ED 566E - May 1, 2008, No. 15

Everybody did some really interesting things. I'm surprised by how different each site was from the other sites.

The leftovers did an impressive job, especially considering that they had to start over again. The links are great and very helpful. I also liked the idea of using a wiki for the summer reading lists and including supplementary material like the character chart. I know Becky created the Webquest for another class, but it was very created and probably would be great to use with students. The site was organzied in a very accessible manner.

The future school librarians site was full of great content and made use of a lot of different applications (i.e., widgets, blogs, wikis, etc.). It was organized a very easy to navigate manner. I liked that it included links to sites related to many different aspects of a high school students life.

I thought this project was the best part of the course. I learned a lot by creating the different parts of the Web site.

ED 566E - April 25, 2008, No. 14

The Destiny presentation was interesting. I think it would be nice to be able to devote an entire class to some time of circulation software. It was nice to see the presentation, but it would have been nice to try out some of the features ourselves. It looks like there are a lot of really nice features. We had a Follett presentation last semester too and they demonstrated their collection analysis tool and collection development tool, both of which are free. The rep told us we could all get a user id and password to play with. You might want to look into doing something like this for next year.

I loved the bookmark demo. That is something that I have wanted to do and it was nice to get a demonstration and then do it ourselves. This is my preferred way to learn.

Your feedback on our paper was very helpful. We went and reviewed our paper as a group and added some additional reflection and application. The Web site project has been really helpful and I usually dread group work, but this has been a very good experience. I think that is mostly because of the other people in my group, but also we've used the wiki to communicate and compose our paper and that has really helped. I would highly recommend the use of a wiki for group projects in the future.

Using the idea of creating a Web site at the beginning of the semester to try out various applications I have a few other suggestions.
1. Link the blog to the Web site and indicate from the beginning that it is for the entire class. I would have liked to have read what others wrote about.
2. Have everyone create a del.icio.us site linked to the Web site and add relevant Web sites as the semester progresses. Be sure to tag them 566E. I ran across lots of neat Web sites during the semester, but fell I had a forum to share them.
3. Have people share a little (5 minutes) about paper topics the week they are turned in. I think I could have learned a lot from other people's papers. I couldn't cover all topics by myself.
4. Require the Blogs, Wikis, and Podcasts book. It looks good. My one complaint was that I was not at all happy with the text. It had some interesting information, but it was poorly written.

ED 566E - April 19, 2008, No. 13

I thought this week's discussion about internet security was interesting. It was interesting to see the wide variety of issues that fall into that category - protecting private information to inappropriate sites to internet predators. I can see how as a librarian balancing the right to access with protecting children from inappropriate sites could be very difficult. This issue has been a hot topic on LM_NET recently. Many librarians were discussing the librarian who was recently fired for notifying police that a patron in her public library was viewing child porn. She violated the right to privacy. Its a sticky issue.

Once again I enjoyed getting together with my group. This group project has been interesting. We've had to figure out how to write a paper together when we don't have much opportunity to get together. I think we've solved the problem by dividing the paper into sections and writing it on a wiki, so we can see what each person is doing. This has truly been a cooperative effort. Usually, there is a dominant person in a group project, but that has not been the case with this group. We all think about things differently. Some of us are technical, some of us are creative, and some of us are problem-solvers.

ED 566E - April 11, 2008, No. 12

At last I was able to connect in Skype. While it was a lot of fun to try I'm not sure how much I will use it as a librarian. I'm going to have to keep my eye out for ideas. Audacity was interesting. I would like to learn how to podcast and then edit what I've recorded. I think kids would really enjoy recording their voice and manipulating it. I'd have to find an educational spin, but it would be a good hook.

I wanted to write a little bit about what I've found the most useful about Web 2.0. At this point I'm still more of a finder and receiver of information than a give of information, but I think this is the first step. In looking for podcasts and book trailers for our group web site I've discoverd many kids lit blogs. In Millie's class we talked a lot about collection development and the various resources available to the librarian (i.e., journals, book reviews, etc.), but we didn't consider blogs. I think that is because it is a relatively new phenomenom. In the last month of added close to 20 kids lit blogs to my RSS feeds. I've discovered several great new books for kids. I think this will be one way I look for new and hot books for my library. I share my discoveries with several friends who have suggested that are start blogging about my discoveries. I think that may be how I ultimately enter the blogging world outside of a class. You may heck this blog in a year and find it full of kids lit raves.

I think that this blog and the del.icio.us page that I started will be two things that started as class projects that I will maintain on my own. I've also started a wiki for my sister and I to use to plan our cross-country trip with our kids. I'm definitely going to be more of a contributor to the Web in the future.

