In preparing to write my final thoughts on this course, I scrolled back through my postings. I noticed the trading card I had made for Thing #6 was missing.
When I created the trading card, I used a picture of one of my good friends. To create the card and post it to my Blog from Flickr, I had to mark the picture as public. When reviewing my Flickr a/c recently, I deleted the picture, not realizing it would also be removed from my Blog!
I redid the trading card on Flickr Toys and uploaded it to Flickr. From there I posted it directly to the Blog. Still remembered how to do all this!
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Thing #22 (Week 9)
I am finally closing in on the end of this course......
eBooks and Audio eBooks
I have been intending to look into eBooks for some time. This lesson provided me with the impetus to do so!
First I checked out The Gutenberg Project. I browsed the many titles that are available. I decided to download an HTML version of The Raven to figure out how the downloads worked. The version I chose came complete with illustrations. I started to read it out loud and my husband made me stop...he hates the rhythm of that poem!
I moved on to my local public library's web site intending to download an audio eBook for the first time. I browsed the titles and decided to download Bitter Medicine by Sara Paretsky, one of my favorite mystery writers. I thought it would be a good book to listen to as I drive to work.
To educate myself, I listened to a podcast (!) for newbies to eAudio books. Imagine my disappointment when I learned that the free software I needed to install in order to download a book is available for Windows only. Nothing for my Mac..... Somewhere in the recesses of my memory I think I had heard about this. What a disappointment.
When I have more time, I will sit down to my husband's Dell computer to accomplish this task.
eBooks and Audio eBooks
I have been intending to look into eBooks for some time. This lesson provided me with the impetus to do so!
First I checked out The Gutenberg Project. I browsed the many titles that are available. I decided to download an HTML version of The Raven to figure out how the downloads worked. The version I chose came complete with illustrations. I started to read it out loud and my husband made me stop...he hates the rhythm of that poem!
I moved on to my local public library's web site intending to download an audio eBook for the first time. I browsed the titles and decided to download Bitter Medicine by Sara Paretsky, one of my favorite mystery writers. I thought it would be a good book to listen to as I drive to work.
To educate myself, I listened to a podcast (!) for newbies to eAudio books. Imagine my disappointment when I learned that the free software I needed to install in order to download a book is available for Windows only. Nothing for my Mac..... Somewhere in the recesses of my memory I think I had heard about this. What a disappointment.
When I have more time, I will sit down to my husband's Dell computer to accomplish this task.
Thing #21 (Week9)
Podcasts
As I am a Mac user, I decided to explore the iTunes Podcast Directory. I listened to a few podcasts from "Grammer Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing." (I am always trying to improve my writing skills.)Then I explored some of the podcasts from Public Radio. There are a multitude of them listed! I subscribed to two free podcasts: Garrison Keillor's Writers Almanac and This American Life. Both will be updated on a regular basis to my Podcast directory in iTunes. Am I dating myself with these choices?
I decided to explore one of Podcast directories listed in the lesson plan. I tried Podcast.net first and found it wouldn't open on my computer. I was successful in opening Podcastalley.com (what a name!) and browsed through the numerous categories of Podcasts. I found myself gravitating to Public Radio again. (When overwhelmed, I am drawn toward the familiar.) This time I used an RSS feed to put NPR Hourly Newscasts into Google Reader.
While in Google Reader, I noticed I could mark podcasts as "shared items" and add to them to a Blog. I marked the NPR Hourly Newscast as "shared" and posted it to to this Blog. I couldn't quite figure out how it would look. I had to save this posting as a Draft and view the Blog to locate the Podcast - found it on the lower right hand side of the Blog.
Cool!
As I am a Mac user, I decided to explore the iTunes Podcast Directory. I listened to a few podcasts from "Grammer Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing." (I am always trying to improve my writing skills.)Then I explored some of the podcasts from Public Radio. There are a multitude of them listed! I subscribed to two free podcasts: Garrison Keillor's Writers Almanac and This American Life. Both will be updated on a regular basis to my Podcast directory in iTunes. Am I dating myself with these choices?
I decided to explore one of Podcast directories listed in the lesson plan. I tried Podcast.net first and found it wouldn't open on my computer. I was successful in opening Podcastalley.com (what a name!) and browsed through the numerous categories of Podcasts. I found myself gravitating to Public Radio again. (When overwhelmed, I am drawn toward the familiar.) This time I used an RSS feed to put NPR Hourly Newscasts into Google Reader.
