Wikis are something else that I first learned about from my sister-in-law. We tried creating a family wiki where we could collect memories, the stories that you want to pass down to the grandkids, that sort of thing. I must admit I have not been a faithful contributor. Maybe that should be another summer "to do" thing.
I used PBWorks to create the LYMAN Reads wiki for our library. Its original main purpose was as a home for all our "If you liked..." lists, since there was no way we could put them on our school webpage. As you can see, we haven't done much with it since then.
The examples given in these discovery exercises may provide me with some inspiration to do more with our wiki. I particularly like the Library Bloggers Wiki and California Curriculum Connections wiki and will be going back to play with them some more. I'll also be sharing some of the more subject-specific sites with some of our teachers.
Although not technically "curriculum applications", there are a couple of other ways that wikis might be a good tool. One would be a "living" library procedures manual. With our whole library staff in DROP, it might be a good time to start writing down how we do things, the quirks of some of our equipment, where the software and owner's manuals are located (TIP comes to mind), etc. Another idea from my s-i-l, that she got from her tech support people and that I wish our guys would adopt, is to use a wiki as a record of what they do - what software was installed and when (by location or station), what repairs were made to a unit, what problems arose and how they were solved, etc. Everyone on the tech team could read and post to the wiki and a lot of wheel-reinventing could be avoided. We have had a lot of turnover in our tech support staff over the years and this could have saved a lot of headaches.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Not quite Thing 15
Several years ago I read about a study that found that people read from a computer screen at 75% the rate that they read from print material. It was a small study and I always hoped that someone would investigate this further. My thought at the time was that this reduction would not be a problem for good/fast readers but might be significant for those who already read slowly or poorly.
I still want somebody to do more research on this. My gut feeling is that the earlier finding is probably still true to some extent for those of us whose reading experience has been initially and primarily print. It would be useful to know to what degree it is true of our young people who have spent so much of their lives reading from computer screens. This could have important implications as we move into more online testing.
What made me think of all this? For this discovery exercise there is a lot we need to read. Maybe I've been spoiled by all the interactive things we have been exploring, but I'm having a hard time making myself just read. I've even resorted to printing some of the articles so that I can read them in my comfy chair instead of at the computer. So much for the "paperless society"!
I still want somebody to do more research on this. My gut feeling is that the earlier finding is probably still true to some extent for those of us whose reading experience has been initially and primarily print. It would be useful to know to what degree it is true of our young people who have spent so much of their lives reading from computer screens. This could have important implications as we move into more online testing.
What made me think of all this? For this discovery exercise there is a lot we need to read. Maybe I've been spoiled by all the interactive things we have been exploring, but I'm having a hard time making myself just read. I've even resorted to printing some of the articles so that I can read them in my comfy chair instead of at the computer. So much for the "paperless society"!
Monday, June 28, 2010
Thing 14
Must be something about Mondays - once again reality doesn't quite live up to my expectations based on the lesson's description. Technorati's Discover and Popular features are not available, and the note about the "New Technorati" was posted in October, 2009. Other features seem to be functioning.
Using Technorati, I searched for "School Library Learning 2.0" and found nothing; I dropped the 2.0 and had better results, especially when I used their "refined search". I found more when I used Google's blogsearch feature. If you want to find blogs using the other search engines mentioned, you will need to add "blog OR blogs" to your search string. I'll probably stick with Google in the future.
There was a story on the evening news a few years ago where they were interviewing some people from Google; it was the anniversary of some significant date in the company's history, I think. Talking about how hard it can be to find what you want and how Google was developed to make it easier, one person said something to the effect that the internet would be a lot better if librarians had been in charge of it from the beginning.
I can't help thinking that whoever started promoting the use of "tags" was channeling the spirits of all those early librarians that we learned about in our first cataloging classes. Tags help to optimize the work of a search engine, just as subject headings in a MARC record enable us go straight to the library shelf we need instead of wandering through the whole room. The disadvantage to tags is that everybody has their own versions, so you miss things unless you use lots of variables when you search. Sounds kind of like what inspired Minnie Sears to make her List of Subject Headings, doesn't it!
Using Technorati, I searched for "School Library Learning 2.0" and found nothing; I dropped the 2.0 and had better results, especially when I used their "refined search". I found more when I used Google's blogsearch feature. If you want to find blogs using the other search engines mentioned, you will need to add "blog OR blogs" to your search string. I'll probably stick with Google in the future.
There was a story on the evening news a few years ago where they were interviewing some people from Google; it was the anniversary of some significant date in the company's history, I think. Talking about how hard it can be to find what you want and how Google was developed to make it easier, one person said something to the effect that the internet would be a lot better if librarians had been in charge of it from the beginning.
