Overall, I really enjoyed the Discover 2.0 program. While I thought I had a pretty good idea of how to do certain things on the Internet (Blogging, Facebook/MySpace), I learned through this program that there was a lot I didn't know and had never heard of (ie: Twitter, Mash-ups, Google Docs).
Some of my favorite discoveries were the Mash-ups and Google Documents. I also thought that the Common Craft videos were very creative, fun, and easy to understand. I became a huge fan of the Common Craft videos and was excited when I was doing a unit that featured them. I really enjoyed keeping a blog too. I have always liked writing and expressing my thoughts, I just hadn't done it for a long time. Setting up this blog encouraged me to get back to writing and expressing myself.
The program also challenged me and my 7 1/2 life long learning habits. The one I said I struggled with the most was "Habit #3: View problems as challenges". I easily get frustrated with technology when something doesn't work but through this program I just kept trying to do the newly acquired skill until it worked. Some things were very difficult for me such as adding the Meebo box to my blog while others I caught onto really quickly (posting a picture or video). While some of the things took me a couple of tries, I always felt a sense of learning and accomplishment when I was able to get it to work. The Discover 2.0 program forced me to think outside my technology box and develop new skills I didn't know existed.
One thing I'd like to express as feedback would be (and I hope I don't get in trouble for saying this)is that since this was an "extra curricular" learning thing and not mandatory I feel we should have been able to work on it on our own time. I personally wouldn't have had a problem with that and wouldn't have minded... the reward at the end was motivation enough for me to want to finish the program!
Thank you and Bon Voyage!
Friday, April 18, 2008
Postcards from around the World (wide web)
Wow, so this was an interesting unit. I understand the concept but don't think this would be something I would use in my daily life. One of the articles compared Twitter to the "Status Updates" on Facebook. As a Facebook user myself, checking the status of everyone is one of the first and favorite things I do and I am always amazed at how a few words can fill you in on what's going on in a person's life. Speaking of the status, I would call somebody and then start telling them something and they would say something to the effect "yeah I saw that on your Facebook" or someone would call me and start the conversation with "So I saw on your status today that...". Amazing how a few words can make you feel so connected!
As far as Twitter and Tumblr, I really just don't think I would care enough to constantly get status updates of people while I'm on the go. I don't even like having a cell phone, let alone constantly be getting messages on it telling me what my friend had for lunch or that so-and-so is in their car driving. I've got to many other things to worry about during my day and cluttering it with minute details is something I just don't need. I think it would stress me out rather than inform me! Logging into my Facebook account once a day and getting status updates is enough for me.
As far as Twitter and Tumblr, I really just don't think I would care enough to constantly get status updates of people while I'm on the go. I don't even like having a cell phone, let alone constantly be getting messages on it telling me what my friend had for lunch or that so-and-so is in their car driving. I've got to many other things to worry about during my day and cluttering it with minute details is something I just don't need. I think it would stress me out rather than inform me! Logging into my Facebook account once a day and getting status updates is enough for me.
My Vacation Video Library
Although this isn't the best quality video, it was the only one I could find that actually had live footage and not a photo montage. I first heard of Owen and Mzee from a children's book and was very intrigued by the special bond and unique relationship these two animals share. Despite the wide spread devestation the 2004 tsaumani in Asia caused around the world, this is one touching and heartwarming story that came out of it. (I am also very proud of myself for learning how to embed this video into my blog. It took a few minutes to figure out, and I had to consult the Help section but I was able to do it and it worked on my first try! Whoohoo! Once again, I can say I am definetely expanding my skills since taking Discover 2.0!).
I've always enjoyed surfing around "user friendly" YouTube and have found many interesting and educational things on it. I liked learning and seaching around the other video sites (blip.tv, Revver, and MetaCafe were my favorites from this unit) and found all of them really easy to use. I had only ever heard of YouTube before this unit, so enjoyed exploring the other video sites and seeing what they had to offer.
I think using videos would be a great thing to incorporate into libraries. We could embed some "How To" videos on the library's homepage about the Dewey Decimal System and how to search for books using the DDS. I also think it would be a good idea to have people leave short videos about books they've read and enjoyed (like FVRL's Sam Wallin's One Minute Critic project). Using short video clips would definetely enhance people's experience in the library!
Friday, April 11, 2008
Touching down in the Land of Podcasts
I personally have never used podcasts before but think it could be something interesting to listen to while exercising, doing chores, or traveling somewhere. After reading about them in this unit think it will be something I'm willing to try.
I looked at all three directories for finding podcasts and liked Podcast.net and Podcastalley.com the best. They were easy to navigate around and provided brief descriptions of what the podcasts would be about. I liked how easy it was to subscribe to some podcasts by just copying and pasting the podcast's URL into my Bloglines account. I was not impressed with Yahoo's Podcasts at all as they didn't have descriptions and were very vague in what they were about.
