Week 9, Thing 23

Although I was quite the slacker with this class, I really enjoyed it and learned a lot. I was familiar with most topics, well; I had at least an idea about what they were. This class provided me with the opportunity to explore and really learn many of the latest Web 2.0 tools. The class, wiki, and book are all valuable resources that I will return to often. I would suggest to the next group who takes the course for credit to create a personal timeline for when assignments are due. I know there has to be others out there like me that need that. I thought I was a great online learner since I my master’s was all online, but ever course had strict due dates that I faithful adhered to. Apparently, I am not a good online learner without due dates. Thanks for holding this informative class.

Week 9, Thing 22

I love audio books. I use to listen to them often on my commute in Pennsylvania. Now that I have an iPod I can download audio books to it if I choose. I actually have a good collection of audio books on CDs at Kincaid. The collection was developed by the librarian that was there two before me. They really are not used enough and I need to promote them.

I, personally, would have trouble reading an ebook. Like holding a book in my hand and reading it in many places. It is not so easy to do on a computer (I know there are readers). The one benefit of getting an eBook from the Gutenberg Project is that it is free and it would probably be a book that most of my patrons may not have an interest to read. I did see the Grimm Brothers Fairy Tales that I am downloading. I think it would be interesting to compare the original with more recent versions.

Week 9, Thing 21

When I searched Podcast Alley for “library,” the results were more for college libraries and public among others not really related to libraries. I added the TechSavvyGirlz podcast to my RSS feed and included it in my podcasts in iTunes. I like that it is young girls using technology and it can show other young students that they could do it too.

I had already subscribed to Just Vocabulary podcast through iTunes that I thought would be beneficial to me. I like that the pronunciation, definition, and use is covered. It ends with a review of a previous word. I also have They Might be Giants Friday Night Podcast for Families. It is fun and young students would enjoy the music.

Week 9, Thing 20

TeacherTube seemed very slow to even return search results when I was exploring and my connection was at an excellent level. There are too many ads but that is to be expected from a free site. There really did not seem to be many videos on subjects I was searching (research skills, Dewey, etc). One good thing about TeacherTube is that Anchorage School District does not block. It also uses tags which may be helpful for locating videos that may be useful.

I liked the Sock Monkeys Do the Dewey System video:

There was another video about the Dewey Decimal System that was a great idea for a lesson. Sixth grade students were assigned a Dewey class to write a song or poem about with a partner.

I think the copyright tips on TeahcerTube are a good thing to have on a school library web site. They would just need to be modified to fit the library's needs.

Week 8, Thing 19.1

I could not get through to the Alaska Digital Pipeline’s toll free number to get a password on my cell phone, probably because it is a Pennsylvania number. I will try again when I have access to another phone.

I explored what I could on the site and found that the Alaska Digital Pipeline is similar to POWER Library (Pennsylvania Online World of Electronic Resources). Almost all schools have access to POWER Library and anyone with a library card can use it from home. If you are interested in exploring it and comparing it to Alaska Digital Pipeline, visit this URL http://www.powerlibrary.net/Remote/Remote.asp?ID=NCLDLockhaven and use this #PL310903261 for access.

When I taught in Pennsylvania I did a quick promotion of POWER Library at a faculty meeting. I just spoke about it, showed how to access it, and provided a handout with an annotated list of resources available on it. I did not have the equipment available to teach a lesson on it to a class of students, I told the students about it and that it was better to use that Google and explained why. I would then show students how to access it as they were doing research. At Kincaid, I do have the resources (white board, computer, projector) to be able to demonstrate Alaska Digital Pipeline to faculty and students. The tutorials look like an excellent resource to use with the lesson. I believe this is a good resource to promote and I will get a password as soon as possible so I can find out more and be able to promote it.

Week 8, Thing 19

I decided to add five books from my granddaughter’s library. The titles are listed below with the number of other members who have that version of the book in their libraries:



Guess How Much I love You -1162

Wild About Books – 201

My Friend Rabbit – 208

No, David! – 523

Where the Wild Things Are – 3287



I like that LibraryThing includes recommendations related to the books I added. It also includes book reviews by members, book descriptions from Amazon.com, and various covers of the title. All my books had conversations about them from members. I think this is a good site to get recommendations for related books for books that students enjoy.



My library - http://www.librarything.com/catalog/lydia27

Week 8, Thing 18

I liked Zoho Writer as soon as I registered. The detailed instructions provided in the welcome made it very user friendly. At this point, I do not see any word-processing feature that is not included that I would need. I can see the benefits of using this this open-source, online tool for personal use and student use. Students can work on a project together as collaborators and not have to worry about having access to the file.

I plan on exploring other Zoho tools such as:

• Zoho Show
• Zoho Notebook
• Zoho Wiki
  

You can even insert an image like other word processing programs:

Photo of a wild iris along bike path in Girdwood, AK.

One problem I did find is that the text setting changes to the default setting if I do not continuously type. I like the word count, character count feature that occurs whenever the document is saved.



I posted this directly from Zoho Writer but needed to edit it because the emotions button did not appear. The word cool did instead.