While in Google Reader, I noticed I could mark podcasts as "shared items" and add to them to a Blog. I marked the NPR Hourly Newscast as "shared" and posted it to to this Blog. I couldn't quite figure out how it would look. I had to save this posting as a Draft and view the Blog to locate the Podcast - found it on the lower right hand side of the Blog.
Cool!
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Thing #20 (Week 9)
The video I chose to view features Cirkestra, a circus band. Cirkestra plays music that is a blend of gypsy, jazz, klezmer and circus music.
I looked at this video because Cirkestra is coming to my town to perform for one of our community read programs. The book we are reading is Water for Elephants. The book has a circus theme which made Cirkestra a fun programming choice.
I enjoyed listening to the music and watching the performers as it gave me an idea of what to expect. The music quality was a little poor and the lighting was dark. Didn't really bother me, however.
I love YouTube. I am usually able to find what I am looking for using the search function. My son who is a tv/media student at Ithaca College posted a movie he made at school - a great way to share it with us. I have used YouTube for everything from instructional videos to watching funny clips on a variety of topics.
YouTube poses some problems in my h.s. library. Hard to tell when the kids are using it for instructional purposes or to watch their favorite rock band or WWE wrestler.
Once I helped a student embed YouTube into a PPT presesentation - I had to figure out how to convert the file so the Mac could read it. Used a conversion program called ZamZar. Worked like a charm! While I was at it, I made sure the student gave credit where credit was due!
I looked at this video because Cirkestra is coming to my town to perform for one of our community read programs. The book we are reading is Water for Elephants. The book has a circus theme which made Cirkestra a fun programming choice.
I enjoyed listening to the music and watching the performers as it gave me an idea of what to expect. The music quality was a little poor and the lighting was dark. Didn't really bother me, however.
I love YouTube. I am usually able to find what I am looking for using the search function. My son who is a tv/media student at Ithaca College posted a movie he made at school - a great way to share it with us. I have used YouTube for everything from instructional videos to watching funny clips on a variety of topics.
YouTube poses some problems in my h.s. library. Hard to tell when the kids are using it for instructional purposes or to watch their favorite rock band or WWE wrestler.
Once I helped a student embed YouTube into a PPT presesentation - I had to figure out how to convert the file so the Mac could read it. Used a conversion program called ZamZar. Worked like a charm! While I was at it, I made sure the student gave credit where credit was due!
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Thing # 19 (Week 8)
LibraryThing
I learned about LibraryThing at the AASL conference in Reno. Didn't get a chance to try it out until now. What a great Web site.
I am at that age where I read books and forget what they were about! From now on, I plan to add my books into Library Thing. From there I can quickly refer to reader reviews or the Amazon descriptions to get a refresher.
I have been looking for a good way to "advertise" new books in my high school library. I am considering using LibraryThing as a way to do that. When investigating the widgets available on LibraryThing, I found the html code to use to create a portal from our school Web site.
Cool!
All of the books I added to LibraryThing are very popular, except one. There was scant information on Town Boy, a graphic book, by Lat. Several of the pages I linked to said "Back in a Minute. We'll be back in 0-5 minutes." I walked away from the computer, came back and found nothing had changed. Oh well.
I learned about LibraryThing at the AASL conference in Reno. Didn't get a chance to try it out until now. What a great Web site.
I am at that age where I read books and forget what they were about! From now on, I plan to add my books into Library Thing. From there I can quickly refer to reader reviews or the Amazon descriptions to get a refresher.
I have been looking for a good way to "advertise" new books in my high school library. I am considering using LibraryThing as a way to do that. When investigating the widgets available on LibraryThing, I found the html code to use to create a portal from our school Web site.
Cool!
All of the books I added to LibraryThing are very popular, except one. There was scant information on Town Boy, a graphic book, by Lat. Several of the pages I linked to said "Back in a Minute. We'll be back in 0-5 minutes." I walked away from the computer, came back and found nothing had changed. Oh well.
Monday, March 3, 2008
More on Thing #18 (Week 8)
More on Zoho
After I created the blog posting on Zoho, I explored more of its features. I figured out how to view the document in page mode, send an e-mail to myself, save a document as a PDF and so on.
So easy! Anyone with a rudimentary knowledge of word processing could use Zoho.
