posting. I wish there was a requirement that you had to make a point. This task left me feeling lacking. Took a long time to post. Enjoyed the previous tasks more.

Week 3 (still more)

Thing 6:

Trading cards are fun!  Hadn't heard the term Mashups before.  Love the idea.  Excellent for projects (chemical elements, famous people, campus stars, staff appreciation day).  

Thing 7:

I use a digital picture frame on the circulation desk in my library to promote books (PowerPoint slides saved as .jpgs).  My library practice students create them for books they enjoy.  I also advertise new things like playaways.  Very eye-catching and lots of fun!

P.S.  I love the built in support with this on-line tutorial.  

Week 3 (con't)

School Library learning 2.0 (tractor)
Originally uploaded by BookMama2

Thing 5 (con't):

Finally figured out how to send this via Flickr. Yeah! The sweet smell of success.

Week 3

Thing 5:
Flickr has a wealth of images.  I knew from the CSLA conference (2008), and attending Joy M.'s workshop on MovieMaker, a little about Flickr. Unfortunately, it is blocked at my school site, so I must use it from home.  I found the button to add a photo to this blog.  I was unable to access this through Flickr, but I uploaded this picture (both to Flickr and to this blog).  I'm glad I finally began the 2.0 experience.

Week 2

Thing 3:

Creating my blog was so much easier than I imagined.  The only thing I had trouble with was the placement of the avatar.  I wanted to put it in the header, but couldn't manage that (yet).  I have already created another blog for my library.  My own students will be creating accounts on Monday so they can add their book reviews (last week's assignment) to the blog (this week's assignment). Yeah!

Thing 4:

I have officially registered my blog with CSLA!  Do new participants still make the list?  This is such a wonderful plan.  Thank you to Connie and Jackie for all their work.  I can't believe it took me so long to start.

Week 1

Thing 1:

I love that this is available for us as CSLA members.  Collaborating with teachers and working with students on web 2.0 skills is something I look forward to.  I hope to finish this before summer (my first goal - see Thing 2)

Thing 2:

7-1/2 Habits of Highly Effective Learners

1.  Determine your goals.

2.  Accept responsibility for your own learning.

3.  View problems as challenges.

4.  Have confidence in yourself as a competent, effective learner.

5.  Create a learning toolbox.

6.  Use technology to your advantage.

7.  Teach/mentor others.

7-1/2  Play!

For me, the easiest of these habits is to play.  Once I learn a new skill, I enjoy using it.

The hardest of the habits is sitting down and determining my goals and getting started.  For example, I have wanted to learn more web 2.0 skills for some time.  

The most important of these habits is to teach/mentor others.  It helps me gain a deeper level of understanding, but also helps me share my knowledge with others so they may gain a new skill as well.