I can't help thinking that whoever started promoting the use of "tags" was channeling the spirits of all those early librarians that we learned about in our first cataloging classes. Tags help to optimize the work of a search engine, just as subject headings in a MARC record enable us go straight to the library shelf we need instead of wandering through the whole room. The disadvantage to tags is that everybody has their own versions, so you miss things unless you use lots of variables when you search. Sounds kind of like what inspired Minnie Sears to make her List of Subject Headings, doesn't it!
Friday, June 25, 2010
Thing 13
Although I did not use the specific sites mentioned in this discovery exercise, essentially I completed it sometime in January, 2008, when I was introduced to Delicious by my sister-in-law. I love it! I use my personal Delicious as my homepage on my laptop. The Wordle on this page is based on my school page, LymanLibrarian. There is a link to it on our portion of the school's webpage. I have been promoting it to teachers and students since I created it, but I've realized recently that checking for broken links needs to be on my "to do" list for the summer.
It is helpful to have the "Post to my Delicious" button on your toolbar. Of course, this is easier to do on your own computer. Putting the button on your school computer may not be an option, especially since most of us use several different stations. The easy way around that is to have two browser windows open, sign in to your Delicious on one, find the website you want to add on the other, and then cut and paste the address, description, etc., into the "Save a new bookmark" form.
It is helpful to have the "Post to my Delicious" button on your toolbar. Of course, this is easier to do on your own computer. Putting the button on your school computer may not be an option, especially since most of us use several different stations. The easy way around that is to have two browser windows open, sign in to your Delicious on one, find the website you want to add on the other, and then cut and paste the address, description, etc., into the "Save a new bookmark" form.
Thing 12
After playing with Rollyo for a while, I created a search roll called Book Ideas for Teens and put a link to it on this blog site. I found some sites to include on it by searching the terms library, teen reads, and young adults. Now that I've done it, I'm not sure how useful this will be to me personally. Maybe I need to "play" some more.
I think Rollyo might be a useful tool for teachers who want their students to practice search skills but want/need to help them focus their search to avoid inaccurate or inappropriate sites. This might be particularly useful in the lower grades.
The other sites were much more fun. I will recommend the Traveler IQ Challenge to our social studies teachers, and I expect my husband may get hooked on it as well. I need to get him to take a picture of me reading so that I can add a mini poster here. Lyman has the regular READ poster software, but the mini version should be fun and more accessible for our reading teachers.
I think Rollyo might be a useful tool for teachers who want their students to practice search skills but want/need to help them focus their search to avoid inaccurate or inappropriate sites. This might be particularly useful in the lower grades.
The other sites were much more fun. I will recommend the Traveler IQ Challenge to our social studies teachers, and I expect my husband may get hooked on it as well. I need to get him to take a picture of me reading so that I can add a mini poster here. Lyman has the regular READ poster software, but the mini version should be fun and more accessible for our reading teachers.
Thing 11
The list of CNET Web 2.0 Award Winners has a lot to offer those who live with their smart phones or who need commercial applications. One of the most promising for educational uses, in my opinion, is Diigo. In the Library, it could be used to take "snapshots" of web pages for use in student orientation or lessons and for staff development. The potential for classroom use is even greater as teachers move to more collaborative research; the existing groups are a source for good ideas. I like the privacy controls.
I did not play with Ning that much after I saw a post announcing that it is no longer free. I noticed that some groups, such as ALA, have since chosen to move from Ning and created their own networking spot. Maybe I'm just not good at searching Facebook, but I really did not find many groups there that I could not access better through their regular websites or blogs.
Social networking sites are a mixed blessing. From the purely social aspect, they can be a wonderful way to keep in touch with friends and family - and a real blessing in times of illness or other family crisis. The down side has been illustrated all too often on the news when people cross the line of what is appropriate contact. For now, I think their use in education may not be a good idea.
I did not play with Ning that much after I saw a post announcing that it is no longer free. I noticed that some groups, such as ALA, have since chosen to move from Ning and created their own networking spot. Maybe I'm just not good at searching Facebook, but I really did not find many groups there that I could not access better through their regular websites or blogs.
Social networking sites are a mixed blessing. From the purely social aspect, they can be a wonderful way to keep in touch with friends and family - and a real blessing in times of illness or other family crisis. The down side has been illustrated all too often on the news when people cross the line of what is appropriate contact. For now, I think their use in education may not be a good idea.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Thing 10
I like the image generators that were suggested but I was in the mood for something a little edgier. Then I remembered the Funny Times Cartoon Playground.
If you send your cartoon directly from the Playground to Blogger, all you get is a link. I got around this by right-clicking on my cartoon, saving it, and then using "add image" to put it here.
Monday, June 21, 2010
Thing 9
It's hard to convince teachers to use things that they cannot access at school, so I've been checking the links for this course to see whether Websense will let them through. Everything worked until I got to this assignment. I can't get to Blogline or Feedster at school or home; Syndic8 gets hung-up and won't let me out of it regardless of where I try it. Websense blocks some content on most of them. Technorati seems to be the most straight-forward and easiest to use.
