Thing 23 - Final Thoughts

It's done.  I guess all good things must come to an end, but I hope not!  I began this project knowing very little about Web 2.0 tools....now I have had my eyes opened to so much I can't wait to try out in my library.  The best part, is that my fear of Web 2.0 tools is gone forever.  Looking back, there was nothing hard or scary.  It was actually FUN!!!  It was actually a great jump start to my life long journey of learning for my career. 

My favorites -

• Flikr & Photo tools - this is fun stuff.  I've never really used a photo type site before and I was so excited about how easy it was to use, tag photos, and manipulate your beloved pics into puzzles, crazy pictures, funny cartoons, etc.  I know students will/do love the funny options for their pictures. 
• Blogging - I've wanted to get started on blogging for some time now, but just haven't had anything to write about (or so I thought).  Having this assignment in Blog form completely ROCKED to me!  I love to blog and hope to get started on my very own Blog very soon!
• Readers - now I understand how in the world people stay on top of all the "people" they follow.  What a great, streamlined idea.  I like having all my places I get info in one spot and will be happy to share this with my teacher friends as I know of a few that could benefit from a Reader!
• Google Docs - I've heard so many people say "Oh, I'll just do it in Google Docs."  I had no idea what they were talking about, but now I do.  Honestly, I'm still a Microsoft Word girl, but since my mom doesn't have Word, I'll be happy to show her Google Docs for all her word processing needs.  She's going to love this much cheaper option!
• Facebook and MySpace - Still not a fan of either sites.  Sorry!
• YouTube - I am so excited I know how to embed videos into projects!  I've often wondered how you do that and was able to do it so easily!  I love YouTube.  I sure wish I could access it from school. 
• Zamzar - Who needs a PDF?  Went there, loved there, recommend there!  :)

What surprised me most about this assignment?  I surprised myself.  I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed learning about all the tools and was able to navigate through this assignment so easily having not much experience with most of the "Thing list."   I'm so happy to have a whole new repertoire of tricks in my bag to share with teachers, students, and friends.  I hope to continue my journey as there's more to learn and stay on top of - I feel like now, I'm definitely up for the challenge.   

Thing 22 - Discover Web 2.0 Yourself!

It's almost over?!?!  NOOOOO!!!! 

Yes, there have been some super, neat tricks I've learned on this adventure.  The world wide web is vast and full of new ways to improve your online life.  Of the list on this "Thing," I enjoyed Glogster most.  What a cool way to incorporate technology, creativity, and critical thinking skills!  Something really cool I found was Glogster Edu.  It is National Education Standards approved, too!  It can be used for homework assignments, group projects, research reports (hey librarians!!), or lesson preparations (hey teachers!).  The best part is that it is a safe, private environment so students can utilize the positive aspects of the web vs. having to worry about the negative.

Thing 21 - Online Productivity Tools

Goodness, there's  a lot of business on this web I need to become familiar with.  So, here's my thoughts on a few of the sites I checked out.....Overall, I loved Zamzar!  Having some help with turning things into a PDF is going to really help me with my job. 

• Skype - So cool!  I can't wait to look into getting an author visit via Skype.  What a cool way to have a visitor - just hope the connection stays connected :)
• PrintFriendly - A website that will make whatever you might want to print more printer friendly!  It's so easy!  All you do is type in the web address and hit print preview.  Tada!!  Less paper and less trees used!  Love that!
• Doodle - A way to schedule meetings or events.  This seems like an unneeded thing - couldn't an email do the same thing?
• Remember the Milk - WOW!  If your life is unorganized and you need some serious management, reminders, and organization...then this site is the place for you!  And you can get it for all your mobile devices - ipad, iphone, blackberry, android, etc....
• Zamzar - Oh wow....have you ever needed something turned into a PDF, but didn't know how??  I sure have, until now.  You can use Zamzar to turn your Word document into a PDF, a gif to a jpeg, etc!  It's awesome!  It will convert your files to different formats for free!
• Slideshare - This is a cool site for people who do a lot of presentations.  You can upload them after you register for an account and share them with others.  It might be a good thing for grad students as they are often making presentation for classes....it would free up some space on your computer for sure!

