#15 (Week 6) Future of Web 2.0

I am still grappling with trying to define Library 2.0. I found the different perspectives and the Wikipedia definition to be very helpful with getting a grasp on this term. After reading the articles the key idea that I came away with was a sense of a user-centered library where the focus is on providing an interactive structure that enables users to access information and services when and where they need them. I can see that the Web 2.0 tools can provide an environment that allows for increased interaction from users. My goal is to harness some of this energy and use it to actively involve my students in our library. One of the articles mentioned the concept that the library is not in a community, it is a community within itself. I like this notion and would like to build on it. Another factor that I am constantly wrestling with was mentioned in the Horizon Report- the ability of students to use new 2.0 tools continues to outpace the ability of faculty. I find this is true of both my students and the younger teachers. I have to push myself to learn new tools that are second nature for them! Luckily, I love a challenge!

#14 Technorati (Week 6)

I found this tool a bit overwhelming. I can see how tags are being utilized, but didn't see any practical application for my personal use or for use with students in the library.

#13 Delicious (WEEK 6)

I am constantly amazed at the number of tools that are evolving in 2.o. I had never even heard of Delicious before! An interesting tool. I think it definitely has some possible uses with students in terms of creating a shared site that they can use to access websites that have been selected and saved for research. I am already able to do this on our library portal page, but this might be a nice extension. I especially like the ability to tag sites and search for similar sites. It creates an online community of shared resources that are easy to access. I will share this tool with some of the teachers at my school who like to provide websites to parents for use at home with students. This would make it easy to put everything in one place and the ability to annotate makes it even more useful.
I was able to use the tags to explore 'information literacy' and found an interesting blog entry from Joyce Valenza about being a 21st century librarian. You can find it on my Delicious bookmarks if you're interested.

#12 (Week 5) Rollyo Search Tool

Cool tool! I created a Rollyo around the California Gold Rush. I was really excited by the results. I can definitely see using this as a tool for student research. This will allow students to search mulitple sites at once to find relevant information. This allows the sites to be handpicked.
One thing I noticed was that it's important to be specific when choosing websites to make sure that the searches remain relevant to the topic. For example, I linked to PBS and got search results from other pages linked to the PBS site. I'd like to experiment to see if it's possible to maek it more specific.
I was also successful adding a Rollyo link to my blog!

#11 (Week 5) Web 2.0 Awards

I visited several websites on the Web 2.0 awards list. I discovered that some such as Backback were subscription-based sites. I really liked the possibilities of Google docs. I had actually played a bit with Google docs after a recent technology meeting. I like the idea of being able to post work online that others can work on collaboratively. I see applications for this with both colleagues as well as with students. I also found that presentations can be created or uploaded on Google docs. This helps with the issue of compatibility when sharing student projects with parents. I'd also like to play with the form function to create student surveys. I look forward to playing with Google docs more in the future.
I successfully joined the Library 2.0 Ning.

#10 (Week 5) Online Image Generators

I played around with online image generators today. I found the Flikr Toys to be very easy to use. I made a name badge, trading card, comic, and cd cover. The cd cover will work well for the storytelling project I do with first grade. I can create covers for the cds they create based on the wordless book "One Frog Too Many". The name badges would be fun for my student volunteers. I'm not sure how to apply the trading cards yet. Maybe they could make trading cards related to their reading interests...favorite genres , books, authors,... I'd like to play around with the tools on Flikr some more.
I thought the map maker was fun and would be useful for second grade when they study ancestors, but I think only the html code can be copied and put somewhere. Not sure how to print it out at that point.
Lastly, I tried Image Chef. I was very proud of myself for figuring out how to imbed an image I created into my blog!
These are definitely FUN tools!

#9 (Week 4) Rss Feed Searches

I have become much more aware of Rss newsfeeds now that I know what they are! I discovered that the California Learning Resource Network that I heard about at a recent tech meeting has rss feeds for some of their services. I signed up to receive web information links. I've already a viewed a few of the links and the reviews. This will definitely be a useful resource for finding effective websites to use in my lessons.
I tried using the different search vehicles. I found most of them a bit overwhelming, but was able to find a few tips and tricks. I like the way topix allows you to search by zipcode to find local news stories and then allows you to search by topic as well. I found the Google search the least overwhelming and user-friendly. I also searched in the award winning blogs and liked the Creating Lifelong Learners blog
because there was a list of categories to browse by grade level. This helped to filter the information I was viewing. I'll try to use rss feeds to help me find resources for my lesson planning in the future.