course 2.0 reflections

Social bookmaking (delicious) is an amazing tool. I found the site easy to navigate and the added buttons to my FireFox bar was easy to do and makes posting a breeze.  Great instructions, thanks. The collaboration aspect is invaluable and it stays current unlike a library pathfinder that needs continual updating. Multiple tags are what makes this unique and different from the standard ” digital vertical file”.  I also, when time permits, will investigate DIGG (sp?) to see if it has even greater usefulness.

I hope to get my faculty and students excited about the potential of this Web 2.0 tool. I know personally, I will be using it when my faculty ask me to recommend/research web resources on specific topics ( ie. Lost boys of Sudan, math fun sites etc.)     This one is a keeper!

http://www.evoca.com/everyone_recording.jsp?rid=158365

I totally enjoyed this exercise. As a member of 3 book clubs it is a great way to organize my comments and see what each club has read. As a library/Media Specialist I don’t know how I missed this one. I loved exploring authors, genres and specific titles. Now, If I can only master speed reading or find more time in the day I would be in 7th Heaven ( James Patterson’s newest book)!

(S-t-r-e-t-ch- task) I immediately joined and cataloged the reading I’ve done via my 2007-2008 book club. Not real a stretch but a pleasure, it was so easy to do. My summer reading list just tripled. Thank You.

Flickr is an amazing resource. It’s creative commons feature is plus to all student productions we wish to put on the web. For budding photographers the social comments on your work is very encouraging. Searching by tags created by the “lay person” is wonderful for kid searches who have some difficulty in finding similar key words to describe what they are looking up.

I searched in creative commons for Maui and found some beautiful shots. I am considering adding my recent Maui pictures to Flickr for comments. Here is one of the shots I found by Mbell1975.

Vicki Davis’s article on her first wiki was encouraging. It reminded me of Nike’s motto of “just do it!” I tend to wait until everything is perfect and use it as a delay to starting something new. Ms. Davis is a true role model in getting a new project snowballing! I am still fulminating with how I could incorporate wiki’s in the library curriculum. some ideas but nothing solid yet.

Comments on 4 wiki’s…..

Wiki #1 The Thousand Project (elementary 3rd Grade)

I enjoyed the concept of this page. Very positive for elementary grades perception of the world. Although ’short & sweet’, it was well organized and the content was age appropriate. One questions I have regarding this wiki is… How to you publicize your wiki? (tags? Mass Mailings? etc.?)

Wiki #2 Flat Classroom Project 2007

Such a rich site. Truly illustrates the concept of world-wide collaboration. Very rich with embedded videos and useful links and a great navigation sidebar. The keynote address was great! I can see why it won awards. Question I had is…What is a NING (just a commercial wiki space or blog space)?

Wiki #3 Grazing for Digital Natives

My favorite. I loved the avatar from Voki. I must try this myself. Made for a neat and unique introduction. Good navigation sidebar. Had many embedded appropriate videos. It was a little slow to load but definitely a wiki I will add to my bookmarks and delicious site. A great resource as a review for this course!

Wiki #4 Room 15 Wiki (6th Grade Page)

Fun project to do to introduce the students to the power of publishing and sharing. Clean, neat layout. I particularly enjoyed the caveats regarding spelling and grammar. Also, the invitation to parents and teachers to participate. I would have like to see a sidebar and some student reviews of their experiences during this project. I do think it is easier for them at younger ages than on the high school level.

As a library media specialist and information literacy coach, I think that creative commons is a wonderful solution to the copyright dilemma. In the past, I have tried to get permissions for articles, graphs and pictures with little success. The ease in “borrowing” a copyrighted work has made it difficult (as Spike lee says) to do “the Right Thing”.

I actually learned about creative commons from a student (9th grader) when I was asking her some technical questions of trying to get a song from media player. She said she never tried because she only uses songs from creative commons. Alas, it is day like that one that keeps me teaching!

I applaud artists for sharing their work and whenever possible encouraging purchasing their materials to my clients. Open source is certainly enriched by their generosity.

I look forward to spreading the word about creative commons as my teachers and students start their various productions next year.

Picture Credits:

Landscape– http://www.flickr.com/photos/bratan/2035480527/

split rail fence– http://www.flickr.com/photos/nerboo/2537689836/

Church sepia tone— http://www.flickr.com/photos/gatorhank/685872310/

Yellow wood — http://www.flickr.com/photos/dew_drop/278840551/

Finally got Google reader to stop freezing. It is certainly fun to peruse so many topics and ideas and to know I can star them for later reference. My scanning reading skills are getting better and I am now really starting to see the “beauty” of this tool.

I’ve started to reflect on how many sites I visited daily through ‘point & click’ method and I am using my FAVORITES list to guide me in assembling my feeds. Yes, it is saving time and increasing overall knowledge.

I particularly love my “Kindle Feed” since it is an emerging technology of e-books that I believe will take off! Here is a link to my kindle blog. http://www.ebookdaily.com/?redirect .

Thank goodness it is summertime and I can create my new reading habits without losing sleep!

Google Reader and RSS feeds.  This a a great tool.  As a member of 4 book clubs, I love having the most up-to-date reviews on the newest titles.  Also having the daily qoute for the library electronic board is a plus.

Presently, I am having difficulty opening /loading the Googl e Reader.  Perhaps I fed it too much?  I will try some more resources and help menus and then put out a “help” to the powers to be.  To be continued….

I loved setting up this blog site and was very successful in creating an avatar and homepage graphic.   Now I just need to remember to post to it in a timely and fashion and to interact with other blogs from our class.