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#7 Blog About Technology

I am currently collaborating with a 6th grade teacher. Her students will podcast book reviews and I am then inserting the url from the wiki we created together into the marc record on our library catalog. Students will be able to hear book reviews directly from our catalog.

I am currently taking another Web 2.0 workshop. We are also looking at Native digital users vs. immigrant digital users. Many changes are necessary to prepare our students for the 21st century. The first thing we need to do as educators is learn, understand and visualize the future using Web 2.0 tools.

Week 10: Online Applications & Tools (March 31-April 6)19. Take a look at some online productivity (word processing, spreadsheet) tools.
The librarians from U61 spent some time using Googledocs. This is a fantastic way to edit a document with your entire class. I can see our teachers and myself using Google Docs on a regular basis. You can edit the document from anywhere in the room. Its a hands on way to teach writing.

20. Explore any site from the Web 2.0 awards list, play with it and write a blog post about your findings.
I used Flickr but I think the best use for it is for viewing the pictures because of copyright issues. I also learned how to add hot links to a photograph or map.

Week 11: Video & Podcasts (April 7-April 13)21. Discover YouTube and a few sites that allow users to upload and share videos.22. Discover some useful search tools for locating podcasts.23. Summarize your thoughts about this program on your blog.

YouTube is great for uploading video clips to the web. This has great educational potential. Students can create their own videos and see them online and share them with their classmates. Much caution would need to be used to make sure this tool is used appropriately.

You can use podcasts for many reasons to connect live online. There are free podcast sites. School could set up podcast moments and communicate with each other.

Since I have joined Vermont 23 Things, I have created a blog, a wiki, a flickr account, a google account, a yahoo account, bookmark account with de.li. cious., etc. I have learned so much and I am grateful for the new and exciting opportunities this online course has offer me. Thank you to all!!!
BCEMS Librarian-Stephanie McMahan

Wiki's

Our Tech Team created a Wiki to share and make changes to our Acceptable Use Policy. It is great. We are all able to see the information, we can add to the web pages and have a meeting from our desks.

del. icio.us and Tagging

I created a del. icio.us account a while ago. I am still learning how it works. I plan on posting my favorite web sites and sharing them with the district. I also look forward to sharing the other school's favorite web sites.

I learned about Tagging-selecting terms to make connections between data online, Taxonomy is very structured with rules and controls vocabulary. Folksonomy does not have to stick to the rules and there is no structure. Things can change quickly.

LibraryThing

LibraryThing
http://www.librarything.com/
This site has cataloging information, formums, booklists, book recommendations, and so much more. It a place where people who love books can share information. It's focus is not to sell books. Over 8,000 people are members and it is growing every day. It costs money, but it is definitely worth considering.

Photos found through Flicka: http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=library&m=text

Image Generators

I am the webmaster for our school and I found a great free image generator called Cool Text. The address is: http://cooltext.com

Image Generators allow you to interact with an existing graphic and lets you redesign the picture. Many offer animated options but most of them require a fee. Even some of the ones that say free on a Google search want money. This one really is free. I look forward to using it for our school web page. It will add style and interest.

Flickr

I had a great time learning about how to transfer a photo from Flickr to my blog directly. I had to set up an account with Flickr and put in a link to my blog. I put up two photos from Flickr, one was sent directly through my accounts from Flickr to my Blog. I created a trading card that was awesome but you do need to pay for it if you want your students to do it more than once. I found hamster Suduko and my favorite was Retrievr where you use lines and colors and the program automatically find pictures with the same colors and shapes that you drew. All these mash-ups are so creative and full of fun, definitely thinking out of the box.

Welcome!

Vermont 23 Things promises to broaden my knowledge of blogs, and other information sharing resources that we can use in our library and school. These vehicles offer amazing ways to communicate to people that in the past would not have been possible.