This is an interesting tool, and I enjoyed some of the search rolls that were created…I created one for reference, but again…I am still in a place where I am not sure where all of these things will fall.. I can definitely see an incredible number of uses within our district….say for vods, rss feeds, mac support, library support…especially for the staff in our libraries…However, at this point I have things on a website….This could definitely support a person without a website available to them…
Week 5 – Thing Ning #11
Ning again is not a new discovery, but this did give me an opportunity to explore these tools…Again the difficulty is how to choose what to use. I am already part of a NING – The San Joaquin Valley Teacher Librarian Network. This is a great way to stay in touch with others in the field, especially when schedules are crazy and life is as well. The problem seems to be to get everyone to be involved and use the tool…And what tool do you visit…and why?….and when??? More can be more! And so as I move forward I find myself in the same place trying to determine which tool to use to facilitate collaboration within my district. The NING may be the answer and is certainly a possibility…
Week 5 – Thing # 10 – Curriculum Tie
This type of activity has endless possibilities only limited by the creativity of the teacher or students. I would love to do both, create some to spark students interest and then send them off to create their own as part of their research, or to post a story they have written. As to story starters…again the possibilities are endless.
Week 5 – Thing 10 – Image Generators
What fun! I loved the variety of images to generate and again wondered how many possibilities for using with students. There is a lot of front end that would have to be done in using these tools with kids….Photos uploaded or preloaded…I would prefer to see the students do all of this, but in the case of elementary students this could be time consuming for teachers, so pre-loaded images would be great, with ties to content using in the classroom.
Check out the comic strip on Witty Comics. Not too witty, but I thought it would be a decent lead to an ancient civilizations study… There was also a second comic someone made that made me think of how the kids could use this for a project…just to get them enticed in a more profound topic….Though there isn’t much to this comic, the idea is great for use in the classroom http://www.wittycomics.com/comic/39605
My Comic – Click below!
Library 2.0
Week 1 & 2
As I moved through the program and the links, it appears I was trying to create something I could use in the here and now. I completed each of the activities but didn’t necessarily post it to the blog, but rather decided to use my knowledge to create those things most helpful in completing my job. Sometimes it was using this blog, but what I found was the blog was too restrictive for what I was trying to accomplish. But I guess that is what makes independent learning so useful. Since I had been using a blog for the last year and a half for a class I was teaching, this part of the project was pretty simple. I just redesigned and actually added an avatar…something I had never done before on the blog.
Week 3 – Flickr 0 Thing #5, #6
I had no idea the vast extent of what Flickr had to offer and just how many people have created such amazing tools. This will prove valuable in showing teachers throughout our district what they can do with their kids. The trading card will be just what some teachers need to engage their students. I am not crazy about adding all my pix to flickr…But I would like to use this with our libraries and be able to share what is happening and collaborate good ideas and give kudos to the gals. Can you tell where my thoughts are?
Week 4 – Thing #8, 9 – RSS Feeds
As I searched through the maze of RSS Feeds to find what I would like to subscribe to and what not to receive, I found myself wishing I hadn’t gone there. I really have to say it felt like TMI….too much information. There is so much on the web, and sometimes I feel as though it is more than necessary….However, in that feeling I also appreciate the vast amount of information available. Although I did not find anything initially to subscribe to for my blog, I have subscribed to certain personal items via my itunes account. These are podcasts relating to personal use. As for my blog I am hoping to discover the best podcasts to use for schools and libraries. So far, I have to admit I haven’t seen anything I am thrilled with, but that may just mean I am still unsure as to how I will use the blog for school purposes. The value of the RSS is that when I do need to find the information on a particular topic, it is probably in one of my feeds already received. On my personal feeds these are recordings of events through our church. If someone misses a conference session or a sermon, they can easily download a podcast to hear or see what they have missed and this can also be shared. The value of this type of tool for education has much potential, especially for online classes, or for students who miss class and need to catch up, or for teacher training purposes.
I found a problem with Word Press. It seems there is a security issue for Word Press 2.5 users. I have not had any problems with spam type advertisements coming through on my blog, but it seems there may be other problems as well.
Week 6 – Thing #13 – del.icio.us
I have had a del.icio.us account for awhile, but haven’t really used it to its full potential. I used to use FURL and found that to be adequate for bookmarking on the web. What I have found in doing these activities, is…..OH MY! How amazing instant things change and how incredibly difficult it is to keep up and maintain current, relevant, useful information….Sounds like a weeding problem…Well, I love del.icio.us and will hopefully use it more wisely. I loved Slacker Manager, maybe because of the great marketing name, but the info was great and I have found I am on a new learning curve switching from PC for the last 15 years back to a MAC….and I LOVE it. There was a great deal of info on Macs, so I found this site to be useful to watch.