I had a hard time finding some library related podcasts that interested me but did end up on settling with two which could be very interesting. One was called "LibVibe" and it gives you short podcasts (between 7 - 9 minutes) of headline news from the world of libraries. I scanned some of the headlines and some of them proved to be varied and interesting. I also subscribed to one called "Library Across Cultures". It only has one podcast so far but the podcaster went to Japan and interviewed a librarian there about the 20,000 books written in different languages other than Japanese and how it serves the foreign public.
I did stumble across a few other podcasts that I saved to my Bloglines account for my own personal use too. One I'm especially looking forward to talks about living in Las Vegas and gives a first person account of what it's like to live there. I've been to Las Vegas twice and love the "escape from reality" it provides and how it's larger than life. I've seen it from the tourist's point of view, but I think it would be interesting to see it from a local's perspective. I also subscribed to "Amateur Traveler Podcast - travel for the love it" as it had some interesting podcasts on destinations I'm interested in (Egypt) and some on New York City which I'm planning on traveling to in about a month.
Overall, I think podcasts are becoming more mainstream and I think if I put the effort into actually listening to some I will really enjoy them. As I haven't tried listening to any yet my opinion is fairly vague. I did find that while searching for podcasts to subscribe to, there are a wide variety of topics for every interest and age and I think that there is something appealing out there for everyone.
I looked at all three directories for finding podcasts and liked Podcast.net and Podcastalley.com the best. They were easy to navigate around and provided brief descriptions of what the podcasts would be about. I liked how easy it was to subscribe to some podcasts by just copying and pasting the podcast's URL into my Bloglines account. I was not impressed with Yahoo's Podcasts at all as they didn't have descriptions and were very vague in what they were about.
I had a hard time finding some library related podcasts that interested me but did end up on settling with two which could be very interesting. One was called "LibVibe" and it gives you short podcasts (between 7 - 9 minutes) of headline news from the world of libraries. I scanned some of the headlines and some of them proved to be varied and interesting. I also subscribed to one called "Library Across Cultures". It only has one podcast so far but the podcaster went to Japan and interviewed a librarian there about the 20,000 books written in different languages other than Japanese and how it serves the foreign public.
I did stumble across a few other podcasts that I saved to my Bloglines account for my own personal use too. One I'm especially looking forward to talks about living in Las Vegas and gives a first person account of what it's like to live there. I've been to Las Vegas twice and love the "escape from reality" it provides and how it's larger than life. I've seen it from the tourist's point of view, but I think it would be interesting to see it from a local's perspective. I also subscribed to "Amateur Traveler Podcast - travel for the love it" as it had some interesting podcasts on destinations I'm interested in (Egypt) and some on New York City which I'm planning on traveling to in about a month.
Overall, I think podcasts are becoming more mainstream and I think if I put the effort into actually listening to some I will really enjoy them. As I haven't tried listening to any yet my opinion is fairly vague. I did find that while searching for podcasts to subscribe to, there are a wide variety of topics for every interest and age and I think that there is something appealing out there for everyone.
Friday, April 4, 2008
Music and Language... the pulse of the world (wide web)
I really like the idea of the social music sites especially last.fm. It would be really fun to have a "radio station" tailored specifically to you and your tastes. I find I am most productive when I have music playing in the background whether it be having the radio on while I'm cooking dinner or cleaning up or listening to my MP3 player while I exercise or go for a walk. Having my favorite songs play back to back to back would get me really pumped up.
I also really liked the idea of the Mango Languages and think that could be a really neat program to offer at the library. I quickly glanced through one of the free lessons of the French program and really liked how they explained things and laid it out. This could be a great extension to the library's program of the Conversation Circle. I've always wanted to learn another language and think if the library offered something tied with Mango I would be there. Although it's a do-it-yourself course just having the support network of other people to get it done would be fun. If there are library workers or people in the community that speak, for example, French why not have a French evening and anyone interested in learning the language could come and do the course and if there were any questions you could ask the facilitator. I have taken correspondence courses in the past, and while I did learn from them, I really missed the social aspect of being in a classroom with other students and having a teacher. I think this would be a great outreach to offer to the community. The library currently offers that conversation circle for people new to the English language why not offer a program for English speakers to learn a second or even third language? This would be a great way to tie in the English conversation circle people as well as I'm sure they'd be thrilled to offer their knowledge of their native tongue.