After I created the blog posting on Zoho, I explored more of its features. I figured out how to view the document in page mode, send an e-mail to myself, save a document as a PDF and so on.
So easy! Anyone with a rudimentary knowledge of word processing could use Zoho.
Thing 18 (Week 8)
This posting was created in Zoho and posted to my blog from there!
I am already a convert to applications like Zoho and Google docs. I set up an account in Zoho as part of an earlier assignment for this class.
My husband and I are travelling to see our son in Senegal soon. I created a zoho doc for us to keep track of things we need to take with us. We can add to it from home and work, whenever the spirit moves us and we are near a computer.
I work in a high school library where students often work on papers and print out material they bring from home on flash drives and via e-mail. We are a Mac school and have encountered problems opening documents saved on VISTA. Students get very nervous when they can't print out papers that are due in 5 minutes! I encourage them to use Google docs for their work because it avoids problems like this. Now that I am familiar with Zoho, I will suggest it as well. So easy to use....
Our library staff uses Google docs in the spread sheet format for collection development. As we find materials we want to order, we add them to the list. Helps to prevent duplicate orders.
Now the challenge is to figure out how to post this to my blog for the Library 2.0 class....
I am already a convert to applications like Zoho and Google docs. I set up an account in Zoho as part of an earlier assignment for this class.
My husband and I are travelling to see our son in Senegal soon. I created a zoho doc for us to keep track of things we need to take with us. We can add to it from home and work, whenever the spirit moves us and we are near a computer.
I work in a high school library where students often work on papers and print out material they bring from home on flash drives and via e-mail. We are a Mac school and have encountered problems opening documents saved on VISTA. Students get very nervous when they can't print out papers that are due in 5 minutes! I encourage them to use Google docs for their work because it avoids problems like this. Now that I am familiar with Zoho, I will suggest it as well. So easy to use....
Our library staff uses Google docs in the spread sheet format for collection development. As we find materials we want to order, we add them to the list. Helps to prevent duplicate orders.
Now the challenge is to figure out how to post this to my blog for the Library 2.0 class....
Thing # 17 (Week 7)
The best thing about this activity is Kathy D. said we don't have to do it because of problems in accessing the Sandbox wiki.
As mentioned in my posting for Thing #16, I am familiar with PBwiki already and have created on at:
http://onebook.pbwiki.com/
As they say, easy as making a peanut butter (PB) sandwich!!
Thanks Kathy D. I will move on to Week 8.
As mentioned in my posting for Thing #16, I am familiar with PBwiki already and have created on at:
http://onebook.pbwiki.com/
As they say, easy as making a peanut butter (PB) sandwich!!
Thanks Kathy D. I will move on to Week 8.
Thing # 16 (Week 6)
For this activity I looked at the following wikis.
SJCPL Subject Guides
Book Lovers Wiki
Library Success: A best practices wiki
Library Bloggers Wiki
Sample AP World History Wiki
This group of wikis demonstrates the different ways they can be used. I am impressed by the design and organization of each. My favorite was the Book Lovers Wiki. I got distracted as I read the book reviews. The AP World History is impressive - the students did an excellent job of synthesizing their learning.
I am already familiar with wikis and created one for a Community Read Program for my town last year. We shared our opinions about books, review sources, etc. The challenge for me was to get the technophobes on the Community Read committee to overcome their fear of using the wiki. I gave it up in the end because the committee members didn't log on enough! With that particular group of people, it was easier to use a group e-mail for communication purposes.
My wiki can be found at:
http://onebook.pbwiki.com/
SJCPL Subject Guides
Book Lovers Wiki
Library Success: A best practices wiki
Library Bloggers Wiki
Sample AP World History Wiki
This group of wikis demonstrates the different ways they can be used. I am impressed by the design and organization of each. My favorite was the Book Lovers Wiki. I got distracted as I read the book reviews. The AP World History is impressive - the students did an excellent job of synthesizing their learning.
I am already familiar with wikis and created one for a Community Read Program for my town last year. We shared our opinions about books, review sources, etc. The challenge for me was to get the technophobes on the Community Read committee to overcome their fear of using the wiki. I gave it up in the end because the committee members didn't log on enough! With that particular group of people, it was easier to use a group e-mail for communication purposes.
My wiki can be found at:
http://onebook.pbwiki.com/
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