#23 (WEEK 9) Copyright, Creative Commons, and Congratulations!

Web 2.0 is reshaping how we all think about copyright. I think this is a very positive thing. Since more people are creating content, rather than just consuming, I think internet users are realizing that quality work takes time, effort, and a considerable amount of thought. Yes, we should be acknowledged for our labors. That's why I sites like Creative Commons are so important. I'd like to think that yes, making money is good, but being recognized for our work just might be enough.

So, my final thought on the 23 Things.
Consuming content is fun, but creating stuff that others enjoy and use is exciting and gratifying.

I'd like to thank those that read my blog. I tried not to be too boring.

BTW-I'd like to give a shout out to CTAP Region IV
CTAP Region IV ROCKS!
I love the work they have put into cybersafety. No, Digital Citizenship! Check out the rest of what CTAP IV has to offer in Cybersafety.

Am I off topic?
Yes, as always.

Out

#9 (WEEK 4) Locate a few useful School Library related blogs

I completed this task, but forgot to blog.

It's funny. Searching others blogs reminds me of the time I wish I had. Readers like Google Reader sure make this easier. One of my favorites is The Fischbowl, by Karl Fisch. He always seems to find a way to provide food for thought and encourages us to expand our educational horizons.

I was also inspired by my colleagues, Latte Lover and Closet Chronicles. I work with one of these bloggers in my district. She reminded me that we make time for what we think is important. Besides, she did some cool 2.0 stuff. Closet Chronicles always found time to locate or create content of quality. Not bad, even for an Angels fan.

#22 (WEEK 9) Explore eBooks and Audio eBooks

This was much more entertaining than I thought it would be...

At first I thought,"Download html eBooks? for free? I can do this at my county library. This is no big deal!"

But then I searched. And found Kafka, movies of atomic testing, and jpegs of the cave drawings in France. I realized that Project Gutenberg was providing me a glimpse of the past. My own past reminding me of reading Kafka in high school. Our nation's past as I watched the frightening movies of atomic testing in the 1950's. And mankind's past as I looked at the pictures of the cave drawings. The best part? Knowing that I could share all of this if I followed a few simple rules.

I strongly recommend reading the Gutenberg webpage distinguishing between free of charge and freedom of use. Classroom teachers definitely prefer freedom of use.


Not copyrighted in the United States. If you live elsewhere check the laws of your country before downloading this ebook.

I really enjoyed this task.

Out

#20 (WEEK 9) Discover YouTube and a Few Sites

YouTube presents interesting problems for your IT staff at school. In order to be CIPA (Child Internet Protection Act) compliant, it should be blocked, but it has so much content that is of educational value. The music teachers in our district love to stream videos of famous musicians, many of whom are deceased, to show our students the passion and beauty of performance.

I the other hand, you can find nonsense. I'm showcasing the nonsense today. Psycho Teacher. A play on words from the Talking Heads title Psycho Killer. Reminds me of my younger days as a fifth grade teacher. Not as a killer. As a teacher.




This is for Closet Chronicles. My former partner in crime.

Run Run, Run Run AWAY!!!
Remember the YouTube terms of use. No downloading, streaming only.

Psycho Teacher
Out

#19 (WEEK 8) Check out LibraryThing

My personal online catalog of books. Very cool.

Tonight I had my son and daughter tell me some of their favorite books. I wanted to find some other titles that might interest her. I clicked on Frindle after entering into my catalog and ," Voi la!" I had many options. I could enter a conversation about the book, find similarly tagged books, or get loads of recommendations.

I could see how this could be useful for parents, or even teachers that may not know a lot of titles for children.

Okay, I may need LibraryThing in order to keep up with my own children and students!

Out

#17 (Week 7) Add an entry to "Sandbox" Wiki

What I love about wikis is the ability to share and post ideas for public viewing quickly.

What intimidates me is the amount of reading and searching one might have to do if you're searching the wikis of others.

I loved Joyce Valenza's wiki, but it's large size leaves many sections with little or no information. the role of the moderator is so important!

Out

#18 (WEEK 8) Online productivity tools (ZOHO)

Hey! I am psyched about ZOHO writer. I once heard on the radio that many people are starting to get rid of their fancy cell phones. You know, the ones that surf the web, text, email, and do the laundry. What did these people want? A cell phone that can be used to make and receive calls, clearly. I think ZOHO is on to something with the what you see is what you get menu. Many word processors, i.e., Word 2007, bury some functions so far into the menu that you need an archaeologist to dig them out. I also like the ability to work on documents offline. Did you hear that Google? OFFLINE! Now for the hard part (I hope), finding the bugs in ZOHO.

#21 (WEEK 9) Podcasts (No iPod Needed)

This podcast will self-destruct NEVER!!!

At MacWorld, with a fellow CSLA web 2.0 blogger.

You may not need an iPod, but Garageband sure makes it a lot easier!

#16 (Week 7) Discover Wikis

Wikis are a perfect example of how to be an effective Web 2.0 publisher. Two rules stand out for me:

1. Be clear in your purpose for creating and maintaining your wiki. Your audience is using your wiki for a specific purpose. Putting too much into your wiki is like visiting a restaurant specializing in Italian cuisine that includes Russian delicacies because the restaurant felt that the menu needed more items. Adding more stuff in a wiki acknowledging the the purpose just adds to the confusion.

2. Keep it simple. The more a user has to scroll, the more likely a user will get lost and not locate the information they're searching for.

One wiki I particularly enjoyed was Library Success: a best practices wiki.
Clear in purpose, easy to navigate. This wiki would have been a perfect reference for students in a library teacher credentialing program, featuring collection development to technology uses in the school library environment.

Now if only I could be that clear...

Out.

