Not the End!

Well I have completed all the requirements for our WEB 23 course. Happily, I am glad to report that this is just the beginning, but by no means, have I reached the end of the 2.0 journey. I have learned so much but I know this is just the tip of the iceberg. It's never been more true that we must all strive to be lifelong learners and instill this burning desire to know more in our students.

Nothing can take the place of discovery learning. I loved creating my own blog. Having been new to the district, this has really helped me to learn more about my fellow HEB librarians. The Favorites Wiki was so fun! This is a perfect format for professionals. We can work at our own pace without feeling pressured or overwhelmed. Best of all, it was nice to be able to work at home during weekends, snow days and breaks.

Now I have more tools to fullfil my media specialist role. I can explain to others what Wikis, RSS feeds, and tags and the like are. Beyond knowing what they are, I can now show others how to use them. I can show them useful sites such as Bloglines, Rollyo, and Zoho. One of the biggest challenges for me concerning Web 2.0 is to keep up with what the students already know. At least now I have a working knowledge of the everchanging world and sometimes overwhelming world of cyberspace.

Now I can really see that the journey of a thousand miles really does begin with a single step. I am so glad to have had the opportunity to take many first steps as I have treked through Web23. The path was rocky at times but it's so true that anything worthwhile costs you something. Knowledge is golden.

NetLibrary

NetLibrary will be a great resource to use. My husband can't wait. He works with his MP3 player plugged in his ear all day. (Wouldn't it be nice if we librarians had that job perk).

I read the instructions for downloading eaudiobooks. The instructions are very simple and straightforward. I know I'll be able to follow them because there are actual graphics of what you'll see on your monitor when you download them. I don't think it could be any easier.

I'll know what I'll be doing this summer. If anyone would like to join me poolside with your MP3 player, you will certainly be welcome. What a way to wile away the dog days of summer!

Podcasts

What an interesting tool for librarians to use! Wouldn't our kids enjoy making their own book reviews? I'd like to learn more about adding music and sound effects. This would be such a fun project.

I added the Nancy Pearl feed to my bloglines account. These would make great examples for the students to use when making their own podcasts. Don't you know the parents would enjoy these too! It would be great public relations for our libraries.

You Tube

I discovered this video on You Tube. I would love to be able to duplicate a similiar video for my library. It would be a great orientation tool. It could even be shown on the morning announcements at the beginning of school. It's aptly titled THE PIGEON WHO FOUND A LIBRARY. I think I'll make my own version for my new SMART Board.

I couldn't figure out how to get the video on my blog but I thought it was really cute.

Exploring Web 2.0 Award Winning Site

I really enjoyed exploring the Web 2.0 award winning sites. Since I started college in 1978, I sometimes feel I'm light years behind the technology curve. It was refreshing to know that I'm not totally technologically disabled because I'm already using some of these sites.

I especially enjoyed perusing the Mango Language site. I think our parents would really like this site. Think about all the interest in we have in Spanish Immersion. This would be great for the other campuses. I took a sample lesson and it was very simple and practical. I'm sure it's not economically feasible, but it would be great public relations to be able to offer this course through my library site.

Zoho

Zoho is a very useful tool. Not only is it innovative but it is extremely user-friendly. Being so similar to Microsoft Word, almost anyone can use this writer immediately. It's much more cost-effective. You don't have to worry about plucking down hundreds of dollars for something that will soon be obsolete. The best advantage is being able to publish your info publicly.

Library 2.0

In the beginning I really didn't understand the concept of Web 2.0 and Library 2.0. Now I get it! Now I can embrace the new technologies and am excited about using them to my advantage. Our job is not disappearing; it's just expanding beyond the four corners of our little school library walls. We can now use what we already do and show it to the world. Tagging, RSS feeds, etc. make it so much easier for us to teach our kids and others across the globe to become effective users of information.