I played around a little with RSS feeds last week and set up a Bloglines a/c. I subscribed to weather sites in Ithaca, NY and Dakar, Senegal where my sons live. I also subscribed to a vegetarian food site (my son who is a first-year at Ithaca just turned vegetarian) and to the New York Times. For some reason I found Bloglines complicated - I probably need more experience. Today I set up a Google Reader a/c and like it much better.
On Google Reader, I subscribed to Readers Club and Unshelved (the library cartoon site). I also added my son's blog from Senegal - what a great way to find out when he has posted w/o having to visit the blog site all the time. I will be visiting my mom in FL soon and will show her how to monitor the blog also.
About six months ago, I played around with my iGoogle homepage and subscribed to a few newspapers, Weather Underground, NYT movie reviews and National Public Radio. I didn't realize I was setting up an RSS aggregator! Now that I know about Google Reader I plan to consolidate the RSS feeds there.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Thing # 7 (Week 3)
Technology Posting
Please refer to my posting made on January 27 on Blogs, Wikis, and Podcasts which fulfills the requirements for Thing #7 (Week3)... I created that posting before reading the assignment; thus I did not put Thing #7 in the title. In the spirit of blogging, I decided not to change the title and added this posting instead.
Writing is a process for me. When I create documents of any kind, I edit, edit and edit some more. I am never satisfied with the finished product. Blogging, which is supposed to be spontaneous, is hard for me. I find myself saving my postings as drafts and editing the drafts several times before I post. I am trying to move away from that and become a true blogger. Not easy...
On another note, a friend gave me an old lens she no longer uses that fits my camera. I used it yesterday and took some photos of birds visiting my bird feeder. I managed to get 2 of a downy woodpecker that I like - esp. after cropping . Gave me a new appreciation for nature photographers.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Blogs, Wikis and Podcasts and Other Powerful Web Tools for the Classroom.
I was sidetracked from this course for about a week because I had to make a small presentation to the secondary library staff in my district. I gave a 'book report' on Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for the Classrooms by Will Richardson. I created a new blog as a means to convey the information to the group.
When I set up the blog, I created a new avatar on Yahoo - Let's just say there are still some bugs in Yahoo's site...After many false starts I figured out how to save the new avatar and upload it to my newly created blog. In the process, I found I can only have one avatar. The one I created for this blog was replaced by the new one. Lots of time spent on a frivolous activity!
The book I read was all about Web 2.0 and thus related directly to what we are learning in this class. I highly recommend it. Take a look at my blog for information on many of the Web Tools presented in the book.
http://newtonlibrarians.blogspot.com/
Thing #6 (Week 3) Flickr Fun
Thing 6 (week 3)
Please note: On March 30, I noticed the "photo is currently unavailable" notice. I figured out the problem and made a new posting on that day.
I have been surfing around for quite some time tonight. I read about "mash-ups" on Wikipedia (I rarely use this source....) and looked at Mappr , Color Pikr, Flickr Notifier (a user created a tool that allows users to download an RSS feed notifying them when friends post pix to Flickr), Montagr and PhotoWall. I am a bit overwhelmed by the variety of applications/tools that people have created to use with Flickr.
I couldn't figure out Mappr, as the link to Mappr.com provides an overview only. I found a similar tool under "Explore" on the Flickr toolbar. My son is studying in Dakar, Senegal - I viewed many pix from there by searching on the 'tag' of Dakar.
I created a trading card using a picture of one of my friends. I uploaded the picture to Flickr and am writing this posting from there. (My ID on Flickr is Sharonite.)
I need to spend more time at this to understand what applications are of use and/or interest to me!
Please note: On March 30, I noticed the "photo is currently unavailable" notice. I figured out the problem and made a new posting on that day.
I have been surfing around for quite some time tonight. I read about "mash-ups" on Wikipedia (I rarely use this source....) and looked at Mappr , Color Pikr, Flickr Notifier (a user created a tool that allows users to download an RSS feed notifying them when friends post pix to Flickr), Montagr and PhotoWall. I am a bit overwhelmed by the variety of applications/tools that people have created to use with Flickr.
I couldn't figure out Mappr, as the link to Mappr.com provides an overview only. I found a similar tool under "Explore" on the Flickr toolbar. My son is studying in Dakar, Senegal - I viewed many pix from there by searching on the 'tag' of Dakar.
I created a trading card using a picture of one of my friends. I uploaded the picture to Flickr and am writing this posting from there. (My ID on Flickr is Sharonite.)
I need to spend more time at this to understand what applications are of use and/or interest to me!
Monday, January 14, 2008
Thing #5 (Week3) Nor'Easter
Thing #5 (Week3)
January 14, 2008 Nor'easter
A Nor'easter hit New England today. My town was blanketed with 6+ inches of heavy, wet snow. Power was, and still is, out in many areas. My school was canceled for the day - provided me with the opportunity to take a few outdoor pictures. Since I couldn't take any pictures of my library today, I am including one of my outdoor photos.
