Google Docs

I admit to being VERY disappointed that I can't get Lee Lefever's In Plain English Videos on Tags or Flickr. Oh, the videos are there, but they are  private. I even tried going around and in through YouTube-no luck. So, I tried to get through a different author's video on tags, and it just wasn't working. I am definitely spoiled by LeFever's simple, concise explanations. I guess I will have to come back to Tagging and Flickr later. I need to learn about Google Docs anyway, because we use it at school, and I have no idea how to use it.

After watching my favorite explain-it-all guy - I discovered another link to google docs for educators http://www.google.com/educators/p_docs.html

This above web page contains 4 different links on how to use Google Docs including the In Plain English video, and also how teachers and principals are using Google Docs in their schools.

I really like Google Docs; it's free and you can use it to create and share online documents. Instead of emailing around files and having to deal with confusion and extra work in managing different file versions, anyone (that you send a link to) can edit the document online from anywhere. This has great applications for me. I was just thinking about our school library's web page. I guess no one has looked at it in a long time because it is very out of date. Since I hope to be working there full-time soon, I really want the web page to reflect well on the library...and it doesn't. The page boasts a "t-Line" internet connection, when we have hi-speed comcast now...I'm sure you get the picture. So, in thinking how to use Google Docs, I could take the scan the original web page into Google Docs, upload it, put in my updates to the web page, and then send it to the Principal, Dean of Students, the Tech guy, and the Web Page person. All could see it and make changes without every having to leave their office or classroom. Cool...and no meetings.

G-Mail Motion

I am so excited about this new technology - I can see G-Mail Motion having wide applications in all forms of communication. People could integrate this new form of communication across schools, libraries and institutions...and the physical aspects of using G-mail Motion increase the physical exercise that we all need.

To understand more about G-Mail Motion, watch this simple, quick video-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bu927_ul_X0

Happy April Fool's Day - I hope you enjoyed the good laugh, I know I did!

Books I'm Reading Now- The Giver

The Giver won the 1994 Newberry award and is an excellent thought- provoking novel. Jonas is a twelve year old boy who lives in a utopian society where everything is the same. Everything is controlled; the weather, the landscape, work assignments.There are no colors, everything is uniform. People are assigned mates and children; there are no choices. Jonas is chosen to be a “receiver” to hold the past pain and memories. Slowly coming to the realization of a world of choices and differences, Jonas embarks on a path from which he will never return.

Evaluation: I loved this book, although I am not a great reader of science fiction. The Giver forces you to think about choices in life that all of us take for granted every day. Often challenged in schools, this is not your ordinary book; it will stay with you long after you have finished it.The Giver is great introduction to literature on Utopian societies. It would also work well in an American Government class.

Twitter

 

I am now a huge fan of In Plain English Videos! This one on Twitter is great; Lee LeFever does a witty job delivering information simply and quickly. He explains Twitter in under 3 minutes; and all with a sense of humor! I'm sure he is famous for all his In Plain English Videos - I am going to look for all of them. Here is the link to the one on twitter

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddO9idmax0o&feature=relmfu

So, about Twitter; I don't understand why people would want to share information about their daily (boring!) activities. Why would you want to know what people are doing 24/7? Twitter is dumb...who cares if you are drinking a cup of coffee, or doing laundry, or reading a book? And all of those people begging to be following. How ironic...the video talks about sharing information with people you care about, yet people you don't know are begging you to follow their daily lives...No thanks!

How to use Twitter in libraries; I think you can accomplish getting out the "breaking news" better with a blog or Facebook. Daily life is just too mundane to be tweeted about. So are all people who tweet, twitter twats?

What I'm Reading Now

Winner of the Newberry Award and the Scott O’Dell Award for Historical fiction, Karen Hesse’s poetry book, Out of the Dust is simply haunting. Written in free verse, Out of the Dust is about a family caught in the dust bowls that hit Oklahoma in the thirties. Told by Billie Jo; a fourteen year old teen, who watches as her family is consumed by dust that covers the land, houses and animals. She must find a way to leave this hopeless place, even if it means leaving her family behind.

Evaluation: I couldn’t put this book down, and I have never felt that way about a poetry book. Karen Hesse is able to capture the heart of this tragic story in just a few poetic lines. Powerful in its simplicity, this book will stay with you. It is an excellent choice for a unit on poetry and to include in American History during the thirties

Facebook

Facebook - I dreaded this "thing" to learn. I have put off learning this, ignored friends requests to join, even resisted the temptation to sign up to spy on my kids. This is just too much information for me, and I feel uncomfortable using it. But, when I viewed the commoncraft video on Facebook at the SLJ Learning 2.0 website, the video made it look pretty easy, so hating and dreading it, I signed up on Facebook to see how it worked. Actually, it was pretty easy. You just go to facebook and then answer the questions to create your profile. And Facebook will add the images to the answers you pick, like a picture of your old high school - that was pretty neat - you don't have to add the images yourself. I have seen all the little Facebook logos on blogs and websites, so I am sure you can somehow follow the business on its Facebook page.