To close, I wanted to share my feelings on the question, Are CD's dead? Ever since I got my MP3 player I have to say, yes, they are. I love being able to download the songs that I want and not have to buy the whole CD just to get 3 or 4 songs that I actually like out of the 12 - 14 that may be on there. I was given a CD for Christmas this year and the first thing I did was "rip" the songs that I liked and transferred it to my MP3 player. Now that I've been introduced to the wonderful world of downloading music and the compact size of MP3 players I don't think I'll ever go back to using CD's or CD players.
I also really liked the idea of the Mango Languages and think that could be a really neat program to offer at the library. I quickly glanced through one of the free lessons of the French program and really liked how they explained things and laid it out. This could be a great extension to the library's program of the Conversation Circle. I've always wanted to learn another language and think if the library offered something tied with Mango I would be there. Although it's a do-it-yourself course just having the support network of other people to get it done would be fun. If there are library workers or people in the community that speak, for example, French why not have a French evening and anyone interested in learning the language could come and do the course and if there were any questions you could ask the facilitator. I have taken correspondence courses in the past, and while I did learn from them, I really missed the social aspect of being in a classroom with other students and having a teacher. I think this would be a great outreach to offer to the community. The library currently offers that conversation circle for people new to the English language why not offer a program for English speakers to learn a second or even third language? This would be a great way to tie in the English conversation circle people as well as I'm sure they'd be thrilled to offer their knowledge of their native tongue.
To close, I wanted to share my feelings on the question, Are CD's dead? Ever since I got my MP3 player I have to say, yes, they are. I love being able to download the songs that I want and not have to buy the whole CD just to get 3 or 4 songs that I actually like out of the 12 - 14 that may be on there. I was given a CD for Christmas this year and the first thing I did was "rip" the songs that I liked and transferred it to my MP3 player. Now that I've been introduced to the wonderful world of downloading music and the compact size of MP3 players I don't think I'll ever go back to using CD's or CD players.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Trip of a lifetime (part two)
I just wanted to add to my experience about publishing my article onto my blog from GoogleDocs. I had a bit of trouble at first as I kept getting an error message. It turned out to be two really minor things (I had a typo in my user name - I had put 3 l's instead of 2) and I had put the URL address to my blog instead of just my blog's ID/Title. Once I got that figured out, a few "clickity clicks" of the mouse and, volia, it had magically appeared as a post! Although sometimes making mistakes can be frustrating, it is a really good learning experience and the only way to develop new skills. I'm glad I kept trying and was able to figure it out on my own. I feel so triumphant and satisfied at the new skills I'm learning in Discover 2.0.
Trip of a lifetime!
WOW, I had no idea that this type of concept existed but I REALLY like it and could see myself using this useful tool in the future. I have worked a lot of office jobs in the past and I can relate to how overwhelming email can be especially when you're having to modify documents all the time. I worked in an administrative assistant's role typing up letters, presentations, meeting minutes, etc and when I sent them for my boss to review he'd always email me back with changes and revisions and I'd have to save his document to my computer, make the changes then attach the email again. As the Common Craft video said you'd have numerous versions you'd have to keep straight. I wish I would have had something like GoogleDocs when I was working my office jobs because it would have been so useful and such a time saver!
I also love how GoogleDocs is set up exactly like an office suite so if you're familiar with Microsoft this will be easy to figure out and navigate your way around. I was able to catch onto the features quite quickly since I'm used to Microsoft Office. It's been a couple of years since I've been in an office setting working behind a desk, but I am curious to see if this new technology is catching on in various workplaces.
I loved how "back in the day" email was dubbed as the changing landscape of the business world and how it was going to revolutionize communication because of the instantaneous of it all but I think GoogleDocs is going to be crowned the new champion! This is brilliant! Email today is such an essential part of everyday life to the point we've taken it for granted. Email is something everyone just "does" but I definitely think that GoogleDocs is going to catch on really quickly. How do we keep up with it all???
What a great and educational unit! I caught onto it really quick and feel like I've had a "light bulb moment"... I'm so glad I learned that this existed because I know I'll be using it.
I also love how GoogleDocs is set up exactly like an office suite so if you're familiar with Microsoft this will be easy to figure out and navigate your way around. I was able to catch onto the features quite quickly since I'm used to Microsoft Office. It's been a couple of years since I've been in an office setting working behind a desk, but I am curious to see if this new technology is catching on in various workplaces.
I loved how "back in the day" email was dubbed as the changing landscape of the business world and how it was going to revolutionize communication because of the instantaneous of it all but I think GoogleDocs is going to be crowned the new champion! This is brilliant! Email today is such an essential part of everyday life to the point we've taken it for granted. Email is something everyone just "does" but I definitely think that GoogleDocs is going to catch on really quickly. How do we keep up with it all???
What a great and educational unit! I caught onto it really quick and feel like I've had a "light bulb moment"... I'm so glad I learned that this existed because I know I'll be using it.
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