Monday, November 23, 2009

Method 12

I really enjoyed this course. I just recently finished my MLS degree and there were about 2 technology classes that I had to take that touched on Web 2.0 in general. It was nice to have a refresher course and to see everything with a little bit more detail. It was also great to see how this could be used in the library and see how other librarians are using it as well.

I was glad I finally got to learn what RSS feeds are and I now know what the term cloud computing means. I am now actively using a delicious accout and have considered creating a Flickr account for personal use. There were a lot of things that I just couldn't see using with elementary age students, especially when I do not have an aide or anyone else to help me in the library. I know it sounds like an excuse but I really wonder where all my time goes. I would love to explore things like podcasts and wikis more and figure out how I can make those work for me in my library.

I would choose to participate in similar programs like this in the future. I really enjoyed being able to do everything online at my own pace. There were several of us who worked together on this and that was really nice because we were able to throw ideas around and really help each other understand the concepts and how they could be incorporated into the library. Thank you for this training...I really enjoyed it and it was really helpful.

Method 11

I do have a question about podcasts...are they all free or are there some that do cost money?

When searching for a podcast to listen to/watch, I started with podcast.com but quickly became frustrated when I couldn't find much information of a certain podcast to see if it was something I would be interested in or it wouldn't play one I selected because of whatever reason. I then tried podcastalley.com and I couldn't get one to play.

I could see using podcasts in the library. I could record myself doing lessons, post them as podcasts, and then children or teachers could access them later on as refreshers. You could also podcasts as book trailers. You could make a podcast of a book you just read and turn it into a book trailer and then everytime you create a new one your subscribers could automatically see it. This would be a great thing to do and an alternative to posting trailers on blogs.

Method 10

I couldn't edit the Library Development A Dozen Ways to Two Step Favorites Wiki because when I clicked on edit it said that the webpage was being edited by LBk and then it asked me if I wanted to "steal the lock." I wasn't quite sure what that meant, so I just posted my favorite blog as a comment.

A few years ago I when I was still a classroom teacher, tried to create a Wiki for our school's library. The tech department did not allow me to do it, however, because they did not know how to set up a wiki through them and they did not want me to use an outside source. It was kind of frustrating so I have not tried again since then.

The only thing I do not like about Wikis is that anybody can go in and edit what you have done. Where is the safety in that? And for sites like Wikipedia, I teach my students not to depend on that as an authoritative source because of the fact that anybody can edit the information found on it. I could see setting up a Wiki to be used similar to my Book Talk Blogs.

Method 9

Every employee in our school district has a gmail account. We are able to chat with anyone at anytime during the day through our gmail accounts (if people are available). I never log in to my chat...my status is always "unavailable" because I do not want to risk getting in trouble for chatting during work, plus I have too much work to do and don't have time to chat anyway.

I used to be a big "IMer" through my Yahoo account, but I do not do much of that anymore only because it seems not many of my friends are doing it. I do chat on Facebook every now and then. During the summer when I had more time to spend on Facebook I would chat all day long with my friends while doing other things on Facebook, but not so much now.

I do not think that chatting is hard at all. I find it to be very easy. It is nice to just have a quick conversation with someone instead of picking up the phone and calling them. I am one of the funny ones because I do not like to use the abbreviated lingo...I usually spell everything out.

I think it would be neat to set up a chat account with some students and have them chat about books they have read. It would be similar to the Book Talk Blogs I have created for 3rd-5th graders, but it would also help them build their experiences chatting and learning the rules and ropes of chatting.

Method 8

I have both a personal MySpace and Facebook accounts. I use them for personal reasons and not for professional. I do have co-workers who are my friends on Facebooks (since that is the one I use the most), but they are co-workers that are friends outside of work as well. I do not have any administrators or people in an administrative position as friends on either site. The way I see it is that Facebook and MySpace are for my personal life and I only want to share that with my friends. I do have both accounts private as well so that students cannot see what I have posted.

In my personal opinion, I think social networking sites are great. I do, however, feel that if you are in a position, such as teachers, where what you post can affect your job, then you need to make sure your stuff is private. All of my accounts and everything linked to them are private and only my friends can see my postings. That is also why I am very selective of who I allow to be my friend. I would hate to lose my job just because of living my life and someone seeing it on Facebook, so I keep things private. I would never add students as friends at all, as well.

I think using social networking sites in the library would be great, but I currently would not use any social networking sites in my library for several reasons:
1. It is an elementary level campus and I would not feel safe having my younger kids getting on Facebook or MySpace.
2. I do not think many parents would approve of their students using a social networking site in school.
3. Most of the time they are blocked because of the internet filters on our computers.

I would like to see how some school have used social networking sites in their libraries.

Monday, October 12, 2009

Method 7

I am very excited about Delicious. I have heard about it before, but have never really explored it. I have created an account and plan on using it for personal reasons. I want to be able to access websites I have saved in my favorites at work at home...by using delicious I now can do this.

I really would like to sit down and create a delicious account for my school library. It will take a lot of work on my behalf...finding appropriate sites for each grade level and putting it all in one place. This will be a task I will have to slowly take on, but would eventually love to do...maybe a summer task while at home during the summer. :) This would not only be a great resource for teachers and students, but parents as well!

Method 6



Don't Let the Pigeon Jump on the Bed by PSUAltoonaGirls
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oysx-q3zjCM

I chose this video because I absolutely LOVE Mo Willems. I thought this was a very creative adaptation of his popular Pigeon books.

I could see YouTube being used in the library to teach library lessons...such as how to use the catalog, what and what not to do in the library, etc. It would also be creative to create videos like these girls did and make your own adaptations of popular books. Book talks could also be recorded and posted as videos as well as creating book trailers...which are very popular on TeacherTube.

I can see why this website is blocked by most school districts. There is no protecting students from inappropriate content. If there was a way for videos created by the librarian to be accessed and not the rest of the website, then that would be ideal. I guess the best way to do that would be to embed the videos from YouTube to my librarian webpage...something to think about!