Thinking about how you could use Facebook in a high school library; the first thing that comes to mind is that libraries need to go where students are - and they are all on Facebook. Libraries could have a presence on Facebook and use it to update all the news in the Library - new books, new exhibits.Now that I have my Facebook page,  I am now going to investigate how libraries are using Facebook and I will report back to update.

Here is the link to the commoncraft videos that explain Facebook; it is real simple and less than 5 minutes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6a_KF7TYKVc&feature=player_embedded

Thing 4- Wikis

Wikis - A Wiki is a website that people can access and work on together. So, if you had a document or an idea that you wanted other people to comment on, you would start it and send it around to other people. Eventually, you would have one finished document instead of 20 emails. I didn't realize that Wikipedia was a Wiki! Wikis are attractive to use because anyone can write, edit or delete content. Tracking tools allow you to keep up with what has been edited and by whom. Libraries all over the country are using them for collaboration and to share knowledge. I like the idea of using Wikis on the school library's home page. It would lend itself well to a "favorite books" page. Also, adding pathfinders to highlight a schools books and resources on a given subject is an interesting idea; although it is a huge job for the librarian!
I loved the "In Plain English" - Commoncraft Video explaining Wikis - I have become a huge fan. Take a look at his video by clicking on the link below- Wikis explained in 3 minutes!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dnL00TdmLY&feature=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dnL00TdmLY&feature=relmfu

What I'm Reading Now - The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

I didn't actually love this 2007 National Book Award winner.  The story is about Arnold, who is an Indian growing up on the Skokane Indian reservation. Arnold decides to attend an all-white school in the neighboring town, to escape the hopelessness that engulfs the reservation. Bullied by both groups, the kids at the all-white school and the kids on the Indian reservation, Arnold manages to triumph amid great tragedies. I thought Arnold's story was incredibly sad. In the beginning of the book, Arnold is describing the poverty he lives in stating " my parents came from poor people who came from poor people, all the way back to the very first poor people. Poverty doesn't give you strength or teach you lessons about perseverance. No, poverty only teaches you how to be poor." With frequent references to alcoholism and the destructive consequences that come from it , the author deals with some serious issues; but manages to throw humor into the story in a way that comes off pretty funny. Sherman Alexis first novel is a good one; he has written an original story about Indian culture that allows students to experience what life on a reservation is like.Alexis is able to give readers an understanding of the hopelessness of everyday life on the rez, which I have never come across in any other Y/A fiction. The story is explicit though; seems like every chapter mentions Arnold masturbating. According to our Y/A Literature text, qualities that make good Y/A books address issues that teenagers can identify with, are explicitly informing, and are relevant and entertaining - and The Diary of a Part-time Indian does all of those things.

Podcasts

This week I learned about podcasts. Podcasts refers to non-musical audio of video broadcast that is distributed over the internet. What makes it different from regular streaming audio or video is that the delievery method for podcasts is done through RSS.

Podcasts take many forms, from short 1-10 minute commentaries, to much longer inperson interviews or group panel discussions. There is a podcast out there for every interest area and the best part is all you need is a PC with headphones and a speaker. Also, you can download the podcast to your ipod, so you can take these broadcasts with you and listen to them when you want.

So, I looked at some popular podcast directories at podcast.com, then searched "education" and up popped many podcasts. I decided on the art & design of living & learning 2.0, which is like a weekly radio broadcast show. There are like 23 episodes to chose from, I picked the first one titled "Join Us in the Garden Studio of Teachers" a podcast resource and news-packed episode.

Kathy and Mark were sharing advances in podcasts, art and technology. I clicked the "subscribe" button and a transcript of the interview was deposited in my Google Reader account and then my Itunes account opened with the podcast...really cool.

The hosts of the show were in New York, but they were talking about Florida and Florida's on line education program. A statement they made really surprised me: with in a decade the most common form of education will be online, no matter what kind of school you go to, elementary, middle, high school, or college.

If this is true, and I think it is, schools better get with it.

Thinking about how to use podcasts in libraries, I can see librarians using them to stay informed of the latest issues effecting libraries. It is kind of like a blog, except you get to actually hear the interviewer's voices.Or, like being in the room of people having a panel discussion.

