Thing#23-Summary

1. What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?
My two favorites were photostory and exploring the web 2.0 awards list. I can't wait to start using photostory and mango languages in the library with my students.

2. How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?
This program has changed the way I see learning. I can honestly say that I sort of tend to procrastinate when working on projects. With this program, I learned that the more time I took with each thing, the more I got out of each exercise. Also, I am starting to realize that I really don't' know that much about technology. I've just become more eager and curious about the possibilities that are out there. Web 3.0 anyone?

3. Were there any take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you? Is this a trick question? Many of the take-a-aways from this program were unexpected.

4. What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept? I would do nothing. I really enjoyed "discovering" a lot of it on my own.

5. If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you choose to participate? Absolutely!

6.How would you describe your learning experience in ONE WORD or in ONE SENTENCE, so we could use your words to promote 23 Things learning activities?
How about a song? "Elevate my mind!"

7.Now go and comment on some of the other Players' blogs? I have and will continue to comment!

Thing#22-Nings

I joined the Teacher Librarian Ning. I really liked the Forum feature where I could read other librarians opinions on different topics dealing with library issues. I also got ideas to use in my library by reading the blogs of different librarians.

Nings are a great way to work with students in the technology world, which they are already familiar with. Nings could be used to engage students in discussions for class projects.


http://teacherlibrarian.ning.com/

Thing#21-Podcasts and Videocasts

This thing is very exciting. However, I am having some technical difficulties. I'll be back a few things later...

Okay! I'm back! How exciting is this tool! The possibilities for using this tool in the library are endless. I can see the students really going to town with this. I bet book reporting and book talking will be a lot more popular at our school.

This photostory I created includes a few pictures from our Hawaii trip in 07!

Thing#20-Utube, TeacherTube, and Zamzar

Having videos available for educational purposes is priceless. I already use various other video resources. I like using videos because they really get difficult concepts across to the students, especially the younger students. It is definitely a valuable teaching tool. The following video I embedded is a good idea. I hope to create a similar video for my patrons.

Thing #19-Web 2.0 awards list

This has been hands down, my favorite of all the things. I must have visited at least 10 of the award willing tools. I would like to talk about a couple. The first tool I really liked was mango languages. This tool is really neat because it teaches you foreign language using the conversational approach vs. the more structured grammatical approach. As you learn each phrase, you are given a literal translation. This is helpful, so that you are able to form other phrases and sentences as you acquire new vocabulary. I also like how it continues to build on what you learned in previous lessons. The tool is interactive and I found the pronunciation native and precise. I think I will try this tool out with our dual language students.

The other tool I really liked was Lulu. This tool allows you to to publish your work. They offer choices such as books, photo books and calendars. I plan on using this tool for making photo books as Christmas presents. I would highly recommend this tool to any writing teacher. In addition, I hope to take on a project with Lulu to get some of my students published.

Thing #18-Online Productivity Tools

I'm really impressed with the Openoffice project. It's exciting to think that a comparable office software suite similar to word exists. I listened to various online tutorials and found it to be very similar to microsoft word. One thing I like is that you don't have to open different windows for other applications. So, you can find the word processor, the spreadsheet and the presentation software all in the same place. I found the following utube tutorial.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8a3Ku4MCHHg




I also took a look at google Docs and it is now one of my favorite web 2.0 tools. My group and I have been collaborating via google Docs and it has made things easier for us to keep up with the same document without having various versions of the same document. Also, I like that we don't have to meet in person as much because we can also comment about the project as the presentation progresses.

Thing #17-Rollyo

Rollyo is something I will definitely use. I really want to share this resource with my teachers. I am still finding that many of our students are being referred to google. Rollyo could definitely help decrease the use of google. Once teachers learn how easy it is to create a searchroll, they will probably jump on the bandwagon and start to discourage google. I created a searchroll for world news. I did so because I find that our kids are not exposed to world events as much as the local news. To be honest, I wasn't exposed to world news until college. I hope this searchroll will given them a broader perspective on things. Rollyo was working awfully slow today, but hopefully I can add my link later.