Thing #23

OK, I think I need to pinch myself. I am finally finished with 23 things!!!!! WOO HOO!
I would say my favorite things were all of the fun photo sites and tools, and the Google calendar. I am looking forward to using them at my school. I think overall this experience has really pushed me to take a chance online and learn something new. I think the next time I am challenged with technology I can look back to this jam packed summer course and pull experience from it. If a similar activity was offered to me in the future then I think I would participate, but maybe over a longer period of time. (And I hope that by then I won't procrastinate.....)

23 thing in a sentence: An introduction to online educational tools I might now have discovered on my own.

Thing #22

I don't know, I suppose Ning could be a professional social networking site that I could eventually use. It seemed to create a connection for librarians, but to be honest I am in technology overload. I think that in the future I might create a Ning account to jump into the library social networking scene, but for now I am satisfied just knowing it's there.

Thing #21

Well for whatever reason I have not been able to download Photostory and I am very frustrated. Since I will not be able to create a pocast now, I searched through some online that I thought would be neat. I want to show podcasts of the Blubonnet Book Award nominees and I found a couple. The following links to a short podcast on Toys Go Out. http://media.switchpod.com/users/amitchell/ToysGoOutEspisode1.wmv

Thing #20

I have known about and used YouTube for awhile now, but this summer was the first time that I ever used: http://www.teachertube.com/ .Videos are a great way to learn and teach, and teachertube is a great resource to use.

Thing #19

I always feel like there is nothing fun to do so I decided to explore the events tool http://upcoming.yahoo.com/
It was actually really cool, you can look up event all over the world. I of course chose the Houston area, and the site listed every event you could think of from politics to concerts to plays. It has a sign in tool in which you can store and share the events you plan to join. I definitely plan to you this as a personal tool, but it also has events categorized as family and another as education. If you haven't checked it out, it's quick and useful.

Thing #18

I decided to use Google Docs since I already have a Google account. I once again can't believe I didn't already know about this online tool. These free document creators are great for students that don't have office at home, and they are easy to use and navigate. I guess one of the only drawbacks is if the internet is not working then you wouldn't be able to create documents offline without office. If you have any information on offline information I would be interested in it.

Thing #17

This is the Rollyo that I just started on African American Inventors: (it needs work but I was just testing to see if I could do it.)
http://rollyo.com/search.html?prevsid=439260&q=Search+for...&sid=439260

Once I actually make it functional with more appropriate sites and databases, I will use it for a research project for the fourth graders at my school. Rollyo.com has a lot of potential as a research tool in the classroom because it allows teachers and myself to provide a more accurate and faster to find information.

Thing #16

Woo-Hoo Wikis! This is another tool that I had heard a lot about, but never really understood before joining Library2play. This is going to be a great tool for me to use to collaborate for my personal life as well as school. I can use a wiki to plan a grade level collaboration idea, as well as a group event with friends and family.

Thing #15

To me, Library 2.0 is a reminder that my job as a librarian is always going to be changing, because the needs of the patrons change. One thing that I found interesting is the point that was made about collection development. The point was basically that a lot of the information patrons are interested in is no longer needed in print form. I am glad that I have taken this class before I start this next year as a librarian, because, though I have always known that as a librarian technology is going to play a VERY large role in what I do, I didn't feel confident in the tools to do it.

Thing #14

OK, I have to be honest. I am not currently feeling Technorati. I think this is one that is going to take a lot of time to understand and use. I am not an experienced blogger so that alone has been a new challenge for me, but Technorati has so many things going on, that it is hard for me to understand how to use it in a time saving way. The YouTube video on Technorati was interesting, but it did not help me understand it.

Thing #13

I watched both the teacher tube tutorial and podcast on del.icio.us, and I didn't get a whole lot more out of the podcast than I did the teacher tube video. Well I have been hearing lots and lots about del.icio.us.com, and I finally have explored it on my own, and the verdict is.......I really like it. I can use it at school and for personal use. The greatest part about it is many others have already done the hard work for you.

Thing #12

Two main points that I got about commenting are that as a commenter I should not leave negative posts that will create hostility, and also not to post blogs that are so informative that there is nothing left to comment on. There's really no point, and anytime I read a blog that is full of negative comments and banter between author and commenter I leave the blog with a bad taste in my mouth. I also know from experience that if a blogger says all there is to say I have no reason to comment.

I found a blog about cat aggression towards other cats, because I am considering getting another cat, but I worry about my cat getting along with a new "friend."

Thing #11

Wow, Library Thing was really fun! I just added a few of the books I have recently read. There are lots of things to explore on this site and I think that it is useful at school and home. This site can be used for the kids to create their own libraries and discover other books that might interest them.

Thing # 10

Made with free image tools @ TXT2PIC.com



Thing number 10 has probably been my favorite so far. I had a lot of fun playing with the different sites. I posted the cartoon that I created from http://www.comicstripgenerator.com/ and the button from http://www.imagechef.com/ . These sites could be used for many creative projects in the among teachers, librarians, and students.

Thing #9

I have to be honest I think the method that I was drawn to and felt most comfortable with at first was the Google blog search. When I searched library2play I was able to look at short annotations of many of my fellow "players". At first I thought Technorati was going to be to confusing to use, but after a couple of broad irrelevant searches I finally got the hang of it. I found a couple of neat blogs for librarians and I thought the topix.net was interesting ,but I did not add anything new to my reader, because I feel that I want to explore these sites more before I bite off more than I can chew.

Thing #8

OK, I have been avoiding this "thing", because the first and second time I tried it I couldn't get it. I know your probably thinking I'm a little slow, but I guess I was just frustrated because I honestly had never even heard of a RSS feed. So, anyway I sat down and actually had an open mind about it, and it really wasn't that bad. I mainly just added some of the recommended blogs and I added a weather feed as well as a fun things to do in Houston bog. Now that I got it started I can see that it will save time in the future. I am excited about the fun things to do in Houston blog, because my family, friends, and I are always trying to find things to do. As a librarian this will be a way for me to keep up with new trends and ideas without wasting a lot of searching time.