WOW! It is amazing to look at and "turn the pages" of books that you would not even be able to be in the same room with let alone touch the pages. The Virtual Books in the British Library are outstanding. What a gift technology has given us.
The Fried Beef's Tech site has all sorts of interesting things. The listing of eBooks and Audio Books is great but the site is also filled with all sorts of other things. Later I am going back to an article Twitter 101: 7 Ways to Make Better Sense of Twitter to see if I can better understand and find uses for Twitter.
Knowing that many online resources do exist makes me rethink places I may suggest to students to look for certain types of research projects.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Week 9 - Item 21 Podcasts
Finally, something I know a little about. Just over a year ago I bought myself an iPod and was cool a librarian for about a week. Then I discovered podcasts and have spent more hours listing to podcasts on the iPod than listening to music. Several of the students decided that it took me a week to geekify the iPod by listening to political podcasts. I love it and it is a great way to stay up to speed on the many things happening in the world.
In looking through the suggested listings of podcasts I learned that I really LOVE iTunes! It is so much easier to use to search and locate interesting podcasts. Maybe it is just that I am used to using iTunes that it seems so much easier to locate information. I did add a feed to the Blog but it is not something that I would really be interested in listening to consistently.
In looking through the suggested listings of podcasts I learned that I really LOVE iTunes! It is so much easier to use to search and locate interesting podcasts. Maybe it is just that I am used to using iTunes that it seems so much easier to locate information. I did add a feed to the Blog but it is not something that I would really be interested in listening to consistently.
Week 9 - Item 20 YouTube
It is amazing what is on YouTube! I had a student ask me to look at their band a year or two ago so I looked and the video was the typical thing you would see for a group of junior high garage band. It is so interesting the difference in quality of video. How true that some are very funny, educational, or entertaining while others are of questionable quality or taste.
I did a bit of looking around on Teacher Tube as well. It seemed a bit harder to find things and I am not really sure that I found anything that I would use with students yet but I will have to keep looking. The whole concept of video within the library for entertainment and instruction is great. It reminds me to keep searching because someone may already have what I need and I do not need to invent it again.
I did a bit of looking around on Teacher Tube as well. It seemed a bit harder to find things and I am not really sure that I found anything that I would use with students yet but I will have to keep looking. The whole concept of video within the library for entertainment and instruction is great. It reminds me to keep searching because someone may already have what I need and I do not need to invent it again.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Week 8 - Item 19 LibraryThing
LibraryThing is an interesting site that lets you add titles you have read or are interested in reading. The feature of recommending titles is useful. Each time you return to the home page new recommendations will appear on the page.
Adding the listing of books to a library site is a good use for the site. The visual approach would appeal to teens. Students could even create the lists from books they have enjoyed reading. The site could also be used for students to track the books they read over the course of the school year. Being a visual learner myself it seems that this would be an interesting way for students to watch their reading list grow.
While working on blogging I went back and added books to the library listing. The books that were added are automatically added to the posting below. I like the functionality of the site and the potential uses.
Adding the listing of books to a library site is a good use for the site. The visual approach would appeal to teens. Students could even create the lists from books they have enjoyed reading. The site could also be used for students to track the books they read over the course of the school year. Being a visual learner myself it seems that this would be an interesting way for students to watch their reading list grow.
While working on blogging I went back and added books to the library listing. The books that were added are automatically added to the posting below. I like the functionality of the site and the potential uses.
Week 8 - Item 18 Productivity Tools
What a great idea to have access to various Productivity Tools on line. Right now our school is undergoing a huge hit from a virus. The computers are not reliable at the moment and flash drives should not be used so that you are not infecting your home computer. This makes the on line word processing, spread sheet, and slide show tools so valuable.
With computer problems at school, the end of the school year, and student projects needing to be finished I also see another use. Consistently I am hearing that students have computer problems with word processing, do not have Power Point or any other variety of reasons for not completing their project. The tools would be a way for a student to complete something if they had Internet access and even have access to the documents at school.
