Thing 23 - Final Thoughts

Hurrah, I am done! 23 Things was a journey well worth making! It provided an organized pathway through a whirlwind information and avenues of access. Please keep it available as a resource; there are many things I would like to revisit. If a second 23 Things was offered, I would follow once again. This world will continue to evolve and a few more Things to guide the way would be welcome. It was a great idea to have a deadline, a date to work toward, so as not to get lost along the way. Thank you.

Thing 22 - What Did I Learn Today

My Bloglines account, my Google homepage and my Del.icio.us account have become a part of my Web 2.0 life. I use them daily. I have carefully refined the feeds on my Bloglines account and added news headlines to my iGoogle. As I move on from the 23 Things, I believe this process of evaluating how best to access and communicate information will continue. Each time a teacher approaches me with an idea or project, I will stop and consider the options. When I have something I wish to share with students, I will not assume it would be best to "plop" it on a webpage. 23 Things has presented limitless resources in the Web 2.o world. I love the tools that bring information to me; particularly RSS feeds, news alerts, and widgets. Though our students are tech savvy, there is much for them to learn. I will assist them, as best I can.

Thing 21 - Beyond My Space

The Teacher Librarian Ning, Webjunction and Shelfari are social networking sites that I will explore further. Some of book in the forums in TeacherLibrarian included Books for Boys, Middle School Media Specialists and YA Lit in School Libraries. With the September 15th deadline looming right in front of me, I believe I will finish 23 Things before exploring these further! As others have said, the time just flies while exploring web 2.0. I found that nearly an hour flew by as I enrolled in and explored the 23 Things on a Stick group in Ning, carefully considering what I did, and didn't want to share. I wanted to explore Gather, but had trouble pulling it up today. It just wouldn't load. I'll have to return to it another day.

Thing 20 - Facebook and My Space

Libraries, such as our own Hennepin County Library, are using My Space as a portal to their website. With almost 1400 friends, they have seen some success. Clearly the site is directed at teens, with links to teen CD's, DVD's and new books. Teens have the ability to comment, as with the Top 10 Books of 2007, however, that appears to receive limited use. Their embedded search window takes them directly to the catalog. In her article, Libraries in Social Networking Software, Meredith Farkas describes a few libraries that have truly developed their websites to receive feedback, encourage recommendations and respond to requests. Since that article was written, one must wonder if more libraries are finding a social networking site as a communication link with teens. I liked the use of Shelfari at the Denver Public Library's My Space page.

Thing 19 - Podcasts

Grammar Grater Podcast from MPR sounds like something I need to share with my English teacher friends! It has a new home in my Bloglines reader. When podcast.com required a signup process before one could access a podcast, I moved on. The podcast that I found of interest was available using a Google search. Why log into a directory in order to listen? I located Connect Learning with David Warlick though the Education Podcast Network. The menu in this directory provided a breakdown by curriculum area which made navigating to relevant podcasts easy. One of Warlick's podcasts was an interview format with media specialists, discussing issues related to podcasting with students. The discussion about media releases and acceptable use policies was very helpful. Though I am not personally interested in posting podcasts at this time, I am interested in supporting teachers and students in podcasting as a way to demonstrate their learning. As presented in this podcast, using multimedia is natural for students and provides them with a broader audience. Well, maybe I would consider a book talk podcast...
http://davidwarlick.com/connectlearning/

Thing 18 - You Tube

Video clips can provide a valuable resource in the classroom. Teachers in our building are increasingly using resources like You Tube for curriculum support. Though resources like You Tube and Google Video are full of junk, there is also an abundance of educational resources at your fingertips. A search for Heifer Project, a charitable organization that our students have supported, resulted in a wonderful video reporting on a visit to a Heifer Project location by students from Hong Kong. This video was available in both You Tube and Google Video, but Google Video offered a search alert. Did I mention that I like search alerts? Specific topic searches, particularly proper names, seem to yield more valid responses. The video above, about the Olweus Program, was produced by a school. Though we may not post our videos online, I anticipate using more video within the school. We have a video distribution system on which a slideshow displays daily reminders and announcements. Video seems like our natural "next step" in building communication and it sounds like fun!

