Number 16

Sandbox Wiki- I have not played in a sandbox since I was a kid. I will not say how long ago that was. I was not sure what a wiki was until I started playing in the sandbox. It was very easy to edit the wiki as they said it would be. I added a post about blogging. I want to set up a blog for my book club next year. It would be great for my students to be able to share about what we are reading and the activities we are doing when we get together. I really like the idea that the students could plug in a video so they could talk about books or research they are doing and not just write about them. There are alot of awesome tools to use and learn from. Welcome to the Web 2.0 world, look out here I come. I told you my confidence level has gone up.

Number 13

Del.icio.us was very interesting. I had never thought about social bookmarking but it is a good idea. There is alot of good information out there and having easier ways to access it would be very helpful. I was very impressed with the variety of sites that were bookmarked through Del.icio.us. I discovered the site Bibme.com. This site shows you step by step how to create a bibliography. This would be very useful with our students when they have a research project to do. I also looked at a site called OZ Projects. This site is from Austrailla and has many different activities and projects for teachers and their students. I even got to KidsClick through Del.icio.us. I am looking forward to using more technology with my students.
These exercises have given my new confidence to get out there and try new things.

My thoughts

When I first started the 23 Thingss I was excited about the prospect of learning some new technology and widening my knowledge base. Then some frustration set in that I would not finish, or that some of the steps were things I could not figure out. I know that I do better with some help from others. I did get together with another librarian and that made all the difference. Things started following into place for me. I am very excited that I was able to finish and I am very proud of my blog.
I look forward to trying some of what I have learned with my students.
I especially enjoyed Animoto and Library Thing. Letting them blog about books they have read is something I want to try with my book club. I know that my students research will be benefited by what I have learned.
I read several blogs and the librarians stated they would do another learning project like the 23 again. When I read it I thought they must be crazy. But now I can say that I would do something like this again. See how far I have come.

Animoto

This was a blast. It was so much easier than I expected. You just click buttons and the computer does it all for you. I can see students creating some really fun and imaginative shows using Animoto. I am amazed at what I have been able to do with technology. This has been so good for me. I let myself think that I can't do these things but really I can. My confidence level has increased tenfold since I started the 23 Things.

Number 22

Look what I did, how about that

Thing 23

I see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Creative Commons was a bit confusing at first. But now I see what it was saying. We would be able to modify orginal works according to stipulations specified by the producer.
In the library pictures could be pieced together to create a storyline to share with the students. These pictures could come from various site such at Flickr or Facebook.
Students could also create their own videos on Animoto.

Number 21

Podcasts are very cool. I got a new ipod for Christmas that I now have new excitement for. Students today use ipods all the time. I read somewhere that people now are downloading music and videos and are not buying them in the stores.
Students creating podcasts for class assignments will bring new excitement to learning. I look forward to more investigation and learning on podcasts.
I added an rss feed to my google page. It was on Harry Potter and predicting how the books will come out.
I am getting new ideas to enchance my book club. I am liking this more and more.

Number 20

You Tube - what a hoot. With help I put a video on depression glass on my blog. I collect depression glass and was amazed to see several videos on it. You could probably look up anything and get a video.
This was my first visit to YouTube but it won't be my last.
I know that many of my students are more savy about this than me. It would be good tool for student generated videos on things that they are studying or sincerely interested in.
Caution needs to taken to make sure that our students are not getting to videos that are inappropriate.

Number 12

I know my numbers do not go in order. I am getting some much needed help that is really making this easier and alot more fun.
I went to Facebook and created my account. I am not sure about putting alot of information about myself on this site. I know that young people use it and Myspace alot. I am glad to know how it works and how to get to it. I need to be informed so I can better serve my students.

Number 10

I played around with Image Chef. It has a good selection of images to choose from. I cannot believe that it was that easy to post the image I created to my blog. I was very excited. I cannot wait to explore some more and see what other images I can create. Maybe I am not such a technophob after all.

booky scroll

Number 19

Flowcharts and Mindmaps
I went ahead and signed up with Gliffy.com, Flowcharts.com and bubbl.us
I enjoyed creating flowcharts and maps. They are a great way to show what has been learned. Informtion is organized in a way that is easy to follow and process for the learner. It is very cool that the students could work on a mind map in real time and get input from other students as they do it. This year at school we are using Thinking Maps. I have enjoyed using them in the library. Our students are doing great work using these maps.

Number 18

Playing online is fun. Web 2.0 had a more extensive award list than I was expecting. I really enjoyed all the different categories that were included. I looked at the award winners. The one I had the most fun with was Cocktail Builder. I was not expecting a category on mixing drinks. I found this site to be very educational. I discovered a cocktail called Girl Scout Cookie. It sounded really good. I know this is not the kind of site we would use at school with out students but I am having fun exploring it.
Another site I really liked was Library Thing. It came in third place. I set up an account earlier and posted it to my blog. It appears to be gone now. I will check on it. It is a great site four sharing about books you have read and books you have enjoyed.

Number 17

Zoho Writer:
It is cool to be able to create documents with worrying about what applications are on the computer you are using. I enjoyed playing around with the booklet template. I created a test cover page about the library. Signing up was extremely easy and took only a few seconds.
When the students need to type thier research, Zoho would be a great tool for them to use.

Number 15

Wiki's
I guess I was a little ahead of myself on this one. I love Wikipedia and have used it with my students prior to this. I love the informtion I get from it. Sometimes it was the only to way to get the information that was needed. I had not thought of creating a wiki of my own but I now have some great ideas on how to use one. When I looked at the BookLovers Wiki I realized that I could set one up for my book club for the students to share about books that they have read. I also realized that I could set up a wiki about my book fair as a way to promote it to a larger audience.
I liked the Teacher/Librarian Collaboration Wiki as a tool for communicating about what is going on in the classroom and how I can help my faculty and students.
I am looking forward to trying this out.

Number 14

Library 2.0 Libraries and librarians must stay current on new trends in information gathering and dissemination. I love holding a book in my hand but I realize that the new generation of library users wants to find their information online more than in books. We must make sure that we have a ditigal library collection to offer this generation of users. The WIKI article on Library 2.0 was helpful to me in understanding the basics of this subject. I really liked Away from the iceberg. I agreed that it is to easy to stay in the past. We must move forward in this information technology world. We must always keep up or we will be left behind. I know that I want to serve my students to the best of my ability and I want to make sure that in this ever changing digital world I stay current and that the collection stays current.

Number 11

Library Thing- I really like Library Thing. Cataloging a book has never been easier.
It will be interesting to see how many people like the same books that I do. I put Library Thing on my blog. I am not quite sure if I did it right but it is there. I plan to check on Library Thing on a regular basis.

Number 9

There is so much information it is overwhelming. It is nice to be able to get what we want and need when we need it. I like Google Blog Search because I like Google. It is easy to use and I enyjoy reading the blogs from everyday people.
I also liked School Library Blogs on Suprglu. Technorati was not my favorite. It did not have a user friendly feel to me.

Number Eight

Really Simple Syndication- I need really simple. It is a great service to be able to get in the information you want from different sites with out having to go to the different sites to get it. I subscribed to Dallas Morning News, Fox News, Children's Books, and Youtube. I am looking forward to checking out my Googlereader and seeing what I have gotten. This experience continues to be a really big learning curve. It is amazing how much is out there in the technology world.