#14(Week 6) Technorati

Technorati is very helpful. So many blogs. Finally some organization. Something that surprises me is that the more I search for relevant blogs, the more I get pointed in the same direction. Today I searched for more K-12 education blogs. I found Infinite Thinking. This blog refers to Warlick's, Wagner's and Fryer's blogs in the first two posts I read. It's all in the technology circle of life. Or maybe I should call it one stop shopping.

I do know that great blog posts are usually short and concise.

Thank goodness for Google Reader!

Out! For now.

#13 (Week 6) Del.icio.us and Tagging

Tagging? I thought tagging was illegal!

Del.icio.us has quickly become a fan favorite with some of librarians. Many of our teachers have been creating hotlists of websites for standards based research projects. California missions, endangered animals, and colonial economics, to name a few. 

We found that it was easy to create del.icio.us accounts for each of the subject areas. We simply log into the account when we're working on the standard and update the links. Tagging is awesome because it quickly narrows the number of links for the student. This is helpful if the teacher is focusing on providing accurate information for each student.

To help differentiate for each school and make sure the del.icio.us account name is available we use the abbreviation of the school in front of the subject area, e.g., http://del.icio.us/bvesciencefair will take the learner to Burton Valley Elementary's science fair website selections. Http://del.icio.us/bvemissions will take a Burton Valley fourth grader to teacher selected websites about California missions.

A next step for me is to put these lists into Rollyo search bars. Then I can really make this an efficient process. 

It all depends on what you want to accomplish.

Out!

#15 (WEEK 6) Read some perspectives on Web 2.0. Future of Libraries

"This librarian creates and nurtures a living, breathing technology plan."

Michael Stephens

Those of us in education realize that any plan, for it to serve the intended audience, must be flexible. Plans must have goals that empower those that it affects. Great plans involve compromise and a can do spirit.

All too often dealing with teacher librarians can be like dealing with red and blue states on a political map. There is no middle ground. Either you're right, or you're off your rocker. The consequence? We spend a lot of time debating, yet accomplishing nothing. Sometimes this debate becomes books vs. technology. We need all of it!

I really appreciated what librarians Rick Anderson and Michael Stephens had to say about library collections and technology. I believe that both addressed the issue of how libraries are changing due to technology. Is the introduction of technology bad for libraries? No, of course not, but I all too often run into teacher librarians that are too one-sided in their thinking. "Kids get technology in other places, the library should be for literature." Are these librarians wrong? No. Are they too narrow in their thinking? I think so.

Today's information seekers want efficient and accurate access to information. The the place they should be able to count on is their school or public library. Rick Anderson reminds us how technology can be used to expand the amount of accurate information through the development of an electronic collection. Michael Stephens speaks to the necessity of being thoughtful and quick when implementing new technology in your library.

One should think of their library as a collection of resources that reflects the needs of the community it serves.

Out!

#12 (WEEK 5) Roll your own search tool with Rollyo

I have to admit that I was excited about getting to this task after reading LatteLover's blog and using her "What's for Dinner?" Rollyo. What a perfect way to combine your Favorites or Bookmarks folder in the browser!

This past week a fifth grade teacher at one of the school's in my district wanted his students to do a "quick" research project on endangered animals before they attend outdoor science school. The teacher clearly defined his goal in the computer lab. This project was not intended for the students to practice search skills. He wanted each group to read selected websites for specific content. The librarian made a del.icio.us list, but now I see how a Rollyo search box would have provided a way for each to pick and choose their preferred search result.

I'm sharing this one at the next computer specialist meeting!

Select Search Engine...Endangered SpeciesSearch The Web

Powered by Rollyo

#11 (WEEK 5) Explore Web 2.0 award-winning applications

http://www.onesentence.org


When asked to name the one person absent from her life that she missed the most, she responded, "The person I hoped I'd be by this point in my life."

This is but one example of a one sentence story. Read, think, fill in the blanks, and/or submit your own one sentence story. A simple idea that has truly taken off. One Sentence was created on the premise that best part of any story, regardless of length usually boils down to one key sentence. So why should you waste your time reading the "rest of the story". As Shakespeare once proclaimed, "Brevity is the soul of wit." Web 2.0 does exist for those of us without much time to read, write, or create! From now on, I want to be the king of the one line blog.

Out!

#10 (WEEK 5) Play around with online image generators

I have to admit, I love the Image Generators. What a wonderful way to share the news.

#10 (WEEK 5) Play around with online image generators

Las Lomas High School
NCS Champs 2007 - 2008
Football and Basketball

#8 (Week 4) Learn about RSS feeds and set up a blog reader account

I thought this would save time, but I was wrong. I still want to read EVERYTHING!

One of my favorite features is how you can set up your iGoogle homepage to display your Reader. One quick check everyday and I can quickly decide if I'm interested or not. Only problem...
Is this just like "judging a book by its cover?"

Out

#6 (WEEK 3) Flickr fun, mashups, and 3rd party sites

It's funny how easy it is to become sidetracked. I was all excited about Winter Fun 2.0 and was ready to go. I had just finished my administration credential in January and was going to use all of my free time to Winter Fun 2.0 blog.

It was then I discovered that I realized that I had nothing to add to the collective brain that is Winter Fun 2.0. I spend my time using other people's ideas. Not creating my own. So what to blog?

Nothing. I did have fun creating my own magazine cover. My family and I are going to New York this week and I loved the trip planning mashup using Flickr. Reading comments from other families is giving me a good idea of where to go and at what pace for my 7 and 10 year old.

So here goes...
My sister and I sent in a video tape for the Amazing Race. I guess we just scared them off!

#7 (WEEK 3) Create a blog post about anything technology!

Don't send a lame Starring You! eCard. Try JibJab Sendables!