ED 566E - April 6, 2008, No. 11

The copyright information was interesting. I liked the site that walked you through the process of determining whether or not something could be considered fair use. Carol Simpson's book about copyright in the school media center really brings the copyright issues into focus. I think it is something that people really need to study closely and repeatedly to have a good grasp of. I still feel confused. We have discussed copyright briefly in both Millie's class and Ilene's class. After listening to both of them it seems to me that many classroom teachers are frequently at of compliance and maybe even some librarians. As a librarian it seems that one needs to be well-versed in the copyright laws and guidelines. Since I've had to deal with copyright in previous jobs and because my father is a minister who insists that the choir director buys enough copies of music of every choir member (rather than photocopying the same as she was doing) copyright compliance is very important to me. People frequently think they are "only one person," but when everyone does that the owner of the copyright loses out on income and that is not fair.

The other neat thing this week came in the discussion with my final project group. We came up with some additional parts to our site, including adding our avatars.

ED 566E - March 30, 2008, No. 10

Some of the tools that Joyce presented to us on Thursday I had seen before. I have browsed her Web site and wiki in the past and have found it to be a gold mine of ideas related to Web 2.0. Of course there were many things that I had never looked at or couldn't determine an application for. I've spent some time exploring Voicethread and it was nice to hear a librarian using it. I think it would be a great place for multimedia presentations. One idea would be to have a class draw pictures and write a script to narrate the pictures. The video would be of the pictures. This would eliminate the problems involved when students' faces appear on Web sites.

She said her goal was 3 "take-away" ideas for each of us. For me those ideas were creating wikis for projects, the use of iGoogle for students' information spaces, and "Death by Powerpoint." I sat through 3 Powerpoint presentations at work on Thursday. All of which were boring. Using her ideas could really liven up a presentation. I'm not sure that the corporate world is ready for this "new" type of Powerpoint, but I believe its a great way to convey ideas in a school environment, at a conference, or perhaps during a multi-media sermon. I have a feeling you may see 3 innovative Powerpoints about our Web sites.

I'm looking forward to further exploring Joyce's Web resources and professional lessons available online. Not all may be immediately useful, but her site will be a good way to stay on the cutting edge of technology.

ED 566E - March 22, 2008, No. 9

Once again an interesting class. While we were looking at Google Earth someone asked how we would use this in the library and neither of us could come up with a good answer, but on further reflection I think that many of the new Web 2.0 tools aren't things that we necessarily need to use in the library at this point, but the idea is that we could use them. They are just extras at the moment and kids like always like the newest hippest thing. No one needs Google Earth, but a student doing a presentation on the Eifell Tower could put it into Google Earth to give the people watching the presentation another way to look at the Eifell Tower. Its an enhancement and I think that is how we need to view these new tools for now. 15 years ago people thought Power Point was completely unnecessary and now students wouldn't do a presentation without it. Some of these web 2.0 tools may be become integral like power point, while other will not last and for that reason we should have an awareness of them. So we can be part of that process. This thought has really changed my perspective on what we are learning in this course.

ED 566E - March 9, 2008, No. 8

I really enjoyed this week's class. I did not understand widgets at all (i.e. how they worked, why I would use one). The hands on practical use of widgets was really helpful. I put 3 different widgets in this blog and it is interesting to see how they are all different. I especially liked the library thing search widget although some people were having trouble getting accurate results. I've done some experimenting since then with putting widgets in our group website. I've used very basic widgets that are available through freewebs.com. Turns out I've been seeing widgets for a quite a while on other websites. The one I've used in our website seems to be a popular one. It allows a user to create an RSS feed from a website or page.

Working on our website was good too. We divided up the tasks so we each have something specific to work on for the next 2 weeks. I'm creating links to age-appropriate author web sites, podcasts, and book reviews. Finding the information and creating the links has been interesting. I've experimented with some free clip art too.

Finally, I think I'm addicted to ProQuest. I know I'm addicted to information. As you could see from my search strategy I like to include as many specific key words as possible and I'm amazed at all the relevant information that comes back.

Shelfari: Book reviews on your book blog

library thing search

library thing

ED 566E - March 2, 2008, No. 6

I liked seeing del.ici.ous on Thursday night. I had previously dismissed it as something I wasn't interested in. I'm still not sure that I was used it a lot, but I can now see the use for it. I do collect lots of bookmarks and it would be nice to share them with family and friends.

What I really enjoyed was getting a chance to work with my group and discuss our project. It was already becoming apparent that we have different strengths and weaknesses. Ellen came up with a great name and I think it will work well to focus our project. We've already had some preliminary discussions since class about what we can include.

Also, it was great to learn how to do a screen capture. That is something that has elluded me for years. I can see using that a lot in my personal and professional life.

ED 566E - Feburary 23, 2008, No. 6

What a fun class this week. I've heard of and seen SmartBoards before, but was never given such a great demo of the multiple capabilities. My mother actually won a grant to have a SmartBoard permanently mounted in her classroom. She uses it for everything.

What I enjoyed even more was the opportunity to see the subscription websites Doris has for elementary kids. I'm familiar with what the public can access through the public library, but I don't have a way to access the educational subscription websites. Demoing these sites right before doing this week's reading (on educational sofware) really gave me a lot to think about. The sites have all sorts of cool graphics and the videos are fun, but I think as teachers we have to use these resources cautiously. They should enhance the learning experience, not replace it. Doris is obviously using it to enhance what she is teaching, but I can see some lazier teachers relying too heavily on websites and software. The other problem is sometimes it seems like you click through lots of layers to get to something interesting that doesn't last very long.