I posted this Blog from Flickr. In order to do this, I set up an account, imported pictures from my Mac, created titles, descriptions and tags. I find Flickr easier to use than another photosharing site with which I have an a/c.
Most of this technology is not new to me. It is fun, however, to learn how to apply it in new ways.
January 14, 2008 Nor'easter
A Nor'easter hit New England today. My town was blanketed with 6+ inches of heavy, wet snow. Power was, and still is, out in many areas. My school was canceled for the day - provided me with the opportunity to take a few outdoor pictures. Since I couldn't take any pictures of my library today, I am including one of my outdoor photos.
I posted this Blog from Flickr. In order to do this, I set up an account, imported pictures from my Mac, created titles, descriptions and tags. I find Flickr easier to use than another photosharing site with which I have an a/c.
Most of this technology is not new to me. It is fun, however, to learn how to apply it in new ways.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
More on Thing #2 (Week 1)
Thing #2 (Week 1)
I appear to be doing this backwards but I couldn't figure out how to do it otherwise. I had to set up this blog and create a test posting (Thing #3, Week 2) before I could comment on the Lifelong Learning Habits I learned in Thing #2.
I returned to school and work after raising three boys. I got my Masters Degree in Library Media when I was past the age of 50. Since then, I have completed numerous courses ('live' and online) and learned more about technology than I ever thought possible. Lifelong learning is a familiar concept to me.
Of the 7 1/2 concepts described in the tutorial on Lifelong Learning Habits, the most difficult for me is Habit #1: Begin with the end in mind. I am an impulsive person who often jumps into projects without a clear idea of where I am headed. It would help me if I stopped at the beginning and thought carefully about my goals and desired outcome(s).
The easiest habit for me is #4: Have confidence in yourself as a competent, effective learner. When I started graduate school as a adult student, I was terrified. Through lots of hard work, I overcame my fears and now feel I can learn anything on which I set my sights. I love it when my adult and teen-aged sons ask for technology advice!
I look forward to learning more about Web 2.0 and how I can apply it in the high school library where I work.
I appear to be doing this backwards but I couldn't figure out how to do it otherwise. I had to set up this blog and create a test posting (Thing #3, Week 2) before I could comment on the Lifelong Learning Habits I learned in Thing #2.
I returned to school and work after raising three boys. I got my Masters Degree in Library Media when I was past the age of 50. Since then, I have completed numerous courses ('live' and online) and learned more about technology than I ever thought possible. Lifelong learning is a familiar concept to me.
Of the 7 1/2 concepts described in the tutorial on Lifelong Learning Habits, the most difficult for me is Habit #1: Begin with the end in mind. I am an impulsive person who often jumps into projects without a clear idea of where I am headed. It would help me if I stopped at the beginning and thought carefully about my goals and desired outcome(s).
The easiest habit for me is #4: Have confidence in yourself as a competent, effective learner. When I started graduate school as a adult student, I was terrified. Through lots of hard work, I overcame my fears and now feel I can learn anything on which I set my sights. I love it when my adult and teen-aged sons ask for technology advice!
I look forward to learning more about Web 2.0 and how I can apply it in the high school library where I work.
Things #1-4 (Weeks 1 and 2)
Things #1 & 2: (Week 1)
To get started on this class, I:
I set up my blog and avatar. This is the second time I have created a blog and the first time I have created an avatar. I named the blog newtonlibrary2 (I work at Newton South High School) Took me a while to create the avatar with the numerous choices available on Yahoo. I must admit I did not like providing the information required to set up a Yahoo account. I fudged the data a little.....
I added the blog to my iGoogle homepage for easy access.
My first blog was for a community read program in my town. The URL is:
http://onebookonetownsharon.blogspot.com/2007/03/peace-like-river.html
Not a great success. Only two people posted comments! In hindsight, I think I should have posted thoughts and ideas and asked for responses from readers. Would have given them ideas for comments.
To get started on this class, I:
- read "about" the program. As noted by our Massachusetts instructor, this section is a little confusing because it was created for CSLA members and much of the information does not pertain to the Massachusetts group.
- watched the 7 1/2 Habits online tutorial.
I set up my blog and avatar. This is the second time I have created a blog and the first time I have created an avatar. I named the blog newtonlibrary2 (I work at Newton South High School) Took me a while to create the avatar with the numerous choices available on Yahoo. I must admit I did not like providing the information required to set up a Yahoo account. I fudged the data a little.....
I added the blog to my iGoogle homepage for easy access.
My first blog was for a community read program in my town. The URL is:
http://onebookonetownsharon.blogspot.com/2007/03/peace-like-river.html
Not a great success. Only two people posted comments! In hindsight, I think I should have posted thoughts and ideas and asked for responses from readers. Would have given them ideas for comments.
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