Week 9, Thing # 23 Summarizing it all

I learned so much from this experience. I'd never listened to a podcast before, much less known how to find one! You Tube was only slightly familiar, RSS feeds were untouched, etc. Now I've signed up for so many various feeds I've flooded myself with too much information, but it's so hard to resist!
I loved some of the sites, and have shared the info with teachers, students, and my own family. There's been a touch of awe from many of them, first at the technology, and also at the fact that I even know about it...I'm surprised myself.
The course has helped me to overcome some of the reluctance, and even fears, I had about approaching some of these things, and I feel much more comfortable with exploring on my own, now, too. What's the worst that can happen, anyway?
The nine weeks is fast, and maybe too compact for me. I fell behind and had to cram the past few days in order to get it all done. I had some trouble learning how to blog, and may not have included all that I wished to, or should have, so that is an ongoing learning experience. I'd like to keep the blog, or at least start another, to use in collaborative projects with teachers and students in my high school media center. It will be a great way to share info on recommended sites, homework, projects, new book and materials, etc.
While not a fan of Wikipedia, I've come to appreciate the give and take of this kind of technology, and really appreciate the variety of opinions and voices to be found in shared online communities. School library media teachers are all about collaboration, which is found in huge quantities in SchoolLibrary Learning 2.0.
Thanks so much to our Californina colleagues for preparing this course, and the MSLA for offering it to us.
In one sentence:
"This is the best professional development offering I've ever participated in."

Week 9, Thing # 22 ebooks and audio ebooks

I've got a fairly large collection of audiobooks (mostly donated) in my high school library. Most are on audiocassettes, and are bulky and inconvenient to use, as students no longer have Walkmen on which to listen to them. Tiny technology now, and so much more convenient. I think it's important to offer these audio formats, as many people learn better by listening, or in different venues.
I looked at the Project Gutenberg link, and downloaded all of Jane Austen's Emma in less than a minute. Clear print, and easy to read, though it required rotating the text every two-page spread. Over all it is amazing!
I also found the link to Distributed Proofreaders---they are looking for volunteers to proofread materials to be included in the project. This was a real example of the communal and sharing nature of much of these new technologies.

Week 9, Thing #21 Podcasts

I looked at a number of the podcast directories; I thought "Educational Podcast Directory" was my favorite, as it's clear and easy to use. I looked at Travel, Foreign Language, and ESL sites, all areas of personal interest. I know of people who have saved podcast travel info on their Ipods and have used them as guided tours in other cities.
Lots of nice things to listen to, and useful for self-instruction, especially if listening to native speakers when learning a foreign language.

Week 9, Thing #20

You Tube is blocked in my school; too many instances of "inappropriate content" to pass muster. Students complain about that a lot, and once in a while we can get it unblocked to access something, but it's not easy.
I look at it from time to time, usually on recommendation from someone who wants me to check out a funny or instructive video. There's so much on it, and it's fun to browse, you can find yourself wandering far off the beaten path.

Try http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJlkplvYdgA

Week 8, Thing #19---make that LibraryThing

I liked looking into this site, but I never enjoy cataloging; not at work, and certainly not at home! Still, I can understand the fun in joining a large cirle of like-minded readers, and it could be useful for book clubs, curriculum connections, and the like.
I did link to my mini-collection in LibraryThing for this exercise, and there are MANY others who have tagged the Jane Austen novels.
Tags are growing on me---once I read the comparison to putting labels on folders, and having the same thing in more than one folder it made more sense. How many times I've looked in my recipe file for apple squares, and had to search under apple, brownies, cookies, squares, before finding it---usually on the shelf beside the box, waiting to be filed...

Week 8, Thing # 18

That's my Zoho document in the previous posting. So easy! Students using the library computers are always asking to send their work to themselves at home, or to another student--web applications such as this are much better for that type of collaboration and multiple-venue working. You learn something new everyday...

Untitled

Starting with Zoho

 

I do some work for school at home, and will sometimes forget to email myself the document, or to save it to a memory stick. I'll use this site for all that type of work in the future. I've tried Google Docs, but like the Zoho set-up more.  It seems friendlier,   easier to use, and has many ecstra extra features to incorporate.