For some reason I think I like Google Docs a bit better than Zoho. I really can't give a good reason for that feeling but it is there. I am also amazed at how close the tools are to Microsoft buttons. Item 18 was an interesting exploration.
With computer problems at school, the end of the school year, and student projects needing to be finished I also see another use. Consistently I am hearing that students have computer problems with word processing, do not have Power Point or any other variety of reasons for not completing their project. The tools would be a way for a student to complete something if they had Internet access and even have access to the documents at school.
For some reason I think I like Google Docs a bit better than Zoho. I really can't give a good reason for that feeling but it is there. I am also amazed at how close the tools are to Microsoft buttons. Item 18 was an interesting exploration.
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Week 7 - Item 17 More Wiki
I am not really following adding to the PA Wiki. I tried to play in the sandbox but could not get access. The only thing I could figure out to do was request access and see what happens.
Of more interest was registering for the PSLA Conference Wiki. What good timing for the wiki week! I was unable to go this year but am following some interesting things. One project for me is to work together with the CFF Coach in the building. With this being the first year in a 7-12 building it has been a learning experience but I have not worked much with the CFF Coach. That is something I want to change and something I am sure the CFF Coach is interested in doing. I know the experiences I am gaining in the 2.0 will be of help. There is so much to learn and do that often I feel that my head is spinning.
I requested and later was given access to post to the PA Wiki. It seemed a bit confusing and took a bit of playing but I was able to complete the post.
Of more interest was registering for the PSLA Conference Wiki. What good timing for the wiki week! I was unable to go this year but am following some interesting things. One project for me is to work together with the CFF Coach in the building. With this being the first year in a 7-12 building it has been a learning experience but I have not worked much with the CFF Coach. That is something I want to change and something I am sure the CFF Coach is interested in doing. I know the experiences I am gaining in the 2.0 will be of help. There is so much to learn and do that often I feel that my head is spinning.
I requested and later was given access to post to the PA Wiki. It seemed a bit confusing and took a bit of playing but I was able to complete the post.
Week 7- Item 16 Wikis
Looking through the suggested wikis was interesting. Some things I found of little use but particularly enjoyed the School Library section of the Library Bloggers Wiki. The wiki had posting to many school wikis and blogs. Seeing the postings gives a view into the school atmosphere in the library.
Some were very current and informative. Some maintained by the library media specialist and others had postings from others as well. Others had not been updated for at least a year and would be of little use. If as the librarian you invested the time into the project and were able to train the students to use the site it would be a great asset. I especially enjoyed the site where the librarian posted pathfinders to research projects. I have just started that in our library on paper. I can see the advantage of posting it on line.
For me this is a down the line project. As a librarian in a building of 800 with no aide and an outdated collection there are other pressing issues to deal with first. My concern would be the amount of time to develop and maintain such sites. I love the idea, see the applications, but am just not sure I can maintain it yet. But the exciting part is that I am going to keep the idea on the back burner and look for the proper time and outlet to start. I do think this exploration helped me see Blogging a bit more usefully in the library.
Some were very current and informative. Some maintained by the library media specialist and others had postings from others as well. Others had not been updated for at least a year and would be of little use. If as the librarian you invested the time into the project and were able to train the students to use the site it would be a great asset. I especially enjoyed the site where the librarian posted pathfinders to research projects. I have just started that in our library on paper. I can see the advantage of posting it on line.
For me this is a down the line project. As a librarian in a building of 800 with no aide and an outdated collection there are other pressing issues to deal with first. My concern would be the amount of time to develop and maintain such sites. I love the idea, see the applications, but am just not sure I can maintain it yet. But the exciting part is that I am going to keep the idea on the back burner and look for the proper time and outlet to start. I do think this exploration helped me see Blogging a bit more usefully in the library.
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