Thing19

The first thing I really need to look at with flow charts & mind maps is the difference between the 2. Flow Charts are a great organizational tool that can aide anyone who needs to understand how something functions or is organized. A mind maps greatest value seems to be of the greatest value to the person or persons who create them. I think it can help you get your thoughts organized to a point that you might need a flow chart.

I have tried Gliffy before & I found it to be confusing/frustrating to use so I was not inclined to go back to it. I took a look @ FlowChart.com & found it be simpler & more inviting to the user. The most awesome thing about this program is that you can work with another person in real time to tweak a chart. You don't have to email & make phone calls or call a meeting to get done. This could be a great way to collaborate with teachers.

I also made a mind map with bubbl.us.com. This is another great tool for collaboration, You can go in before a meeting & get ideas & get them on paper before hand, than that part of the work is out of the way. I think it could cut out some wasted time & allow less domineering people to contribute a little more comfortably.
This kind of document could allow for more focused thinking & less wasted time on chit-chat. this could really be helpful for research because it would make the teachers see what they need to in addition to what the librarian does in the research cycle.

Thing 18

There is so much out there to explore & utilize. you just have to get out & figure out what you need or want. I thin the Web 2.0 awards are a great service to people on the look out/ It brings the best to the forefront & has people looking at sites they might never have considered.

I was pleased to find out that I am a frequent user of one of these great sites Pandora. Pandora is a music preview/player. I have been using it for quite some time now. In fact I went back to it froma an several month absence & it has greatly improved. I have several radio stations of artists that I enjoy already on file. I don't recal having the genre selection before. If it was there before, I had not noticed it. It is much easier to use and things are loading MUCH quicker> I know that Pandora has had issues copyright & royalties in the past. I know that for a while that people were trying to force it to shut down, but Pandora has prevailed thus far.

Another Web 2.0 site that I really liked was a mashup called CoverPop.com. It takes covers of books, magazines, & photos & mashes them up together into on picture. I love that every cover is linked to Amazon.com for more detailed information. My favorite mashup was Kids books. There were between 300-350 books that kids should read.

I want to add this sit to del.icio.us so that I can refer back to it later on.

thing 17

Zoho writer is amazing ! I know I say something along those lines every time we do something new, but it is true.

In reality you could say good-bye to flash drives & discs. You can pull it all up ANYWHERE! that has the Internet.

You could work from most places.

 

 A drawback that I see is reliability of Internet connections. If you can't get on you can't get to your stuff. If you are having to use dial up then you would not want to use these applications, it would be v-e-r-y s-l-o-w.

 

I would want a back up of my work just in case there was a technical problem. You know as well as I do that as soon a you don't have a back up, you will have some kind of technical difficulty that you can't work out.

 

This application could be great for student's that work on multiple computers at school, home or the library. Student's having to partner on a project could easily go in and work on a project ant time or place. This would also help alleviate some of the "I lost it..." or "I forgot..." that student's use. It could enable a teacher to go in & check student's progress or student's could peer edit. 

Thing 16

Wikki's are fun and very useful. I can see why Mary W. moved Policies & Procedures to a wikki. It's so much easier to update.

A Wikki would be great for teacher's that have wanted a class webpage but has not felt like they had the time to take one on. Posting is very simple & adding bells & whistles is straightforward. If you run into a snag you have a ton of help at your fingertips!!! Get it Fingertips!!! Corny, but it made me giggle.

A Wikki has a definate place in the library! I want to do one but right now I am so overwhelmed with getting this finished I will have to wait just a bit to make a good plan for it. I don't want a wikki just to have a wikki. I want it to be a tool that teachers & students will utilize. The most obvious use is in research.

Another Idea is for student's to post their writing for others to read. I think that if they knew that someone else would read it besides their teacher they might put some real effort into it.

Thing 15

Wikki! I just like the name.

It has great potential for academic use. I think that it is good that it can be public or private. It would have to be controlled to a certain degree just to make sure that it stays on topic. Grade level teachers & librarians could easily pool resources using a wikki, allowing access to the best of the best.

Sitting here my List Notebook comes to mind. As teachers have been going through CSI & teaching reading TEKS objectives, I have been collecting different lists of books that lend themselves to vocabulary, begginning, middle & end, inferencing etc. A Wikki would be a great place to compile those lists, that way others can add titles and grade level appropriatness, so that the same book is not used over & over each year.

A wikki would be a great pathfinder to access resources for research, it could take students places that they might not find on their own & student's could respond to their findings immediately. I liked the writer who said that when student's published to the web they more careful in their work & the work was a higher quaity. I don't think there is anyone who has a problem with that. I think it woud be important for parent's to be aware of the wikki and it's publication. I don't think you would want any surprises.

Thing 14

Things are changing. Web 2.0 is here and we need to know how to navigate it. Library 2.0 is coming our way too. In the article refering to Icebergs we are facing librarians have to embrace change while not turning their backs on what we know & do best. We have to continue to help access information that our students need. The term "just in case" collection really made me stop & think about my collection development. what do I really need to purchase? With all of the information that is availible on the web it is not necessary to purchase books that will be rarely used. There are other resources in other formats that can be found for those rare uses.

The 23 Things is a challenging experience for me. I have learned so much. I have done lots work at my Mom's house on the weekends. Tonight we had a short & frustrating conversation.
Mom - Tell me again...Why are you doing this?
Me- We are looking at all of the different online tools & learning how they are used.I can understand how my students are relating in the wolrd around them. Also,we are trying to figure out how these tools can be used in the library to help students learn.
Mom-What do you do in facebook & Ning?...
I explain networking with other professionals, finding old friends, making new ones.
Mom-Why do you want to do that? Do you ever meet?
I couldn't help her see that the way that people are connecting & communicating has changed. That you can have a friendship & exchange ideas without ever meeting face to face.

I feel like I'm learning so many new things & I want to have a chance to go back & explore them on a deeper level.

Thing 13

Social bookmarking is way AWESOME! I use 5 different computers on a regular basis & now I can find the sites I need easily. I think its cool that you can check out other's tags & see their great finds. I want to take time a little later & tag all my favorites.

I think it would be a great way to direct kids to sites that you have found helpful & Interesting. It would be an easy way to direct students to a variety of sites at once & they could easily navigate to them. It could really keep them focused on the topic at hand & keep them from wondering of to unrelated sites.

I would be a great way for a faculty to share their favorite teaching sites with each other. What a great way to share your best resources.