Janice’s Adventures in Web 2.0

I have enjoyed this course and have learned an incredible amount in a short period of time. Much of it is overflowing in my brain right now. But, now that I know the basics about how to do these 22 things I can now spend some time polishing up some of the skills I have learned.  I will take some time over the next week or two to downsize my RSS feed to a more manageable size, so that I can keep up with it better. As I said in my Voicethread,  I will be exploring the possibilities of doing some type of wiki or blog at school connected with our Media Center webpage where students can chat about books they are reading, or have read and have either liked or disliked. The challenge for me will be trying to find the time to do that with my cut in hours at school.

There are lots of photos on Flickr in the Creative Commons related to Israel that I will keep in mind as students are working on Israel projects this year at school. I want to start actively using my Delicious account more to make my favorite websites more accessible to me and my colleagues at school. I am actually adding books I have read to my Library Thing collection. I have joined a Ning group and hope to be able to follow the discussions somewhat. And, finally, I have begun to use Googledocs at school and at home to work on documents with others. So, there is a lot that I will be thinking about over the next few months and I can honestly say that this was a very worthwhile course for me. It is great to be more knowledgeable now when people talk about Web 2.0 and to actually know what they are talking about! Thanks to Shelley Paul for her awesome class-your Jing videos were very easy to understand and helpful. Thanks also to our fearless mentor for the Epstein group, Patty Nathan, for her insightful comments. All in all, this Web 2.0 was a great learning experience for me-the first real class that I have taken in quite some time!

It took a while to get started on Thing 21, because two days in a row when I tried to access the teacher edition of pageflakes it was down when I had my window of opportunity/free time. But, I finally got signed in and got to explore.

Wow! What a neat concept-being able to put so many different web 2.0 tools on one page! I was able to add some of my favorite blogs to my custom start page, as well as an RSS Feed to the Jerusalem Post newspaper. I also imported my bookmarks from Delicious.  I did a Wikipedia search with the link from Shelley, but could not figure out how to clear the search once I was done with it. There was no clear key to clear the search like in the dictionary. I put some items on the to-do list and added a message to the message board. I also put a few notes on the notepad. So, I got to try out a lot of the gadgets and added a few of my own. I also dragged and dropped and rearranged things on the page.

I came up with a few ideas for new pages to add. I might want to do a page with all of the resources that I use related to Jewish and adult books-websites, podcasts, blogs, etc. for my own professional use. I also think it would be neat to make a custom research/reference portal on Israel, and perhaps a page for the Jewish holidays with links to informational websites, games, photos from Flickr, etc. Now I just have to find the time to do this!

I did not realize that podcasting could be so easy.  Of course, to make it really interesting, I am sure there is a lot you can do to jazz up the podcast with music, etc.  Recording the actual podcast was the easy part. I found the experience not quite so easy, though, because the sound recorder on Windows would only record a 60 second podcast and mine was longer. So, I tried to use Vocaroo, recorded and went through Steps 1-3 only to find that the podcast did not work because my computer did not seem to have the correct software to use the WAV file I saved from Vocaroo.   So, I redid the whole process and went back to Plan A, shortened my podcast and used the windows sound recorder, which worked for me.

I will need to explore further the many possible uses of podcasts in a media center setting.  I definitely like the idea of having students produce podcasts of reviews of books they have read and having those podcasts available for their classmates to listen to, to get recommendations on books to read. I know this has been done in some of the middle school English classes in my school, and I would like to pursue that idea further, as well as finding other ways to use podcasts to promote reading and get kids excited about books.

Wow-Classroom 2.0 is yet another resource that one can learn from and go to to share ideas with other educators. This is taking listserves to a whole new level.  As I explored Classroom 2.0 I found some interesting discussions going on related to libraries. This would definitely be a good place to participate, if one had the time. That is the key-what will one focus on? Between RSS feeds, blogs, etc.-where is the time to do all of this great networking?

One discussion of forums that I found interesting was on having a library blog to discuss new books or materials. The concept of creating a “book club without walls” was introduced. I found the Blogging Libraries Wiki where there was a list of various school libraries with wikis around the world, with links to their blogs. I plan to look at these links further, to see what is going on at other libraries. I would love to see us in our media center expand our library webpage to perhaps include a blog with children’s book reviews, book suggestions, etc.  or other such ideas. If I get some of my lost hours reinstated, this may be something I can work on. I learned that there is a Tech Conference called Internet Librarian, that I might want to find out about. There was an interesting discussion going on on Document Sharing Applications, as well as YA literature ideas for summer reading for 7th graders.

