Sunday, September 16, 2007

I did it!

Week 9: thing 23
This Jewell in the rough has become a more polished gem thanks to School Library Learning 2.0. I have learned so much and will go back to many tools and continue to learn. Life Long Learning!
The fact that I could learn and play at my own pace was wonderful. All the tools were given to me to peruse. I could take what I liked, learn about the rest and just feel more knowledgeable about online tools. I think I can now intelligently discuss blogs, wikis, RSS feed, etc. Woo hoo!
There are many discoveries that were my favorites. I know that I will use these tools again for fun, information, lessons, notes, thoughts. Included in this group are: Library Thing, ZOHO, del.icio.us, Yahoo! Answers, Image Generators, Wikis and blogs.
What surprised me the most was that almost every "thing" was simple enough to do. The School Library Learning 2.0 team did such a terrific job in writing out the lessons, explaining what each "thing" did and could be used for, and giving examples/web sites that made sense.
I do plan on forwarding my LibraryJewel blog to the library techs. in my district and the staff at my school. Everyone is so busy and doesn't have time to discover new things on their own - this is a perfect way to see and learn. I would definitely take more discovery programs in the future. OK - I know this is two words but I would describe my learning experience as...
Joyfully Enlightening! Thank you so much for the learning, discovery journey!

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

I Love Books!


Week 9: thing 22
I love printed books! I love the smell, the feel, being able to study the illustrations close up. I love taking a book with me everywhere I go - the dentist, doctor, airplane, bus, on vacation. I love knowing if I can't sleep, I can pick up a book and read. Printed books are awesome!
Along comes eBooks. I can't hold them, smell them, look at the pictures closely. I can't take them to the dentist, doctor or on vacation. I will have to sit at my computer and read. I am not against eBooks, but I prefer the real thing. I can see a use for them at an elementary school if the library doesn't have enough of something to go around and the classroom has a classroom full of computers. Project Gutenberg is a wonderful source for a book in a different language. A library might not have a book in a student's native language, so eBooks could be handy for that purpose.
Audio eBooks could serve, as many people have noted, ESL or SDC students. Some students learn by listening - I would like the student to have a printed book to follow along. I know several people who car travel long distances and have checked out audio books from the public library. They love them. Of course, the reader has a very big part in if the audio book is going to be enjoyable or not. In our library, we do have a few audio books. They are very seldom checked out by students or teachers.
If people read or enjoy a story for pleasure, information or assignments whatever method works for them, is fine with me. The bottom line is to get books to people and read, read, read!


No iPod Needed

Week 9: thing 21

It was interesting looking at the different Podcast sites. I guess I am still a dinosaur because I do not have an iPod or MP3 player or even a cell phone for that matter. Never the less....
I typed in Read Across America on Podcastnet, Podcast Alley and Yahoo Podcasts - nothing came up for the Read Across America celebration. I did find on Podcast Alley, "
A good read" which was a nice listen. Then I typed in Children's books. On Yahoo Podcasts, "Booktalks Quick and Simple" showed up. That is a podcast I would listen to and suggest to students to get a quick book review. Nancy Keane does a wonderful job, lots of expression and the talks are just the right amount of time.
I did like the way Podcast Alley has the "see details" button and I like Yahoo Podcasts descriptions. I think for myself, it might be a long time before I use this feature on a regular basis. I do like listening to music. But I do not concentrate on tasks real well if someone is talking - so the listening to a Podcast would have to be during quiet time which I don't seem to have much of.


Week 9: thing 20
Oh my, I went to edit my You Tube page and ended up losing what I had done. So here I go again! I have been a You Tube fan for quite awhile. You can indeed find the good, the bad and the ugly. It is a very inexpensive form of entertainment with so much to look at and the ability to just click it off if you don't like it. The clip that I picked is "Sesame Street at your library." I am also a big Sesame Street fan. I love the line by Oscar the Grouch, "I wonder if they have any books in the library that might be interesting to a grouch." This is a great clip to introduce different genres. A student might become interested in a subject that he/she didn't even think of before. It is good for an elementary school web page or blog. The line, "You'll find good books for everyone at your library" is repeated in a catchy little song.

You Tube after thought...

I can understand why districts would block You Tube from the district server. There are so many clips and not all of them are totally appropriate (language, gestures). A great You Tube clip could be put in a blog or on a web page. But it is another one of those sites where I feel students would have to be constantly policed...

Sunday, September 9, 2007

Books I Read This Summer



Week 8: thing 19

Library Thing offers many ways to review books - Groups, Talks, Search, Suggestions. You can create "Your Library" and add books you like, books you read, books you would recommend and then post them! It is a great source to get ideas on what others are reading and recommending. Library Thing has also made it easy to follow the instructions and jump right in and start creating.

Saturday, September 8, 2007

From ZOHO Writer

ZOHO Writer

Week 8: thing 18 surprised

I found ZOHO to be a very complete word processing tool. It is easy to use and offers many great features (more so then Microsoft Word). I have used DreamWeaver to create a web site, and I find many of the same features in ZOHO. I especially like all the templates that are available and plan on using some of them to create library tests, ID badges, etc. I will definitely come back to ZOHO for my word processing needs!

Monday, September 3, 2007

Sharing is good!

Week 7: thing 17

Thank you for the California 2.0 Curriculum Connections wiki. What a great way to get ideas and let others know how you plan on using tools. Great minds think alike - as I saw several of my very own ideas already posted! I did post idea #12 on the Image Generators and web award winners page...I think I may have been a little long winded and should have just posted how I was going to use Trading Card Maker. Shucks, I was so excited!