I tried searching "Lyman High" and found a touching Father's Day blog by a former student. My next experiment may be looking for alumni/reunion blogs. We have a big stack of yearbooks from other schools that our journalism program got as samples. I'd like to find good homes for them.
I tried searching "Lyman High" and found a touching Father's Day blog by a former student. My next experiment may be looking for alumni/reunion blogs. We have a big stack of yearbooks from other schools that our journalism program got as samples. I'd like to find good homes for them.
Thing 8
I set up a Google Reader account; it was easy to do but left me thinking, "Oh great! Now I have something else to remember to check." Then I figured out how to put my library-related feeds on my blog profile. Not exactly one-stop shopping but an improvement.
Thing 7
Digital cameras definitely make it easier to decorate websites, blogs, etc., although the "old" method of scanning your pictures is still a viable option, especially when you want to use pre-digital images. I like my digital camera because it's tiny and lightweight, easy to use, and the pictures are easy to share. Flickr seems like it would be a good option for sharing large collections, but email and Facebook work well for most of my personal uses.
What don't I like about digital cameras? Well, we own some really nice Nikon lenses but we can't afford the really nice Nikon digital camera that they might be compatible with. I'm also concerned about the lifespan of digital pictures. I have family photos that are over 100 years old and still look good, in spite of not being kept in archival conditions. Will the digital images that people are saving or printing survive that long?
What don't I like about digital cameras? Well, we own some really nice Nikon lenses but we can't afford the really nice Nikon digital camera that they might be compatible with. I'm also concerned about the lifespan of digital pictures. I have family photos that are over 100 years old and still look good, in spite of not being kept in archival conditions. Will the digital images that people are saving or printing survive that long?
Thing 6
I'll be telling lots of people, some who work in education and some who don't, about the Big Huge Labs site (http://bighugelabs.com/). It's easy to use and has a good variety of options. The trading cards look like a fun project for our Pre-K teachers or for the high school students who help them. Our journalism teacher might want to make new Press Passes with the badge maker and the possibilities for our art students are wide-open.
Thing 5 - Images and image
There are some for whom the term "librarian" conjures up a negative image, so they prefer to be called "media specialists". I searched both terms on Flickr. There were 741 results for "media specialist", mostly pictures taken at meetings [Yawn]. There were 90,062 results for "librarian" and these ranged from the old stereotypes (hair in a bun, sensible shoes, "shhh") to anything but - now you're talking!
I've never really liked the term "media specialist" - may have been a bad reaction to reading Marshall McLuhan in my youth. I am ready to go shopping for some of these librarian temporary tattoos!
I've never really liked the term "media specialist" - may have been a bad reaction to reading Marshall McLuhan in my youth. I am ready to go shopping for some of these librarian temporary tattoos!
Things 3 and 4
If you're reading this, then you know that I have created my blog and registered it. The title for my blog ties in with some things I was already doing on the Lyman webpage. Not sure yet how I might use this (in addition to or instead of?) but I couldn't see any point in setting up one thing for this course and then doing another one later for school. I'm not really the type to do a personal blog.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Thing 2
I enjoyed the 7 1/2 Habits of Highly Successful Lifelong Learners and plan to share it with friends both in the education field and outside of it. At this point in my life these habits are pretty much second-nature to me, but I guess the hardest is "view problems as challenges". Especially at the end of the school year, I am more likely to view challenges as problems. Most seem to be of the "not again!" variety.
"Have confidence in yourself as a competent, effective learner" may be the easiest for me, other than "Play" of course. I am able to figure out and learn about things like those we are exploring in this course because I know how to follow directions. After all the things I have been forced to teach myself (especially TIP), I know to look for directions, I know that most things follow some sort of pattern or sequence, and I can make educated guesses when the directions are poor. Seems pretty basic, but I believe it makes a huge difference.
"Have confidence in yourself as a competent, effective learner" may be the easiest for me, other than "Play" of course. I am able to figure out and learn about things like those we are exploring in this course because I know how to follow directions. After all the things I have been forced to teach myself (especially TIP), I know to look for directions, I know that most things follow some sort of pattern or sequence, and I can make educated guesses when the directions are poor. Seems pretty basic, but I believe it makes a huge difference.
Week Two
Maybe it was just that I started working on both this blog and my avatar at the end of the day, but I definitely did not find either of them as intuitive as some other programs that I have used. Having to sign up for both Google and Yahoo accounts did not thrill me either - more logons and passwords to remember, possibly (probably?) more promotional emails showing up in my mailboxes. At least now I have a "spare" email address to use when I have to create accounts to get discount coupons, etc.
Monday, June 14, 2010
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