Thing 17 - ELM Productivity Tools

The search alert is a great tool! Thanks to the new instructions, I was able to set up the search alert in my Bloglines account with little difficulty. I did not need to remove "proxy." It was not in the feed address. How many times do we repeatedly look for information on a particularly interesting topic? My search alert in bloglines has worked well and provided updated information over the last couple days. Again, a reader can save many steps. The Proquest Newstand Web Page would also be a useful tool for media specialists who are assisting teachers in gathering information about a topic. Teachers would appreciate the benefits of the direct link to the information. Though I am very interested in NetLibrary and find the notes to be potentially useful - indeed, you can write in the "book" and not leave a mark - how fun is that - I have had little success in finding books that addressed research questions of the middle school student. It has been awhile since I explored it and know that ebooks are continually added. I may have to go back and take another look.

Thing 16 - Student 2.0 Tools

Aha, a tool that I have used. Last year I worked with a science teacher using the Research Project Calculator for an 8th grade final project. I presented pertinent ELM resources and the RPC to each of her classes. She coordinated her timeline with the RPC, requiring certain elements of the project to be completed along the way. She used the notetaking information and distributed the Taking Notes worksheet. I thought it was helpful that students could designate the format of their project, so that the steps were specific to their presentation. The Research Project Calculator provided a thorough resource for students, as well as a framework for our discussion.

Thing 15 - Games in Libraries

A recent article in eSchool News describes how two organizations, Kaplan and Princeton Review, are developing video games for SAT test preparation. This gives one pause for reflection. If gaming proves beneficial to our college bound students, might there be a place for it in our schools and libraries. Though many board or strategy games have long been recognized for their educational value, Scrabble or chess, for instance; computer games are often considered frivolous or even counterproductive, particularly in educational settings. The very technology we strive to learn and understand is prohibited in our schools. I believe the greater question, as we strive to understand the world of online gaming, would be how we best utilize this resource to enhance education. In the last couple years, I have seen our 6th grade math teachers use online math games to reinforce skills. Though our educational time with children is precious - it never seems like there is enough time - there are occasions when students may benefit by games that support their learning.

Thing 14 - Library Thing

In January of 2007, I set up a Library Thing account. I entered two books and thought little more about it. Since that time, I have visited occasionally, but found no compelling reason to use this resource. Even at this point I have little interest in creating a record of my personal library. However, I noticed that some are, instead, entering books they are reading. To me, this has more appeal. Whether or not it is a efficient use of time is still a question for me. I am most interested in the Amazon bookmarklet, allowing one to add a book viewed in Amazon to your Library Thing account with a click. This might be a useful way to prioritize books to add to your reading list. I was also pleased to find the Local tab, allowing one to see what book events and authors are in the area. I may be missing something, but it seems that new circulation systems are providing many of the services and benefits of Library Thing; personal lists, reviews and recommendations.

Thing 13 - Online Productivity Tools

Well, my new iGoogle page is full of wonderful widgets. Truly, time must be forgotten while one prepares to be productive using online tools. The options are limitless! My new Google Calendar is prominently displayed on my iGoogle home page with a ToDo List, LabPixies Calculator, local weather, Mapquest and Yellow Pages. I have fussed over tabs for Minneapolis, News, Cooking, Technology, Entertainment and Books, adding and removing a variety of options on each page. I am delighted with the ease with which one can add a new topic and have a wide selection of choices immediately. Though i thought the to-do lists were over the top, a convenient list of the top priorities on homepage doesn't seem like such an imposition. The Google Calendar went together with ease. I started with a family calendar to coordinate the lives of my college student and work-wandering husband. It seems like this would be a great calendar to use for sharing our library volunteer schedule.