Of course it always good to get into an actual library to see how each librarian organizes the library and makes use of the space they have. Doris has done a lot with a very small space.

ED 566E - Feburary 15, 2008, No. 5

What a lively class last night. It was interesting hearing how others thought they use blogs and wikis in a library. And we touched briefly on a few other web 2.0 tools (i.e. widgets, bookmarklets, atoms, etc.). There is so much happening out there that it is good that we can ask about various things that we discover during the week or during class. I also had fun exploring "More" on the Google search page. I never realized how much was available. I felt like I got quite a lot out of the first half of class.

I also felt the second half of class was useful. If was good to hear what everyone's expectations of the class were and I am very excited about creating some type of Website using the various tools we are being exposed to. It doesn't need to be a library web site, but perhaps a web site focusing on one aspect of the library. One example would be literature. It could include blogging about book reviews the students have read as well as links to author sites. I'm looking forward to exploring these ideas more.

ED 566E - Feburary 9, 2008, No. 4

This week's class was extremely useful. Talking about how people can and do use blogs and wikis in the classroom gave me some good starting points for using some of these Web 2.0 tools. I even went to wikispaces and created a preliminary personal wiki just to get used to some of the tools available.

One of the key things that came out of class is that these tools may be available, but many schools have put significant restrictions on what sites can be accessed from schools and many of these sites require e-mail addresses. These are both significant obstacles to implementing these types of tools in a school situation. As blogs and wikis and other web 2.0 tools become more common schools are going to need to address how they will handle access. Will schools manage blog and wiki spaces of their own for students and teachers to use in the school environment? Will schools provide e-mail addresses for all students? How will these needs be balanced with the increasing need for privacy and security of students?

I think both tools could be used with students and that the library is a particularly good place to pilot some programs.

ED 566E - Feburary 2, 2008, No. 3

I think it is great that we are looking at a lot of Web 2.0 tools like blogs, wikis, rss feeds. Unfortuantely, I think there is so much out there that we aren't getting a chance to look at things as deeply as I would like. I was glad to learn about the web-based rss aggregator because I had only used the tool built into IE.

Typically, after class I come home and end up looking for things we talked about in class on the internet. This week I did come home and set up several ProQuest alerts for searches related to my projects this semester. I received several alerts this morning.

The school library listserv that I subscribe to had someone post her blog and web site. I posted the Web site on the class discussion boards. She had some ideas on how to progressively introduce yourself to Web 2.0. I've spent some time the last two days exploring the blogs, wikis, etc. that she recommends. My favorite so far is VoiceThread. I can think of lots of uses for this in and out of the school setting.

I would like to have more discussion in class on how the various tools we have been introduced to can be used in the school library environment.

ED 566E - January 26, 2008 - No. 2

I enjoyed the discussion of Wikipedia tonight. I use Wikipedia frequently as a jumping off point for information for my personal life. I've never used it for anything school-related, but I definitely agree with Jeffrey that it is a good starting point and can often link you to good sources. People feel very strongly about Wikipedia. I think it is a site that you can introduce your older and more savvy students (middle school and up) and maybe be use it as a way to discuss evaulating Web sites and content. Many in the class come from an elementary school background and I think at that age kids need absolutes and thus a complete ban of Wikipedia is necessary.

The collaboration discussion was also interesting. Collaboration is important in all work settings. Its always better to rely on someone with exisiting knowledge (and educate youself) rather than trying to learn a subject completely yourself. I'm hoping that I'll be able to take some of my past success collaborating at my current job to collaborate in a school setting. I've learned a lot about working with a very diverse group of people.

And one last thing. The chat thing was fun and I think it created a real sense of community in the class. 7 of the people in this class were in one of my classes last semester and I feel like I know them better after the chatting than I ever did last semester.

ED 566E - January 17, 2007 - No. 1

Last night's class was an interesting preview of what we could possibly learn in this class and what other things we could actually pursue on our own. The entire ride home my mind was thinking about various topics for Response Papers and Independent Learning Papers. The search orientation results gave me some good starting points - blogs, podcasting, wikis, web 2.0. I jotted some of these ideas down to use as keywords in my searches.

The lecture on the "Triangle of Collaboration" also provided some food for thought. My three other classes have focused a lot on collaboration, but it is always with the classroom teacher with some mention of collaborating with specials (i.e., art, music, etc.) and administration, but no one has ever mentioned collaborating with IT. Reflecting on your presentation this seems like a major omission in the collaboration philosophy. The LMC has become so technology-driven that IT would be a natural partner. I think teachers see IT as a "support" service rather than an integral part of teaching. Yet another preconceived notion that needs changing.

I'm looking forward to figure out how to use these new tools to share information with students and colleagues and also how to use them to retrieve information. There is so much information out on the Web in the form of blogs and wikis that I want to be able to use on a regular basis.