Learning

All the lessons have been completed and now I must tell what I have learned. There was a lot to learn and one thing I learned is that there is a lot to learn--nothing is static, things on the internet are always changing and it will take time to learn. I think one thing I learned is that I must take a few minutes each day to investigate things on the internet. It is much like taking time to smell the flower, by taking a walk each day, stopping at the store to talk to people, pausing to look at the sky, slowing down and observing. It seems people use the internet to speed up their lives and for that it is convenient but to appreciate it fully takes time. I think it could become addictive, information overload, isolating from the world, but for every good thing there are bad things that go with it.
Overall it will take discipline, discipline to log on and learn something, investigate something each day and also discipline to not spend too much time looking at a screen and spend time looking at the world around me.

WIKI

I logged on to the South Dakota Library challenge today to see if I was behind. I haven't looked at it for awhile--busy time of the year. I was pleased to find out I wasn't too far behind. I looked at the lesson about Wikis and went to a few of the sites. I am familiar with Wikis but never really knew how they worked. I know from experience that the Wiki the students use at school, the encyclopedia, is often full of partial or misinformation, however it is a good place to start. After I read up on Wkis I realized why the site the students use is full of partial and misinformation. It is user driven. So, that is the advantage and also the disadvantage of Wikis. On the American Library Assoication web-site there is a Wiki for the upcoming Mid-Winter Conference in Denver. I will be attending that so I was interested to see what was on there. Now I understand why some of the areas in the schedule are filled in and others are not. The advantage of using Wikis for this type of information is that it can be changed quickly and easily, added to by people responsible for the event and easily accessed.
I saw on one web-site a Wiki that had been vandalized--the disadvantage. I guess people had changed information or added information inappropriate to the site. Even though this is a disadvantage there are ways to insure this does not happen--securing the site with registration is one way.
All in all Wikis are fun, useful tools to share information quickly and easily.

Widget

In taking this Library challenge and doing the activities, I have found so many things on the internet, some I knew were there just haven't used them and others I had no idea what they were. I recently discovered "widgets" which are fun and interesting tools. I use one on my computer at home for the Coke Rewards. It is on the desktop, so when I want to add a code it is there without logging onto internet then the website. I thought I would try this one from Schoastic to see what it would do. Here goes:

MySpace/ Facebook/Social Networking

I have had a MySpace profile set up for several years and and account on Facebook for about a year. I am more familiar with MySpace and use it more often as I write blogs on there and read others blogs, keep up with friends and have added several new authors on my friends list. I haven't uses Facebook much but do keep up with friends there too usually with just one or two line comments. My children say they like Facebook better.
I have seen how these social networking sites are very beneficial but like anything else can be abused, with cyber bullying, fake profiles etc. However, on the positive side it is a great way to network. Think about the recent election. Each candidate had a MySpace profile. Information about the candidate was on their profile and it could be accessed by millions of people as they stayed in touch with family and friends. New authors can find people on MySpace who might be interested in their books, librarians or teachers. It is like going to a giant party to make contacts and shaking a few hands, passing out business cards, and getting acquainted.
There is a wide range of use for these social networking sites. In fact a person could get tangled up in them and spend hours. It just depends on how social you are.

Google DOCs

Google Docs can be very valuable. I have had frustrating experiences with trying to figure out how to save a document in one place and download it somewhere else. Without a flash drive a document can be writeen and saved in Google and accessed from any computer any where. This is particularly helpful in our school setting. We have students who will type a document at home on a Word version newer than the school version, save it to a flash drive only to discover it will not open on the school computer. Imagine the frustration! I have typed something at school and want to edit at home and usually I will e-mail the document to myself. This is what students do sometimes but, since they are not supposed to access e-mail at school this presents a dilema for them. First they have to get permission to access e-mail then copy and paste document, etc. I am glad that this lesson was next on the list, because I learned a lot from this.
Just this week we found a lost kitty. I had a picture on my computer of the cat but no printer. My husbands computer had a printer but no picture, so instead of using e-mail, I typed the lost poster in Google, inserting the picture, and then accessed it on my husband's computer to print. It worked like a charm. The kitty is still with us, I think we will adopt him since no one claimed him.

Video

Videos--How can they be used.? I experienced that just a few weeks ago in observing a class. The teacher used You Tube to play clips from Martin Luther King, Jr., "I Have a Dream" speech as a prompt for a writing assignment.
I sent this YouTube video about homelessness in our city to several teachers who are responsible for our annual food drive.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNwyk_bVlsg

What a great tool to use for clips of shows, news, speeches, etc.
I realize this tool can be used in a derogatory way and because of this YouTube is blocked from some places but for us it works well.

I will have to think how to use this tool in the library.

Podcasts

http://www.mediafly.com/Podcasts/Feeds/NPR_Hourly_News_Summary

Podcasts have already become part of our family at home and I could see a real benefit of them in helping patrons at a library. I work at a school, and the use of media devices by students is discouraged during the school day. However, links, web-sites etc could be used in reports, to enhance presentations both by teachers and students. I spend time researching and give infomation to the teachers about new books and media so, I could also find podcasts to support curriculum such as presidential speeches, news reports, culture, etc. I could see a benefit using podcasts this way.