When I looked at groups, I found a Library 2.0 Group, but there was not a lot of discussion going on yet within this group.  I found Media Specialists Unite!  , a group where media specialists can share ways they are incorporating Web 2.0 ideas into their libraries and lessons. I did learn about a group called Darim, that I will explore, that is apparently a Jewish Education place to go for all things 2.0. Someone also mentioned that there is something out there called Jew.0 that I will explore further. Sometimes people did not provide links to things that they mentioned, which was not as helpful.  I found the blog of Noemi Szoychen, a Jewish day school educator, where she did a project with Bible rap, which was neat. http://jewlearn-it.blogspot.com/  Bible rap idea

I looked at some of the videos as well and found a few interesting ones, though there was a lot more of Jewish interest on You Tube.

I can see that Classroom 2.0 would definitely be a good resource to find out what others are doing in the world of 2.0, to get more ideas for use in our own media center.

I then went on to explore Ning networks related to education and found one I really liked, TeacherLibrarian Ning-the link I have enclosed is for one forum on an Information Fluency Project, which was very interesting. I found a lot of relevant, interesting groups on this Ning, including YA Literature in School Libraries, Middle School Librarians, Elementary School Librarians, a group that discusses Applying Web 2.0 Tools, etc.  I really liked this TeacherLibrarian Ning, so I went ahead and signed up for it. I can see a lot of potential learning and sharing going on between me and this ning, to enhance what goes on in our Media Center.

I think RSS feeds are a great idea. I know I should be checking mine every day, but by the time I get through my home emails, meals with the family, working 3 jobs, etc. there is not much time left over for browsing through RSS feeds. I am going to spend some time streamlining my RSS feeds, just keeping my favorites and see if that helps a bit.

In the meantime, I do enjoy the posts from Doug Johnson. He had one that I thought was great and that summed up for educators what being a teacher is all about in this age of 2.0. From his blog I found a link to another blog which I thought summed up for me what being a teacher-librarian in this age of the internet and Web 2.0 is all about, and summed up what should be my goals after taking this class. The blog listed what I will do as a school librarian with my Web 2.0 tools, so check out this great link!

Google Docs is a great concept. It worked very well when we used it at Epstein last year. It did not work as well when I tried to use it to work on my Day School Sukkot Service. Needed feedback from my co-collaborators right away and emailed the letter via Google Docs for our service from home to Epstein. Unfortunately, the Epstein network would not give Elaine and Laura access to my Google Doc coming from home. Still have not corrected the glitch. Since I needed their feedback the next day, I downloaded the document from Google Docs and emailed it to them as an attachment. Back to the old method. What I like about Google Docs is how easy it is to access from anywhere, so one can work easily on documents at home and at school.

Then I did a spreadsheet on our Day School students and sent it to someone so she could add her piece. She was not familiar with Google Docs and was not willing to take the time for me to walk her through accessing my spreadsheet. So, again, she sent me that info via email and I added it to the spreadsheet. Conclusion: Google Docs will be a great mechanism once more people buy into the system and learn how to use it. It was great for me, because I was able to access the document at home and at school without having to email it back and forth to make revisions. Emailing it back and forth gets confusing as you update and have various versions floating around.

I plan to keep using Google Docs to work on the Sukkot service I am planning, and hopefully I will be able to get my coplanners to learn how to use Google Docs so we can work on the documents together. Google Docs might also be a great way to work with fellow teachers on a joint lesson, planning it together and sharing ideas. Google Docs is also a great way for teachers and students to interact. A student can submit their rough draft to a teacher for editing, and they can work with each other on the document. We are also using Google Docs at school to work on additions to our Media and Technology Web Page. By sharing documents it is so easy to work together as a team, without having to always try to find the time to physically meet or deal with a barrage of emails back and forth between team members.

I am looking forward to using Google Docs in future collaborative efforts with my coworkers at school and also with my committees that I work with outside of school!

Discovering the world of blogs and developing an RSS Feed reading habit has been an interesting new experience. I am still exploring blogs and websites trying to find ones that really resonate for me. This week I read many interesting thoughts from a variety of educators, media specialists, etc. It is all a bit overwhelming but I am starting to get the hang of “reading” my new RSS feed postings. I will definitely be eliminating a few in the weeks to come that are not especially interesting to me.

