New Library Blog for KCUSD!

I did it! I created a blog for the library techs and LMTs where I can post informational news that I used to send via e-mail. I hope this helps organize all of the information I send each year. I also got the Tech Dept. to open up blogspot.com and blogger.com for teachers. When the head of the Tech Dept. (my co-chair of the district Technology Committee) saw how I was going to use the blog, it was not a problem convincing him to allow it. Now for some of the other Web 2.0 tools.......

This is our library blog: kcusdlibraries.blogspot.com

Week 9: Exercise 23, School Library Learning 2.0 Summary

What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?
I really liked, and am using regularly, Del.icio.us. Not only can I find my bookmarks anywhere, but on special topics I can see what others are finding--what a great collaboration tool. I also want to explore blogs and wikis for our library techs and me to use for communication. Our monthly meetings could involve more training if we could communicate the housekeeping chores via a blog or wiki.

How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?
I have really balked at learning about Web 2.0 tools. I didn't think I could handle all of this information, but I am so glad this opportunity was offered. It has changed the way I view Web 2.0. I can do this! That's what I find most amazing. I want to share this with our Instructional Technology Trainers (ITTs) because they are the ones willing to explore new products/ideas in technology. I think they would run with some of these ideas. I see myself as the advocate for opening up some of these sites in order for the ITTs to explore Web 2.0 tools with their students.

Were there any take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?
That I would turn into an advocate for opening up some of these Web 2.0 sites for instructional use AND encourage my colleagues to participate in this online opportunity (I already e-mailed all of the ITTs about this).

What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?
At the beginning, some exercises were very time-consuming and it was overwhelming. Left to explore on our own during the latter exercises was very beneficial. I definitely liked the exercises where we had to post to our blog what we did/produced. You have to "do" in order to "learn."

If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you choose to participate?
A definite YES!!! Summer is the best time; I felt I had the time to devote to this project. I don't think I would have worked as hard as I did if this opportunity had been during the school year.

How would you describe your learning experience in ONE WORD or in ONE SENTENCE, so we could use your words to promote CSLA learning activities?
Web2.0licious!
Web2.0fabulous!

Week 9: Exercise 22, e-Books and Audio eBooks

The World EBook Fair site has a variety of collections to choose from--for example, Government Printing Office, Women Writers, and the 1000 e-books for One Laptop per Child program that had classic older titles for children and young adults. The Internet Archive is interesting--many older books that are available for free; some real old children's books.

I liked the Best Places to Get Free Books site--a large list of sites of free books to download. I liked the Gutenburg Project Top 100--you can see the list of the top 100 downloads without having to search for specific books and being disappointed when you didn't get any hits. Actually, I like the Gutenberg Project website better than the World EBook Fair site. World EBook Fair has way too many things that I'm not interested in. The Gutenberg site is a little more manageable, especially for a school site library.

I enjoyed looking at the LibriVox site for free audiobooks. I listened to part of Romeo and Juliet.

I really don't know how much I will use these sites. I guess if I couldn't find a book in print this would be the way to go. Using free audiobooks for the classics would be good for teachers to use in the classroom or students could listen to the audiobooks in the library.

Week 9: Exercise 21, Podcasts

I had limited library news results with Podcast.net (that I thought were interesting). Yahoo Podcasts had several good ones. Both Podcast.net and Yahoo Podcasts had Book Voyages - A school LMT podcasts reviews of children's literature and interviews with authors and students. I like this one because it focuses on children/YA book reviews and authors. I heard the podcast where Bruce Coville is interviewed. I subscribed to this podcast and it appears in my iTunes and Yahoo podcasts, but I couldn't get it to post to my Bloglines.

Through Podcast Alley I found LibVibe, a library news broadcast. I was able to add this RSS feed to my Bloglines. Very cool news. Podcast Alley had quite a few good library podcasts.

Education Podcast Network - I like how it's geared to teachers and you can select podcasts by subject matter. However, it would be helpful to have a search box.

iTunes - There isn't a search box so I couldn't search for library news (I'm not registered with iTunes, so maybe that's the problem). Anyway, I went through the podcasts that were listed and found Spanish Success that had five Spanish lessons. I e-mailed my husband the information so he could experience podcasting--he's listened to Spanish lessons on audiotapes in the past. These were pretty good lessons--simple, with explanations as to why words are pronounced a certain way.

Podcasts could be very useful for a library media teacher to keep up-to-date; however, it's the time involved to listen, just as the RSS feeds for blogs/news. And I can't listen while I'm working. I am not an auditory learner--I'm a visual learner. So my mind tends to wander if I have to listen only. Podcasts may not be for me. :-(

Week 9: Exercise 20, YouTube and other video sites

I really liked the Librarian's 2.0 Manifesto video on YouTube, but the video below from TeacherTube is my favorite: Pay Attention. Teachers and administrators would benefit from watching this video because it shows how we need to meet our kids where they're at. I loved the cell phone example for data collecting. I really liked TeacherTube better than YouTube. Anything goes on YouTube and TeacherTube is a little more professional. I can see using videos on the library website for booktalks by students, instructions for projects, tutorials, and more. There is a use for this in school libraries.

Week 8: Exercise 19, LibraryThing

I added 10 books to my LibraryThing. Everyone has Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and four others of mine were very popular also--Seabiscuit, Tuesdays with Morrie, Who Moved My Cheese?, and Water for Elephants. There is a place to look at the conversations about the books in my library. Seven of my 10 books had postings. It was interesting. This is the link to my list of books: http://www.librarything.com/catalog/cdoerksen (I've also placed a "chiclet" on the sidebar linking it to my library). My Random Book list widget from LibraryThing is on the sidebar. I also posted a "Recent Reads" widget on the sidebar. This was fun!

It was nice to see some examples of how libraries are using LibraryThing on their websites.
This has real possibilities for school libraries.

I also liked the LibraryThing blog.

Week 8: Exercise 18, Online Productivity Tools

See my Zoho Writer posting below. It was pretty easy to publish it to my blog.

Google Docs was also pretty cool with the ability to do spreadsheets also. I really like the list that was created with all of the Web-based Productivity Applications for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, and calendars and planners. However, the Zoho Planner links to the Zoho Show.