I chose to use Google products for this Thing; one less account and login to establish, as well as program compatibility. I have heard very good things about the Google suite of products and had planned to explore them further.

I was also pleased to learn about the online file converter, Zamzar. I look forward to sharing this with student who prepare documents at home in Works, just to get to school and discover they can't open them. I ahve a file converter on my computer with which to convert files: teaching them to convert files online will be much better.

Thing 12 - Do You Digg?

Though intriguing, I fear I would find social media sites to be a consumer of time better spent. As I looked through the selections I found Digg be more appealing to me in it's organization. However, I noted that Mixx included a category for books in the entertainment section. Upon further exploration, the selections labeled books held little relevance for me. I believe I can more quickly skim through my carefully selected RSS feeds and find the articles and information in which I am most interested. though I have not used these sites, I do monitor "most popular" lists of many news sites.

Thing 10 - Wikis

Wikis are in my future! We're thinking about a wiki in our building to support teachers using technology. It will be a collaborative gathering place for tutorials, tips and resources. This will be fun. There is also an art teacher in the building who is interested in collecting student feedback on artwork. A wiki may be the way to go. (I mentioned this in my post on the 23 things on a stick wiki.) It was interesting to see the variety of wikis. The St. Joseph County Public Library subject guides were very interesting and really a variation of what many of us currently offer on our library websites - subject based resources. However, I keep only current subjects in the curriculum on my webpage. This would be much more efficient. Though editing was restricted to library staff, patrons could submit requests and comments. It was also interesting to see that the Book Lovers wiki had moved on to online reviews in their library catalog. I've added some of these wikis to my Delicious account. (You'll remember that I completed Thing 11 earlier in the process.) A resource like PBwiki that is designed for use by educators is great.

Wikipedia is allowed by some teachers in our middle school; others prefer not to have students use it in their research. I have taken the position that it is important for students to understand how information is edited in Wikipedia and why they must be careful. I encourage students to find information in more than one source and to pursue discrepancies. Wikipedia often has very useful links and intertwines with associated articles. We need to teach our kids to use it wisely.

Thing 9 - Online Collaboration Tools

In our district, our technology committee has used Google Docs for meeting minutes and many shared documents. It worked well after resolving a login glitch. I like the option to get an email update whenever changes are made to these documents. It has made collaborative development of documents much easier. Additionally, it gave easy access to community members on the committee who would not have access to the district network where documents were formerly stored. I also have a Zoho account, as we have considered Zoho Writer, in particular, for student use. Although most students manage transfer of documents between home and school, occasionally there are problems. We believe that online access to documents may work more effectively for some students.

An Extra Thing

I do not want to lose track of the presentation, 101 Free Learning Tools, which I found at the Slideshare website so here is the link - http://www.slideshare.net/zaid/101-free-learning-tools-presentation/ What a resource!

Thing 8 - Sharing Your Creations

Next day...
While browsing other blogs, I found someone who successfully embedded their Zoho presentation. Back to the drawing board. This time I switched over to the Edit Html page and it worked. Duh.




Really... I hate to share my creations. I am sure there are others like me, who just aren't the sharing kind. Sure, I share with students in the library; I share with colleagues; I share with friends, but to share with the world? Oh, no. However, in the interest of progress with 23 Things and my desire to analyze the options available to kids in the educational setting, I have a link below to my brief book presentation created on Zoho. It must be public (UGH) to "share" the link. It appears that it can be embedded into my blog, but early attempts failed.

http://show.zoho.com/View.do?P_ID=283823000000004017&P_STIME=0&TP=true&displayall=true&THEME=colorful_chords&USER=gabrielsons&DOC=Summer%20Books%202008



It finally sunk in. Last year, a young and enthusiastic Web 2.0 colleague at school brought Zoho to my attention. We were talking about word processing. I understood, but lacked enthusiasm. Today, as I looked at Zoho Show, I got it. Students experiencing difficulty with transfer of documents between home and school, due to version or system incompatibilities, m ayuse online document resources. I tried Zoho Show and it worked!! It was easy to login (I had my login), easy to create and save a new presentation. My colleague has moved on to another online resource called Buzzword. We'll have to compare the two and decide what will work best for students. There is an art research project coming up soon; we may be on a roll before the end of the month!