Thing 20 - Podcasts

I LOVE podcasts!!  I had very little experience with podcasts until this class.  I was able to test the podcasting waters with my fourth grade summer school guys and it was GENIUS!!  It gave literacy a whole new spin as they were actually excited to read something and begged to read it again if it wasn't perfect on the playback.  I think podcasting is a fabulous idea for educational purposes.  I love the Lunch Time Leaders Podcast.  It's a group of middle school kids interviewing leaders in the community.  They have some excellent podcasts and website at http://lunchtimeleaders.podbean.com/

Thing 19 - You Tube

Don't mean to be a "hater" but this really made me laugh hysterically.  It's silly (and mostly true), but a lot of what it says is exactly why I'm just not interested in Facebook.  Thought I'd share the silliness. 


I think YouTube is a great source for education!  The only problem is (and it's a big one), it's blocked by our district.  There are many YouTube videos on educational topics, some funny, some not.  I love a good clip to get a lesson going and to have a good visual.  My favorite part about it, however, is the funny videos.  Sometimes it's just necessary to watch funny, silly stuff and have a good laugh.....here one of my favorites!
http://youtu.be/ecwE3tWMj50

Thing 18 - Twitter

Now, Twitter's band-wagon is the only "social networking" site I've jumped on.  My librarian neighbor (at the Middle School) talks about Twitter and all the fun and quick info she gets.  It made me curious and so I signed up a couple of months ago.  As of now, I only follow a few people - my librarian neighbor who posts very uplifting scriptures and quotes daily.  Love that!!  I also follow Mo Willem's "The Pigeon" as I think his books and humor are hilarious! 

It's a start people!  I know I'm a big ol' chicken when it comes to social networking, but Twitter seems to keep me at ease as it is very private!

Thing 17 - Social Networking Part 2 - Facebook

I'm so terribly sorry, but I can not bring myself to create a Facebook page.  Just like MySpace, when Facebook came out, I again looked at it, thought about it, but then decided it just wasn't for me.  Due to past situations, I'd like my current personal life to stay personal.  I understand about setting things to private, but others can look on other computers or log in as different people - there's always a loophole. 

I do see the positive aspects of it - friends reconnecting, finding long lost relatives, getting the inside scoop of businesses/celebrities/etc.

But the negative side of Facebook - the opportunities for cheating on loved ones (seen this way too much lately), spreading someones personal business for everyone to see, and the flat out ability to be humiliated is too great.
I'd rather not be apart of it. 

Thing 16 - Social Networking - part 1 My Space

I'm all about being social, but there is just something about this kind of "social" that just does not appeal to me.  When MySpace came out, it was so huge.  I looked at the site and was just like, "eh, not for me."  I still feel that way today.  It is true that many employers research employees or candidates for jobs through these sites and if you don't know "netiquette" then you might have ruined your chances for a job.  All over a website?!?! 

Overall, I am not a fan of MySpace or sites like this.  I love my family and friends with all my heart.  I'm still able to keep in constant touch through email, phone, texting, and snail mail.....may not be the latest and greatest way to keep in touch, but it's worked for me so far. 

Thing 15 - Goodreads vs LibraryThing Part 2

After playing with both sites, I'm gonna have to go with Goodreads on this debate.  Visually, Goodreads agrees with my eye and it was generally more user friendly.  LibraryThing's word clouds made me want to look away.  I see how they both have great points, but my vote is definitely for Goodreads as far as which one I like better and which one I'll use. 

And as far as paying/not paying for a site and their service......I'm all about free!  Anything I can do or use that's free is always better than paying. 

3 cheers for Goodreads....hip hip hooray, hip hip hooray, hip hip hooray!!! 

