Thursday, July 23, 2009
Week 9: Online Collaborations/Applications tools
Since I already use Google, I added Docs and started playing with it. Easy as pie. I think it is fabulous since I work at 2 schools and I am always emailing things back and forth or searching for a flash drive. Now my stuff will always be right there. I bet that all the things I do in Word are available. I started to create a new Year at a glance for what I will teach in library this year. These kinds of things help keep me organized and ensure I have enough time. I think it would be neat to share it with the other librarians in my district. We can add comments, etc.
I love iGoogle because everything I need is right there. I love that my Docs can be searched right from that screen. I am going to try to use the Calendar this year too.
Bubbl.us was terrific. At school, we like to use inspiration with our students. That allows them to brainstorm ideas and make connections. The Bubbl.us was similar. I will have to play with it more, but certainly a great option.
I played with last.fm. That was a lot of fun. I am not sure how that would work in school, but personally it is cool.
I love iGoogle because everything I need is right there. I love that my Docs can be searched right from that screen. I am going to try to use the Calendar this year too.
Bubbl.us was terrific. At school, we like to use inspiration with our students. That allows them to brainstorm ideas and make connections. The Bubbl.us was similar. I will have to play with it more, but certainly a great option.
I played with last.fm. That was a lot of fun. I am not sure how that would work in school, but personally it is cool.
Week 8: Presentations
These presentation tools are really amazing! I loved the professionalism and the possibilities. Slideshare took a little bit to figure out, but there were many resources there. Sliderocket looks really spectacular, although it is certainly tailored toward business. It would be interesting to see if they had something for educators that doesn't cost. I think that is one of the things that impressed me the most though, was the amazing ability to do everything via the web and the apparent seamlessness of it all. I liked that Sliderocket would work no matter what platform, because especially in education, that is a huge issue.
What I didn't like about Slideshare (and maybe I just missed something, although they said they don't currently support audio) was that all I see are the slides, but not the rest of the presentation.
I can see lots of ways these can be used in the library, either myself creating a presentation to highlight activities or for students to create them to share their learning. However, one of the biggest challenges is always how safe is it for students to use? That is something I will definitely be exploring this year. My students are elementary and it is not appropriate for them to have all kinds of accounts, but that is something that the tech integration teacher or myself can help with.
Here is one I liked:
What I didn't like about Slideshare (and maybe I just missed something, although they said they don't currently support audio) was that all I see are the slides, but not the rest of the presentation.
I can see lots of ways these can be used in the library, either myself creating a presentation to highlight activities or for students to create them to share their learning. However, one of the biggest challenges is always how safe is it for students to use? That is something I will definitely be exploring this year. My students are elementary and it is not appropriate for them to have all kinds of accounts, but that is something that the tech integration teacher or myself can help with.
Here is one I liked:
Building a school library 2.0
View more presentations from Dana Dukic.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Week 7: Photos & Images
I think these applications are so much fun! I am making myself play with them this summer! I loved the slideshow with the puppets. That is one thing I definitely could see using. Often students make various projects in my school and bring them to the library to share. I think I am going to try that this week!
The comiq site is also great, but as a public school, I do worry about letting students just search around for images. The same worry goes with flickr. We use Comic Life in our schools and the kids and teachers LOVE it. For us, that is a safer alternative. We can control the pictures.
The comiq site is also great, but as a public school, I do worry about letting students just search around for images. The same worry goes with flickr. We use Comic Life in our schools and the kids and teachers LOVE it. For us, that is a safer alternative. We can control the pictures.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Week 6: Organize Your Books
These sites are really neat. A friend of mine from Seattle got me involved in Shelfari a while back. I don't use it too much, but they send me emails about new things they think I might like and when someone who is on my list does something, they let me know. I think there is much more, I just haven't had time to explore.
I am curious to see if these work at any school libraries and in what capacity. Although I haven't really looked at it, another LMS in my district is very excited about Destiny Quest from Follett and the things he can do at the 7th and 8th grade level. I don't think it is exactly the same, but it does allow kids to rate books and more.
I am curious to see if these work at any school libraries and in what capacity. Although I haven't really looked at it, another LMS in my district is very excited about Destiny Quest from Follett and the things he can do at the 7th and 8th grade level. I don't think it is exactly the same, but it does allow kids to rate books and more.