Thing 7 - Web 2.0 Communication Tools

In our school building, email has greatly improved communication. Each day a staff bulletin is distributed by email, giving me easy access to all teachers and staff for quick announcements. When I have more information to share, I have developed a format in MS Publisher that I use for monthly - or so - newsletters. I use it to promote our services, share new resources and keep staff informed on library/lab use. With live links, teachers are able to take a quick look at resources and move on. It seems much more efficient, as well as useful, than anything I have done in print. However, I have also experienced the frustation of email overload. I am committed to managing listservs and subscriptions more effectively this year.

I have also made my email available to students who need to transfer a document to school. Though the transfer of documents is easier now with student email and flash drives, some students and parents appreciate the option of email to my desk. When I receive a document, I save it to his/her student folder, so it is available when class begins. Certainly, I have learned to reserve time for this mission during particular projects where my services have been used heavily.

Email has become a great benefit to our annual Scholastic book fair. Our parent organization will email parents with information about the book fair, in addition to some of the more traditional communications avenues. We also used email to line up volunteers. This proved to be much easier than connecting with phone calls!

Web 2.0 communication tools, such as email, text messaging, instant messaging and web conferencing, are enough to make your head swim. In addition, the current school environment does not support the use of email (except in "scholarly" pursuit), text or instant messaging. So where does this lead? I am excited that our new library catalog upgrade to Destiny allows students to submit book reviews. Students write, then submit their reviews online. Each review must be approved before being posted. I would like to use this feature as soon as we better learn the program and address necessary logins questions. We may need to seek programs, like Destiny, that bridge the Web 2.0 communication abyss in education.

Increasingly, I have found text messaging an effective way to communicate with my own 20 year old son. It is less "invasive" and a great way to make a quick connection. What could be more effective than a personal communication device attached at the hip! I haven't used IM and have always believed that a phone conversation was just as effective. As much time as I am spending on a computer these days, I am beginning to see the advantage!

I have attended MINITEX webinars in the past couple years and found them to be very useful and easy to use. I have also attended web conferences for software promotion and training. This would a great tool within the district, especially if it were free. Having just adopted a be new software, it would be so nice to conference with others in an environment where we could all be looking at the same screen.

Thing 6 - Online Image Generators

"Later" became "sooner" when Thing 6 took me back to the Big Huge Labs website. Soooo....my motivator poster seems more like an online image generator than a mashup. I'm back to my initial conclusion; mashups are just too darn random for me. However, I had great fun with the image generators. Though many are limited in flexibility, they do provide quick and easy options for using photos. Of the image generators that I tried, Map Maker, Matte and Calendar were selections to which I might return. Through color-coding, Map Maker allows the user to see the states he/she has visited. What a great introduction to this unit of study. Also, using image generators may be a novel way to draw attention to announcements on classroom TVs.

Trading card - this trading card illustrates the book, Twilight. Trading cards may be a way for students to share a synopsis of a book they have enjoyed.

Thing 5 - More Fun

At the website, Big Huge Labs (what?), I used Motivator to create this poster. Using a photo from a relaxing family vacation in Canada, this mashup was easy to use and upload. I could right-click to save the poster as an image file, then use the "add image" feature of Blogger to bring it into the page. Big Huge Labs appears to have several mashups that I will explore further including Matte, Movie Maker, Top Cameras, Calendar, Framer and Billboard. I'll have to come back to this one! What a surprise. When I first began exploring the Top 10 Mashups using a Google search, I felt like I entered the world of wasted time. Of course, on the Internet, you never know what you will find on the next page.