Thing 14 - Good Reads vs. Library Thing Part 1

Goodreads is a really cool site for the avid reader!  The thing I loved the most were the lists on the main page.  "Most read books this week", "Popular books published in June 2011", "Best/Worst of all time."  I really loved the quizzes....especially the Twilight Saga Quiz.  I really thought I was an expert, however I only got 5 out of 10 questions right!  Bummer!!

Anyhow, Goodreads is a librarians dream come true!

Thing 13 - Google Docs

Google Docs is a great tool for teachers/librarians!!  I have had this very problem of having students save their work to some folder that can never again be found.  With this program, it's there, saved, and ready to be found.  I also like how it saved it on its own while I was working and would tell me "saved 3 seconds ago." 

Microsoft works does offer more as I wanted to add a border to the document, but didn't see that option on Google Docs.  But, I certainly think it's a more economical way for schools as Office is expensive!! 


https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Y50kp3ltie4EWBYbYGaSs2V0mu8Jk4UBHGpNVqo60Oo/edit?hl=en_US

Thing 12 - Blog search engines

I tried it both ways - I searched for Web 2.0 blogs through my regular search engine (Bing.com) and then from Google Blog Search.  I found great blogs in both places.  I liked that on Google the list was only blogs.  I liked the top 10 blog lists I got from Bing.  They both seemed to do the trick.  I think if I was looking for something super specific, I'd use the Google Blog Search to cut down on the other "stuff" one might get from the regular search engine.

A really cool "jewel" I found was from one of the top 10 lists.....
http://www.blogs.com/topten/top-10-web-20-blogs/

From there I clicked on the second blog down called "Crenk."  Scroll down on Crenk until you get to "Fences organizes your desktop" blog title.  Fences is this awesome tool that will "fence" and organize your desktop.  It's completely free and something I need as my desktop gets loaded down sometimes.  I could use some organizing fences!  Check it out......http://www.stardock.com/products/fences/

Happy organizing!

Thing 11 - Instant messaging aggregators

I tell ya, people think of everything.  That was a drawback to me about IMing people....if they had a different account, you couldn't IM them or you had to create a different account (which is annoying to me to have 15 million accounts for the same thing!). 

So, yes, I believe whoever thought of this was a genius!  Especially for people like me who like one place instead of 15!

I also believe IMing is something people do still enjoy today.  I know people IM on Facebook.  My mom used to have a IM through her work computer that she could IM coworkers for help or to ask questions.  The only drawback I can see to Meebo is if you don't want to talk to certain people at that particular time.  Other than that, I think it's a streamlined way to IM.   

Thing 10 - Instant Messaging

IMing my friends was the first thing I remember learning about when my parents got us a computer for the house in 1996 (I think).  Aol Instant Message was HUGE at the time and me and my friends thought it was sooooo cool to be able to chat back and forth on the computer. 
I think that's how I learned to type so fast!  However, after a while it got old and we got cell phones and began texting.  I never IM anymore.  I find that texting has taken over that "instant messaging" for me.  

   

Thing 9 - Social Bookmarking

This idea of having your bookmarks at whatever computer you are seems like an excellent idea.  I have had the problem of finding something great at home, bookmarking it, only to not be able to find it at school.  Had I had a Delicious account, that wouldn't have been a problem.  However, my experience with the site was weird - there was an error at the time and was only able to upload one of my bookmarks.  I will continue to play with it and log back in - but as of right now, I'm only able to have one bookmark as the page says "done with error."  

Ahhh, technology.  Can be so useful and so aggravating at the same time. 

Thing 8 - Tagging

I think tagging is very useful.  When I went to Amazon, I searched Charlotte's Web and saw the tags, "children's classic, fantasy, farm animals, death."  Beside each tag was a number and if you clicked it, a page of other books with that tag came up as well.  So, for Amazon, what a way to spread the word on many books!  And also for consumers to purchase or find what they're looking for. 

I tagged my Flickr photos of my dogs - "weenies, doxies, dachshund, piebald, long haired"
So now when someone looks up pictures of a weenie dog, my cuties will come up.  I really like this idea!!