There are several ways I can see using wikis. For book reviews, ideas between the librarians and library techs., classroom and the library connecting (for book suggestions, resource information, an "Ask the Librarian" type of thing). I think that this is another of those please find some more hours in the day for me tools!

Wiki Wiki

Week 7: thing 16

From looking and reading through the wikis, it seems that elementary school libraries are far behind others. On the Library Bloggers Wiki, there are 61 listings and 7 of those are elementary with 2 sites, not linking.
I found Eatons Hill State School Blog on the teacherlibrarian wiki (under links to our blogs). What a great way for elementary students interaction!
I also found Kathy Schrock's on the same page - it is a great site for seeing what is new in the world of educational technology!
Wikis should have a specific purpose in mind. Since anyone can post, it needs to be understood that sources need to be checked, information verified - if a student is using information for a report.
I can see using a wiki in the elementary school library for posting book reviews. It would be a great way to have students telling others what they like or don't like. With book reviews, there is neither a right or wrong, it is a sharing of what one has read and thinks. As a library media technician, I would love to get students interested in adding to a book review wiki. As hard as I try, I just don't have time to read everything!
If a student does not have time to post during library time - a wiki would be a great tool for collaboration between the library and the classroom and the computer lab (which doesn't happen often). A wiki for the library is definitely something I will pursue.

Sunday, September 2, 2007

Library 2.0

Week 6: thing 15

I read all the articles and for me "Wikipedia Library 2.0" explained what the concept of library 2.0 is while the other articles were personal thoughts. I realize the Wikipedia is also personal thoughts but the way it was written, seemed more factual. There were parts I liked and parts I didn't like in all of the articles.
I hope that books are never totally replaced by a computer. At my school, several students still do not have computers at home and especially not laptops (I don't even have a laptop!), you can't take a computer on vacation, a grown up sitting in front of a computer reading a good night story isn't a pretty picture. Should all those quaint practices disappear?
I do agree that as technology advances and the times change - libraries need to be part of the change. The old card catalog needs to be replaced with an online search engine (such as OPAC). Being online with a card catalog allows teachers, students and parents to see if a library has what is needed or desired. Resources should be available online (encyclopedias for example). A library should have a website (both public and school). A library website is able to cover a wide scope of information - hours, links, events, etc. Not every book or even enough of needed subject books (such as planets) can be purchased by most school libraries - so online resources are great. The need for technology in a modern day library is necessary.
When I read the Wikipedia 2.0 article, I felt pretty good about where I am in our elementary school library. We do have OPAC, I do have a library website, I do ask students, parents, teachers for ideas on how to improve or what they would like to see in our library, I do work with students on how to do research online. But, I also love books! I read to most classes, I booktalk, I genre talk, I encourage checking out books for not only school work but for pleasure.

Library 2.0 - What does it mean to me, what does it mean for school libraries?

Library 2.0 is learning what tools are out there. I know that I would not know of many of the tools I have learned about without School Library Learning 2.0. Library 2.0 is embracing new ideas/concepts and realizing you don't have to use them all. It's the idea of being open to new things and willing to try them out and finding ways to tie it all together to make learning come alive for students.
What does it mean for the school library? The answer to that lies in how much a district is willing to put into their school libraries. A brand new library with super technology is not going to matter or help students if it isn't staffed! This is not a rant paper, so I will just leave it at that.

Technorati - Yikes!

Week 6: thing 14

I admire all the work that the designers/programmers at Technorti did over the past three years. Taking something from "idea" to "product" is a wonderful accomplishment.
I would never use Technorati in an elementary school library as a way for students to do a search nor do I think our district would allow it. Why? When I did the discovery exercises and typed School Library Learning 2.0 and clicked posts - some of the sites that came up surprised even me. A few had such things as "hairy ass" and "sexual massage", others had exotic cars. Which ever site had the word - school, library, learning or 2.0 in came up. Under tags, I got the same thing. The only click that came up with blogs from School Library Learning was the blog click.
It seems like sometimes we spend too much time policing students when they are online. Technorti would, in my opinion, make it very difficult to keep students on task.
As for keeping track of the millions of bloggers out there - good for them. I don't think that I would search for blogs. If someone I knew had one, I'd look at it. With Library Learning I check out other blogs to see what others have learned. If I came across a blog by accident that interested me - I'd del.icio.us it. Even for my own blog - I don't expect it to be read by anyone other than those taking the library learning class (or other library techs. in my district for information reasons).
Looking at the popular blogs, searches and tags - I don't get it. What is popular for some, sure isn't for all. I didn't really find one thing that I cared to read all the way through.

mmmm, mmmm del.icio.us


Week 6: thing 13

I admit that I did not quite get Rollyo - but I do get and love del.icio.us! I even added it to my AOL toolbar. First off - when I viewed the 12 minute Del.icio.us tutorial, it was very blurry. I found Us.ef.ul to be very helpful. I do think that the instructions to create an account and use the site were easy to follow (not like Rollyo) and it is easy to figure out what del.icio.us can and will do. I know that I will continue to use this site and keep adding. The idea of the tags make finding something much easier than using the "favorites" on my homepage.
This tool would be wonderful to share sites from one district library website to another. It is so nice to not always have to do your own searching, or reinvent the wheel as the saying goes!
I spent hours looking at the SJLLibrary's del.icio.us page, I need to remember to add it to my del.icio.us page. I have read on other blogs that some have used this tool for several months and love it - I will become one of those people!

CONGRATULATIONS!



I just want to congratulate all of you who have finished Learning 2.0. I would send you all a personal congrats. but.....
As I go along, I'm finding that I am spending a lot of time reading and exploring and enjoying what others have done and found. You are all mentors for me. Thanks and congratulations!