Week 5: RSS Feeds and Custom Home Pages
The RSS feeds are neat. I signed up for the Bloglines (easy) and picked some of the items. Some of them I had no idea about what they were, but I chose the Shifted Librarian, Reuters News, and Quotes of the Day. I do love the way that it is easy to find and read the things you are interested in. I had already put NPR, the weather, the calendar, a to do list, google news, and CNN news on there already. It is just that I forget to open iGoogle.
One thing that comes to me daily is a Poem of the Day. I love that and think that is a great way to get poetry out there. I normally wouldn't read all those or look for them, but now they come to me. I also had downloaded a poetry widget for Poem in your Pocket day. That was a great way to find poems to use with my students.
How can libraries take advantage of these new technologies? I was thinking for my library web page that book review feeds would be great, but I'm not sure what is out there for kids. I could also see things like the quote of the day or word of the day being of interest.
One thing that comes to me daily is a Poem of the Day. I love that and think that is a great way to get poetry out there. I normally wouldn't read all those or look for them, but now they come to me. I also had downloaded a poetry widget for Poem in your Pocket day. That was a great way to find poems to use with my students.
How can libraries take advantage of these new technologies? I was thinking for my library web page that book review feeds would be great, but I'm not sure what is out there for kids. I could also see things like the quote of the day or word of the day being of interest.
Week 4: Social Bookmarking
I have gotten a bit behind because on March 25, I started adding books to our new online catalog. I have 2 libraries to do and about 20,000 books, so that has taken priority. We are nearly done.
Social bookmarking is just something I have been exploring a bit this year. I have a del.icio.us account and the other elementary librarian and our tech integration people share sites this way. As with most things, I don't use it to its full capability, but I truly hope to get better at it next year. It certainly has been easier than making my own lists and emailing ideas. Since we all study the same curriculum, sharing these through del.icio.us has been very handy.
I think in a school it is a great idea! I would love to get the teachers involved so that I can share things I have found for them and for their students as they do different projects.
Social bookmarking is just something I have been exploring a bit this year. I have a del.icio.us account and the other elementary librarian and our tech integration people share sites this way. As with most things, I don't use it to its full capability, but I truly hope to get better at it next year. It certainly has been easier than making my own lists and emailing ideas. Since we all study the same curriculum, sharing these through del.icio.us has been very handy.
I think in a school it is a great idea! I would love to get the teachers involved so that I can share things I have found for them and for their students as they do different projects.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Week 3: Wikis
I have been looking at the TeenLibWiki which has some neat ideas. I like the book list idea. I have been trying to think how I could put book lists or ideas for my students on my webpage and this could be a good way of organizing. Their ideas for programming is great. I love to share ideas and this is one more way to put things out for everyone to check out.
I also have been thinking about getting some book reviews for the students, but perhaps what would be better would be to have them writing their own and posting them.
On the examples of Educational Wikis, I looked at Arbor Heights Elementary's site. They are thinking of changing their old web page to the wiki one. It definitely has the community participating through discussion topics. Interesting.
There was also one by a school in Scotland, U.K. They were sharing their learning about Pakistan with a wiki instead of something more tradtional. I could see that being a great way for my students to share and work collaboratively.
I also have been thinking about getting some book reviews for the students, but perhaps what would be better would be to have them writing their own and posting them.
On the examples of Educational Wikis, I looked at Arbor Heights Elementary's site. They are thinking of changing their old web page to the wiki one. It definitely has the community participating through discussion topics. Interesting.
There was also one by a school in Scotland, U.K. They were sharing their learning about Pakistan with a wiki instead of something more tradtional. I could see that being a great way for my students to share and work collaboratively.
Week 2: Blogs
It took me a while to get here, but I finally created my blog. It was surprisingly easy!
I loved reading the blog examples. They were all a bit different. What frustrates me is that, like with most things, I feel like I don't have enough time to keep up with all of this. I am making time to do this CT 23 and the more I learn, the more time I want to spend on all of this.
I would like to find more examples of how public school libraries are using blogs. I have a web page, which students and staff use frequently, so I would like to see in what capacity a blog could be added.
I loved reading the blog examples. They were all a bit different. What frustrates me is that, like with most things, I feel like I don't have enough time to keep up with all of this. I am making time to do this CT 23 and the more I learn, the more time I want to spend on all of this.
I would like to find more examples of how public school libraries are using blogs. I have a web page, which students and staff use frequently, so I would like to see in what capacity a blog could be added.
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