Thing 23 completion

I think what I liked best about this was I had a little time to devote to it during the summer and that I could proceed at my own pace.  I'd like to rework this blog into a reading-centered one linked into my school web page and Edline page.  I can see it as a communication tool for teachers, even parents.  An online book club is a definate possibility with one of the Web 2.0 tools.   I've learned a tremendous amount, even though some of it was a brief overview.  I feel like I can keep up with the kids now better.  I hope the site 23 things will be kept up so I can go back and pick up some of the tools I'd like to look at more.

Thing 22 keeping up

Keeping current is indeed the hardest part of all.  There are only 24 hours in the day!  I like the resolution to spend 15 minutes daily working through library 2.0 things.  That would be my resolution.  Will it work? Once I get back in the school routine, I'll be keeping track in my planner.  There are many sites and databases even that I hadn't seen before, and those I'll go back to as I can.  

Thing 21 beyond myspace

I joined Gather.com and the 23things ning.  These both have potential, and in many ways I prefer the smaller focus of something like 23things.  Both were easy to join.  The hard part is keeping one's user names and passwords straight for all these sites. 

Thing 20 Social networks

Love the Hennepin County Libraries Myspace page.  Again, reaching out to users with the new media.  I have a Facebook page that I created this summer, but not much on it yet.

Thing 19 podcasts

Again, here is a tool that we've used at school this past year.  Once you get past the network issues, it's useful.  Again, like everything else, you have to be sure your project is organized (Research calculator use?) and the content is acceptable.  I looked at both podcast.com and the educational podcast site.  Podcast.com is easy to use, but it takes time to  wade through all the possibilities.  There are some in French, but not all that many.  South View has done 2 author podcasts as part of their author visits, with links on their webpage.  I also of course liked the public radio podcasts.

Thing 18 Youtube

I think I finally got it, the directions weren't all that obvious.  I put a link to Frank's Youtube video of our robin family in the lilacs this summer.  He originally had about an 2 hours' worth of film, and edited it down to what you see here with iMovie.  I picked this partly because of that, and also because there are no copyright issues here.  I think copyright/fair use is probably the biggest issue with video sharing.  

Thing 17 ELM

I like the way this Thing was set up to guide the user through some of the features in ELM.  The little videos on each are good; even as a regular user, one forgets either that the feature exists, or how to use it.  Our district media webpages all have access to ELM databases as one of the online resources we routinely provide.  I think teachers often forget (or maybe didn't know about) these great resources.  We need to help them embed the use of these in their assignments.  There's something for all ages & abilities here.

Thing 16 Research Calendar

This is a very similar approach to research as Michael Eisenberg's Big6 approach, which we already use with our district.  I love the fact that it's easy, online, and takes the user through each step.  Email reminders are great too.  One of the hardest things to do is to keep kids on task over the long haul, and this, being online, helps.  I've begun creating an online RPC for myself for my September library introduction presentations I do each year.  Very helpful.  

Thing 15: Games

I think that as librarians, we absolutely cannot afford to ignore this area (games), but all too often we do.  Especially those of us who work daily with young people - this is a great way to reach them.  The Hennepin Co. libraries here have already taken the plunge and it's given me an idea for my own media center-a special time and area here after school devoted to games, as a way to draw kids in.  I've saw Second Life last summer-cool!  I'll play around with Puzzle pirates later.

Thing 14: Library Thing

What fun!  I took the tour and it's one of the easiest ones to do.  This may be partly because of my library background in cataloging, but I noticed from other members' blogs at metronet that they found it easy & useful too.  My Librarything will be devoted to audiobooks, which I think are a way to get kids and others interested in reading and authors.  It will be posted as soon on this blog.

Thing 13: Online productivity tools

I already have an iGoogle start page.  One thing I have noticed is that if there is too much video and picture content, the page can be slow to load especially at home.  This is an annoyance if all you want to do is to search Google.  Couldn't get the countdown widget working quite right on this blog, but did activate the one on the 23things blog. I did read the Wired article about online calendars.  Our district already uses an online calendar within and between buildings, so that isn't a particularly new concept for me.  I'll go back later to Remember the milk-the title is so catchy. 

Thing 12 social media sites

I checked out Mixx, Digg, Newsvine and Reddit.  It takes a lot of time to figure each one out, but I can see the potential and why tech-savvy people would like to use it.  Whether it wastes time or enhances productivity would I suppose depend on the topic.  I used the share tools in a NYTimes article about Facebook, which was quite easy; someone else had already shared it to Digg.  

Thing 11

1.  I've already been tagging this 23things blog in Blogger-no problem there.  Sort of like indexing.  I can see how del.icio.us can be useful when you are working on more than 1 computer-also shared by a class or group of students.  Maybe used for book reviews, authors etc.  Who knows?  The list is endless.  I've created an account there, added bookmarks from eSchool news I got from emailings.  Useful to see others' bookmarks too.

Thing 10 wikis and wikipedia

Wikipedia has its place.  I actually saw a student art teacher use it last year as a basis for a project in her class about different architectural styles.  In that case, it saved some time and helped the students concentrate on the general material about the style they selected.  However, like any encyclopedia, it's a jumping off place, not the sole source for a project.  

I edited the 23 Things wiki and added a picture of my hometown library.

Thing 9 online collaboration tools

I've used Google documents before at school, but not Zoho.  Once I get permission to edit, we'll compare in a future post.  Just having seen the HBO series John Adams (highly recommended to you by the way), much of which focuses around the writing of the declaration, I'd say it would have made Thomas Jefferson's job that much harder, since everyone could get in on the act.  And it was hard enough just as it was!  

Later (July 24)-well I can see HOW it works in both Google docs and ZOHO, but I can't actually get into the document to change/add anything at this point with either one.  So, since vacation is coming up, I'll put this aside for now.

Thing 7 communication tools

Email is the basis of how I communicate with other staff in the district and building.  I almost automatically go to to email first, before voicemail.  Email definitely favors those who prefer writing to talking, which is me.  Online reference or reading guidance using text messaging could work; right now though it's very limited in our situation by lack of proper software, hardware and support.  In this, the institution lacks behind the users (students).  

Thing 8 mosaic scenic views

scenic views, originally uploaded by maryelliott123.

An illustration of what could be done to add pictures to a web page perhaps. Created using Mosaic from Big Huge Labs.  I'd recommend this to others to try, especially if you have a certain subject in mind.

Thing 6: Online images

Where in the world is, originally uploaded by maryelliott123.

Whew! I did it-it took awhile. I was able to link it to a map also. That's a fun thing, and could be very useful for teachers. An issue is of course, copyright and fair use, as well as how to find a picture in the first place. For convenience, I used a personal photo from our collection, but when you're working with photos, images found in a Google search, that's another matter.

Thing 5: mashups

I've gotten somewhat bogged down in Flickr-I have to consciously think about how to get what's on Flickr onto the blog correctly.  I did like the Big Huge Labs site though- everything in one place.  I can see using the map for example to show where students are from for example.  I think without careful instructions though, Flickr & Big Huge Labs would be a little difficult for a whole class to use.  Teachers though could use it very creatively.  In a virtual world where most error messages consist of "Error 401" or Sorry, can't do that, Splashr's gentle, humorous messages stand out; "You need to enter some tags, a user id or a photoset id.  I can't find anything without some parameters.  Mmmm, parameters."  ;-)

Little Pigeon River, Smokies 1981

Little Pigeon River, Smokies taken by Frank Elliott in 1981.  The first Flickr upload success for this blog.  It takes practice to do this-which part on Flickr allows you to select, save, upload, etc.