Along the Way

Today I began to develop a presentation to share with teachers at the beginning of the new school year. I think I will give them a quick overview of some Web 2.0 options I have learned in 23 Things on a Stick. I believe I will follow-up with a few after school mini-trainings for those who are interested. There are so many things to share! Our library is also upgrading to Destiny this summer. I am anxious to share this with teachers, as well!

Thing 4 - Flickr

Photography is not my strength. Not surprisingly, Flickr does not immediately capture my imagination. OK, I can certainly see the benefits of storing photos online, having the ability to share them with friends and family, even browse through photos posted by those more gifted that I.

That being said, I am intriqued by the ability to search for photos by geographic location. (geotagged) I stumbled upon this photo, "London from the Stone Gallery" photographed by otrocalpe and displayed on Flickr. This photographer has received many accolades from others for this and other photos in his/her collection. At full size, this photo is magnificent. Anyone studying London today?

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/227/455457538_12e5c002b6_o.jpg

I really appreciated the link to Creative Commons licensing. We need to continually work with students to help them understand that photographs belong to the photographer, just as text belongs to the author. Creative Commons provides an excellent example.

Thing 11 - Del.icio.us

A media specialist friend mentioned the Del.icio.us website to me quite some time ago. I decided I would begin my summer by diving into Del.icio.us. It has been great! So to kick-start my lagging 23 things blog, I thought I would restart with Thing 11. I set up a Del.icio.us website several weeks ago. I have enjoyed having my favorite websites readily available at any computer I use. I've played with tags and find that one or two generally meets my needs. More often than not, I have deleted a tag, rather than adding another. I am anxious to share this site with teachers who might also enjoy the convenience of easy access to online favorites. I also added the minn23 website to my Blogline account to keep track of new tags as they are added., but I am not sure that is working.

Now, as I explore the website futher and read through Thing 11, I better understand the option of sharing tags with others. Though I am not ready to introduce De.licio.us to middle school students for research, I do believe it will be one of the resources that I will check when looking for online resources to support the curriculum. I think I might create a De.licio.us website for the media center to assemble the websites we use at school. In the past, I have tried a variety of ways to organize these sites; none of which have been completely satisfactory. Maybe it would make sense to create my own "minn23" website for the students at our school. I'll look into Pagemaker a bit more, too.

Thing 3 - RSS Feeds

Over the last week or so, I have been using Bloglines to subscribe and unsubscribe to RSS feeds. It doesn't take long to figure out when you have subscribed to more than you bargained for. On the other hand, the format allows you to quickly review your feeds and move on. The 100 Favorites provided a quick way to "get the hang of it." I think I will be refining my list for quite some time. I've tried news feeds, a fellow blogger, as well as a variety of book and technology related websites. Now that I have a Bloglines account, I notice RSS feeds as I browse. What a great tool to gather favorite sites!

Thing 2

Anticipating that the 23 Things would be technical "how-to's," I was pleased to find myself in the midst of the "why." I certainly looked forward to becoming more familiar and comfortable with "how," but wondered if I would really use these tools for the library or only to support teachers in projects they wished to pursue. Clearly, this needs additional thought. Often, I find myself in the position of seeking student input. Why not use the online tools that they enjoy? I currently spend the time seeking them out. Not always practical in a school setting. In the long run, one might be more efficient using a Library 2.0 approach - once the tools are mastered. I agree with Abram, the time must be managed.

After reading the "Ongoing Web Revolution" and Blyberg's "11 Reasons," I wonder where this might lead. My sudden change in perspective plays right into Abrams, "look at the unintended consequences." I do not know where this thought will lead at this time, but I am already convinced that it will lead to change.

Getting Started

Working alongside two other media specialists led me to "Dewey Together." I'm looking forward to taking great new online adventures with 23 Things on a Stick and two great colleagues. We've laughed alot already just getting this far. Can't wait to see what happens next!