One posting that I found especially interesting this week was at Doug Johnson’s Blue Skunk blog, and was actually a summary of a posting by Penelope Trunk on her blog. The posting is called, “Hardass View of Reading.”  Penelope says, as quoted by Doug Johnson,

…If I tell people I’m a blogger, they say, “I don’t have time to read blogs.”

Here’s what I am going to start saying to those people: Only losers say they don’t have time to read blogs. Because everyone has the same 24 hours in the day. So it’s not that you somehow are more busy than everyone else – no one is actually too busy for anything – the issue is that reading blogs is not high enough on your priority list to read them.

So the real response, when I say, “I’m a blogger,” should be “I stay away from blogs so I can shield myself from alternative opinions to mainstream media.” …

and she offers (and explicates) three ways to “a grip on your reading pile”:

• Stop talking about information overload. That term is for weaklings.
• Stop talking about good and bad media. Just because you don’t read it doesn’t make it bad.
• Stop talking about time like you need to save it. You just need to use it better.

Follow the link from Doug Johnson to Penelope to get further details on this. My reaction to reading blogs is similar-how do you find the time? Penelope’s comment is, find the time-it’s important to expand your horizons by reading other people’s blogs and other helpful websites. Penelope goes on to say that the “best employees in today’s workplace are information synthesizers.” She talks about being able to process information online quickly. That is what we need to think about as we are teaching our students-how to make them efficient finders of information online, able to sort through and process that information once they find it!

Another interesting website that I discovered from my blog reading was from the School Library Journal blog- Joyce Valenza had a link to Judy O’Connell’s “Hey Jude Blog” to a posting about a great website called NeoK12. NeoK12 is a listing of free educational videos from all over the internet on a variety of subjects, from science to history, etc. This will be a good resource to share with the teachers at my school. The only downside I saw to the videos after viewing one of them is that not all of those videos seem to have an age rating yet, which means teachers will need to view the videos and make that decision for themselves. It sounds like many are short youtube videos that might be good lead ins for teachers for lessons. It is worth checking out NeoK12 since all of the lessons and videos have been screened by K-12 teachers. : So, here’s the link to the actual NeoK12 website.

I have been reading postings about technology in education, about new Jewish books and other children’s books coming out, media centers and technology and, for my own enjoyment, the latest New York Times Book Reviews. All in all, the world of RSS reading is opening new windows for me and it should be interesting to continue reading my RSS Feed in the weeks to come as I progress through this class.

Lifelong learning is one of the things that make life more interesting. The fact that no matter how old you are, there are always new things to learn and master is very empowering and exciting.

As someone who finished graduate school when the first Apple computers were just beginning to appear in classrooms I have already come a long way toward becoming computer literate and keeping up with the constant changes in technology. The most important habit for me as I take this course, as I said the the 7 Habits presentation, is habit #3: to view problems as challenges. I intend to be positive and to try not to get frustrated when the tasks are hard for me. I plan to see each problem I encounter as a challenge to be faced and conquered. I am looking forward to learning about Web 2.0. Intereacting with the others who are taking this Web 2.0 course, via our blogs should also prove to be enlightening and worthwhile!

THE LIFELONG LEARNING HABITS THAT RESONATE THE MOST FOR ME ARE THE FOLLOWING:

• #4 Having confidence in myself as a competent, effective learner: I think that half the battle when learning new skills is just to believe in yourself and your capabilities. If you think you can accomplish something, then you will!
• #5 Create your own learning toolbox:      *I have always been a person that seeks out other people, resources, etc to get things done and solve problems  *I would love to set up a study group/support group with or or two others in the class locally, to perhaps meet weekly or biweekly to work through any problems/challenges we hit as we explore each “thing” in K12Learning 2.0 Experience. My guess is that some things will be easier than others for each of us so we can help each other as we go along.  I am not sure this will happen with everyone’s summer schedules but please contact me if you are interested-I live in East Cobb.
• #6 Use Technology to your Advantage: I am already finding the tutorials very helpful as a means to learn new skills and I plan to take advantage of them as I go through the course.

THE HABIT THAT WILL BE MOST CHALLENGING:

Habit #2 Accept responsibility for your own learning: The hardest thing with this course will be for me to keep up with the pace. With the myriad of distractions and other tasks I need to accomplish this summer, as well as working part-time, it will be important to set aside time each week for this class. The other thing that will be hard to do is to try not to go off on tangents but to stay on task until each assignment is completed.