Thing 23 Reflection

My favorite things were the mashups. I love love them. I have already made some for my library and my blog. My theme for this next year will be READING ROCKS so I am so looking forward to great year. I can’t wait to introduce them to students because I know they will love them too. They usually love to create graphics and can be quite good at it. I want to see what they can do so I can add some things to my website and blog. I learn from students all the time. I had played around on my own with 23 things last year on the some website I found, so I had done a lot of the items included in this project. I had never tried Ning before. I have read about, but never tried it. I didn’t think any of the things were really that hard. I found the instructions to be great. Thanks for the opportunity to have fun, think, learn, and the inspiration to pass it on.

Thing 22: Developing Your Own 23 Things

I could increase the technology skill level at my library by using some of the concepts presented through this course in several ways. One way would be to offer these tools as distributive learning exchange. Perhaps some of these tools could be introduced throughout the school year. They might also be implemented into specific lesson plans and presented to the teachers or another idea would be to link these tools, instructions on how to use them, with specific objectives in the curriculum. They could then be shared with department heads and teachers. A mini workshop could be sponsored by the library to explore several tools at once. Since integrating specific technology is a goal at my campus, I could offer some of these tools as a way to achieve these goals. Laptops in the library could be used for classes to come in and experience Web 2.0. I could teach and/or co-teach lessons

Thing 21 Podcasts

Podcasts are a fabulous way for students to do a book talk. They are easy using Audacity though it helps to practice a few times. I have also found that students MUST write a script first. It is intimidating enough for most people to record themselves, but not to have the necessary words to say is definitely intimidating. So to avoid that, just have a script or at least notes to use. I have posted two podcasts on my library page, but want to do more in the future. I have also used podcasts from Naomi Bates and Nancy Keene to share as booktalks in the library with students.

Thing 20 - You Tube

I am familiar with You Tube and have used it many times in the past. You Tube for Teachers is excellent. I now belong to a group that uploads book trailers so we can all download them and use them to promote books in the library. There is some tech snafus at the present, but hopefully all will be worked out. When I participated in a Book Cart Drill Team, our Presentation was put on you tube. It is very easy and a great resource. I have found authors talking about their current books, and so many, many resources. I think it is especially important to consider today in that our students are visual and LOVE videos. I think libraries can search You Tube for videos about any subject area they need. Previewing is a MUST, but this is a great resource.

Thing 18: Wikis

Wikis are interesting. I followed the directions and the experience I think will help me create a wiki. I have never done one before doing this assignment. It is easy but just to do it once and then create several pages helps gain confidence and certianly makes it go faster for me. I plan to create a wiki in the future.