Thing #8 - RSS Feeds

Getting into Google Reader was a rough experience. I had trouble finding the right blogs - many weren't coming up even when I copy/pasted the URL and when I realized this, it took a while at looking at HELP sections and then asking my husband to look at it with a new eye - how to delete both folders and subscriptions. It was all there - but hidden to me. Now, I understand it better and the idea of Google Reader is wonderful if you like a lot of information all at once. Yes, it helps with click time but for me - it's information overload. I could spend hours reading news and entertainment; hours I don't have. But for educational purposes, I see the benefits. It's a lot like the Google Alerts in that all of the information is provided without having to go search for it. Because you are able to share your information, I see this working nicely in the classroom. If the teacher has the email address of every student or if the teacher has a blog set up - this would be an easy way to send the article to every student with the expectation that it would be read or listened to. The same would work for a librarian who stays updated on department issues and sends interesting blogs/pods to fellow faculty. A specific newsfeed would also work well on a library homepage. If every student had their own IGoogle homepage, it would work well that for a requirement, every student had to be a part of Google Reader including curriculum-driven feeds and hopefully a community of sharing and commenting would arise. All in theory - I would have to see how it works in the classroom.

Thing #7 - Cool Tools from Google

I have spent so much time searching through these tools that I finally had to make myself stop and begin writing this post. I went through Alerts and now email alerts being sent to me along with a calendar of birthdays I need to remember. But what I really took the most time with is my IGoogle Homepage. It was as much fun as putting together the blog. I've always used the default for any homepage, so I really enjoyed learning about all of the gadgets. I'm still trying to figure out how to attach a link to my blog on my IGoogle page. I originally linked my webpage to my blog then realized that isn't a smart idea when my email account is wide open if anyone were to click onto it. I'm definitely still learning what to and what not to link together. As for educational purposes, the alert would be great for English or History students who are researching anything current and doing a paper or project on it to find quick information. Or if a teacher asked a librarian to find current articles/blogs/videos on a specific topic, it would be a nice way to compile them. I wish I'd have had this while my students were writing their research papers. The calendar would be great to have on a library homepage with current events popping up and Google Scholar is a great tool to teach to students along with the online periodicals although I often have a hard time penning down the actual article. I agree with the "23" directions and I would have each student create their own IGoogle homepage asking for specific gadgets to be added in which all of the students can become a community. I envision assignments that call for discussion via IMing or chatting. The possibilities seem endless.

Thing #6 - Mashups

I got a big kick out of the mashups - not only can you put your pictures up for all to see, but these apps have ways to organize them, connect them to other pics, and create random but wonderful gifts with them. I really liked Flickr Postcard Browser that lets you browse databases by searching specific tags and putting them in a postcard type format. I was hooked on the FD Flickr Toys and the customized jigsaw puzzles you can make out of your own pics - now I have Christmas ideas.
I created a trading card for my son and his first baseball at an Astros game - this was fun. I looked through several of the library trading cards and they were humorous, but I'm still trying to determine how I would use it with my own library. You could create a more informative one - with library info and have it connected to your webpage, or it could be printed out as a trading card and posted around the library for students to find quick info they may need. I'm sure there are better ideas out there than this for using it; I'll check what others have said.

Thing #5 - Flickr Discovery

"Sophisticated ... I'm so sophisticated." - Daisy, The Great Gatsby

This picture is from Lauren Nelson, taken from Flickr, a wonderful site. I liked the flapper look and it fits nicely with The Great Gatsby unit I used to teach.

What I found most impressive was the opportunities for using Flickr in libraries. I liked the idea of taking 365 pics in a year to demonstrate to the community, your school, the administrators what really goes on in the library. I also think as an English teacher, I could have used this site when my students were making their books using magazines, drawn pictures, photos, etc. I can see many a lesson plans using this site. Of course, the education of copyright and what type of photos were appropriate would come first.

Thing #3 - Write about creating blog and avatar

What a frustrating few days this has been trying to get the avatar to appear. I have been working off and on this and finally, with the help of some of the posts from this summer about getting their avatar to work - I was able to download avatar to My Pictures and then post it that way in the blog. I'd like to know what I was doing wrong - but at least it's working now.

One of the questions for this post is whether or not we have read other blogs. I have mostly been looking through the formats of other blogs but have read a few entries. My only question is, after this assignment is complete - does anyone continue to use this blog and delete the Things, Journal about everyday matters from the day the project is finished, or create an entirely new blog?

Thing #2 - Life-long learner habits

Wow - I've already been challenged. I am excited about this concept of life-long learning because I've seen so many of my elders forget this concept and have given up on learning and grown used to being a tv vegetable. After watching the presentation, I feel that like most other people, I have a difficult time seeing a challenge for what it is - an opportunity to grow. When I make some error, I flame up with frustration that I have to take time out to learn how to fix it, instead of taking the situation as a chance to learn something new. The habit that I found easiest is #1 - I always have a goal in mind - an end to the situation. That's why I write numerous lists and diligently check them off.

I think that if I can take a deep breath and be aware that learning new technological tools will take time, I can meet the goal - finishing all 23 things without losing my mind and using it beyond this course.