Podcasts are another medium for staying informed and learning new ideas.

Books I'm Reading Now

If I Stay by Gayle Forman
If it wasn't for my Young Adult literature class, I would not be reading at all. There is simply no time. I'm taking 3 LS classes at USF and working part-time at a high school library. Between reference searches that take, probably, 20 hours every week, blogging, writing papers and reading 24 books for my lit class, I really have no spare time. My husband is feeling very abandoned. Maybe if I can get a little ahead things will be better. Actually, reading all the Y/A literature is a welcome escape. If I Stay is a bittersweet story of Mia who loses her entire family in a horrible car crash and wakes up in the hospital barely clinging to life. Like the Lovely Bones, Mia watches from above, listening to her friends, cousins and boyfriend as she lays comatose. But If I Stay is not nearly as good as Lovely Bones, and I found myself bored in the middle of the book. However, the end made up for it; I just wished the author had put all that energy into writing the entire book, not just the end. This is a good book for teenagers, it fits well into the problem novel genre and captures the teen voice.

RSS Feeds



Goggle Reader



This week our learning experience was about RSS Feeds. RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. RSS news feeds are explained using In Plain English videos at the SLJ Learning 2.0 wedsite. These In Plain English videos are hilarious. Someone with a sense of humor put them together. But they are also straightforward and simple - and I appreciate that! RSS feeds are new blog posts that come to you in a special goggle reader account. The first thing to do is find blogs to follow. I went to the 100 Best Blogs for Librarians and started reading. The website is located at http://www.onlinecollege.org/2009/07/07/100-best-blogs-for-school-librarians/

The two I chose were Bowllan's Blog and Librarian by Day. Bowllan's Blog is kind of like a "People" magazine; he showcases people and events in the news. He has a Rosa Parks post with websites for teachers to get additional classroom resources. For instance, you can click on the website and see photos from inside the bus. Great for teachers to bring experiences to the inside of a classroom. The second blog I chose was Librarian by Day. It had a very interesting post with a video link to Eli Neiburger talking about  e-books at a e-book summit. E-books are something I want to learn about, so I clicked on and learned more.

Next, I established a Goggle Reader account, since I already have a Goggle account. This one has a different address so I don't get my mail all mixed up. I now have 4 e-mail accounts! Establishing the account took just a few minutes and that is the account that the new blog posts will come to, without all the advertisements.

Then I went back to the blogs I had found and clicked the subscribe button. What a good idea - instead of you going out to the web to read different websites, the web comes to you - saving you lots of time! Now all my news comes to me.

I think this has great application in schools and libraries. Everyone is so busy these days, that rarely do you have time look for magazines with new ideas, much less, sit down and read them. Librarians and teachers could check their Goggle Reader quickly for new ideas and updates.

Get the Word Out! Using Blogs in Libraries-

Now that I know a little more about blogs, I can see how they could be very useful in libraries. The library that I work in does not have a blog. I think it should be something we should start. Besides posting the obvious information like hours of operation and kind of computer equipment we have, we could post the new books titles and upcoming events in our library. Everyone wants to know the new books that are in the library; I am asked that question a lot. Posting current events would help parents, too. A blog would also give students a chance to give us feedback, and tell us what they really want out of their library. I think it's a great idea. Speaking of great ideas, I had to "borrow" this you tube video from a classmate. She has it on her blog, and I smile every time I listen to it.Thanks so much, Mary. I liked your blog a lot and now I am a follower!

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6D9jiEYxzs

Choosing a "23 Things" program

23 Things is a self-guided program for learning 2.0 web technology. As part of an assignment for a Foundations class at USF, I have to pick a particular 23 Things program and try at least 7 of the activities.I decided on the "SLJ Learning 2.0: All Together Now" because it is particularly good for media specialists. The first "thing" to learn about and try are blogs. So after setting my blog up to blog about this experience, the next post will have to do with how school librarians can use blogs to better serve their students and promote their libraries.

Creating a blog

I am creating a blog for a Foundations class that I am taking at USF. I feel very out of my element; but am looking forward to learning a lot of new skills. Creating the blog is the very first "thing" I had to do on the learning web 2.0 list. The object of this exercise is to learn new technology and content and use it in our schools and libraries.The blog was fairly easy to set up. First, you need a goggle account, which is free and just takes a few minutes to set up. It is connected to your blog somehow, so that all the mail from the blog goes into the goggle account. Which is fine with me, because I now have 4 e-mail accounts! The second thing you do is to go to blogger.com and set up your blog. That part was a little tricky. But it's up and I'm ready to blog!