Thing 7 - Wikis

Wikis are changeable websites.  I have seen them used in grad-classes where we posted ideas and thoughts on subjects.  It was helpful as everyone had an opinion at there own time.  So, if you needed more time to think about something or wanted to see what other people were saying because you're shy, then you had the option to do that.  In my personal life, I can't see having one....not for any particular reason.  Professionally, I like the idea of using them for book clubs. 

I went to Wikipedia and searched dachshund (since I'm in love with mine) and found out that JFK purchased a weenie dog for his then girlfriend in 1937, Grover Cleveland had a dachshund in the White House, Andy Warhol owned 2, Pablo Picasso owned one he named "Lump," and originally, "Toto" of The Wizard of Oz movie was cast a dachshund,who's name would have been "Otto" in the movie.  CUTE!!!  I think the next weenie dog I own, I'm going to steal Picasso's name and have a Lump, too!  I love that name!!   

Thing 6 - RSS Feeds

RSS feeds are super cool!  I have to admit that I am real nosey when it comes to celebrities and found that I could keep up with the Kardashians with the Eonline RSS feed on my Google Reader.  I am a little embarrassed that I just admitted that, but hey - everyone can have a guilty pleasure :)

I also added the Houston Chronicle - love being in tune with what's going on in Houston.  I also wanted to stay on top of what is going on in the library world through the ALA news feed.  Now I'm seeing how to stay connected in one place.  I think this could be a really cool lesson with high school students.  I wish I would have known about this sooner!!

Thing 5 - Readers and Aggregators

I have often wondered how people stay on top of all the blogs, organization's websites, tweets, etcs.  That is a whole lot of information coming in, sometimes on an hourly basis!  How do they have time to keep up?!?!  Now that I've played with the Google Reader, I see exactly how this is possible.  If all the information is in one place to check and it's all updated and managed in folders, then it makes it streamlined and easier to stay on top of.  At first, I was thoroughly confused with the site - I struggled to understand exactly what it did and how I was supposed to use it, but with a little insruction reading, playing around, and just plain blind guessing, I was able to get it right and see how useful a tool this is!

Thing 4

I went to the Big Huge Lab website and made my baby weenie dog into her very own puzzle!  The jigsaw creater was neat and so was the bead art.  I can see using this with the student's multi-media projects.  This could add a unique touch to their project pictures adding an extra element and giving them more experience with Web 2.0 tools.  There was nothing hard about uploading the pictures and picking which picture editor to use.  Super cute site! 
 

Thing 3

Flickr was very easy to navigate and upload.  I liked how it took me step by step.  I decided to post pictures of my 2 weenie babies, Skeeter and Ladybug.  I also added a caption about their personalities.  I also searched other people's weenie dog pictures and "oooohed and awwwwed" over all the cuties.  Overall, I like this site and the ability it has to store and share photos with friends and family. 

Check out the weenie girls.....http://www.flickr.com/photos/arw114/

Thing 2

My thoughts on Web 2.0 and blogging are all over the place.  I'm excited to have an opportunity to begin blogging as I've always loved to to write.  However, there are some Web 2.0 tools that scare me a little.  I'm not a fan of Facebook as I've seen it cause horrible problems for people.  I am vowing to have an open mind on any and all tools as I do believe they are important to know about for my career.  So, here we go!  Let the Web 2.0ing begin!

Thing 1

Hello everyone!
My name is Audra and I'm heading toward my 2nd year as a librarian in Galena Park ISD at Woodland Acres Elementary School.  Before I was a librarian, I taught 1st grade and Kinder.  I love books by Mo Willems (I'm a borderline groupie!) and love dachshunds or weenie dogs, as I like to call them.  I'm happy to be blogging as "Julie and Julia" was my first taste of the blogging world and fell in love with the idea.  However, I didn't know where to start and what to write about.  Now I have a reason!!  Here I go..........
:)