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.