Social Networking or Social Misfit

Everytime I think about social networking sites, I begin to question where I fit in the whole scheme of things, especially now that a friend of mine has asked me to be his friend on Facebook. Yikes! What should I do.

I went to the Facebook site. It seemed like you needed to become a member in order to take a look around. Hmmm... I'm feeling a little funny about this, so I didn't join up.

Instead I asked the work study student here in my office to give me a tour of her account. It seemed like the feature of Facebook that would apply to a school / library setting would be the groups feature. A librarian or teacher could set up a group, post assignments, announcements, surveys, the usual stuff, and have students participate. The librarian or teacher would be the site administrator and would therefore be able to monitor postings. All good stuff...

Still I did a little research on the pros and cons of Facebook in education. These two sites had some interesting insights:

http://webometrics.fi/blog/blog/2008/08/28/facebook-in-education-good-or-bad-idea/

http://www.c4lpt.co.uk/Top100Tools/facebook.html

They both seemed to discuss Facebook as a college application. I am leery about requiring students to participate in Facebook or Myspace. For one thing it sees to abrogate the role of the parent. Yikes!

Still, I'm happy to have someone show me great uses of these popular social networking venues.

And, like I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I still have this friend who is waiting for me to become his on-line friend. I still don't know what to do.

Mary B.

A Note About Skype

Thanks to learning 2.0's lesson on Skype, I was able to participate in new technology at work the day after I viewed the lesson. Typically folks in my office would get on the phone and chat or broadcast a meeting or drive long distances to meet together. In this time of money and time shortages, it was terrific to be able to gather together through Skype in order to collaborate on a problem. I love the possibilities. I hope to use Skype more in the future.

The End of a Really Good Thing

Well, this really was a wonderful journey. There were so many things I LOVED about 2.0 Learning.

1) I could do it at my own pace going as quickly as I wanted or even taking off a week when I needed to.

2) I learned about on-line features I never knew about but always want to learn. Or things I never knew about and didn't know I want to learn.

3) So many topics are things I can see many uses for in the school setting (both class and library), BUT I can and do also use them in my real life. (Isn't it funny that, to me, school is one life and outside of school is "real" life? Weird!)

4) It surprised me that I enjoyed so many of the things we learned about...blogs, skype, wordle, flickr. Wow! I'm just not that into technology even though a librarian absolutely must be. I feel good about this.

5) If there was another learning opportunity like 2.0, I'd definitely participate. I see there is something called 43 things. I think I'll look into it.

My main concern remains my exposure on the internet. It seems like much of it becomes out of one's control. That really bothers me for myself and for students who don't understand privacy issues. But...this becomes one of the roles of the librarian, to educate about these issues.

Mary B.

Wordle? Wonderful!

Oh, I can see so many ways to use this in a classroom, a library, in life.... Who comes up with these things? (I know. We read it in 2.0) What a gem!

Web 2.0 Awards List

This was an interesting exercise for me. I spent quite I while perusing the award winners from Web 2.0. For me, this reinforced the idea that I feel like I not made to be a part of this on-line world. I tend to get my entertainment from in-person sources. I prefer a live concert, a conversation around the table, and games played with real people. Honestly, I don't think I am into on-line social networking. I'm sure this is directly related to my age and to the way I like to spent my time.

Still, I was interested in Lulu, the site devoted to publishing your own books. The reason? My husband had a book contract with Farcountry Press (a publishing company he's worked with before) to publish a Cache Valley book. Because the economy is in its current state, that book project was cancelled. Cache Valley residents would absolutely love this book, so I am interested in self-publishing. While I think Lulu is too expensive for this particular project and Cache Valley wallets, I'll continue looking for a high-quality, easy-to-use, self-publishing company. I'm glad Lulu showed me what was possible.

Web 2.0

I spent quite a bit of time looking at the award-winning sites posted on Web 2.0. Several of the sites listed I have visited and have used through Learning 2.0: Bloglines, Technorati, Zoho Writer (where I am now), Flickr, Rollyo, and Del.icio.us.

Some I have actually used in real life: YouTube, Flickr, Librarything, Kayak (a travel site, but I think Cheapo Air is better) and WorldCat. My teacher friend has used Donors' Choice, a site for teachers to post their needs. Others visit the site and donate to specific teachers based on the need. (I love the idea and it has helped at least two teachers that I know.)

As far as social networking goes, and it seems like many of these sites are just that, I just don't participate in that use on the internet. I prefer real life as opposed to virtual life. However, I'm very glad I know about these sites and as well as a place that rates them. Cool

Library 2.0

I've always believed service agencies should reflect the needs of their clients. To me, a library is a service agency, and it is funded by tax dollars. If the outcome of Library 2.0 is to create a library that responds to the needs of it patrons, I'm all for it. If many of a library's users are senior citizens, then shouldn't the library have the resources that population needs and wants? However, this should not override the needs of other patrons in as much a library should represent the entire community it serves. I like the concept of Library 2.0. I'd like to see it in action.

RSS / newsfeeds

The whole concept of getting news from the internet is something I've thought about a bit already because I can't afford to subscribe to every newspaper out there. I wouldn't have time to read them even if I had the money. Basically I read the Salt Lake Tribune and listen to NPR. My husband and I subscribe to all kinds of news-type magazines - Orion, Progressive Populist, The Hightower Lowdown (basically a bunch of left-leaning, liberal rags. But I think everyone already knows that about us). We don't watch television and don't have time for it anyway.

Using Bloglines would be a great way to get news quickly because I could sign up for the specific organizations that interest me, but I know I won't do it. I'm already spending far too much in front of a screen.

Still I signed up for news about cat and news about animals. I think students are always interested in things like that, so I thought I'd follow along. I also signed up for a quote of the day. When I was teaching, I had a quote posted on the board every week. Students enjoyed reading them even though that was basically all I did with the quote - post them. Once I didn't post a quote and several students asked about it.

Many of my student teachers use quotes as bell-ringers. I really like the idea. When I'm a librarian, I'm going to post quotes about reading, books, learning, etc. I'm hoping this feed will be useful.

Delicious and a Macho Computer Geek

I have spent far too many hours today investigating Delicious and Technorati. Once again I am amazed by the amount of information available in the blogosphere. I can't wrap my head around all of the possibilities. How could a teacher possibly have enough time to learn how to apply all of this to the classroom experience. Still, I can see that a well-versed librarian, or even a neophyte, could introduce various aspects of technology to his/her colleagues.

While I was learning about Del.icio.us, I realized my husband, the Macho Computer Geek I've mentioned before, would be able to use the tagging features with his bookmarks. Of course, when we discussed the possibility today, he already knew about Del.icio.us. I convinced him he should give it a look. I'm sure he will get to it eventually.

See! A librarian in class and at home. Hooray!

What a "well-trained" husband says...

This is so fun!

Spell with Flickr. This is so fun! Krystle, thank you so much for the great lead.

January 19, 2009

Flickr...what a great site. I created a trading card. A teacher librarian could do lots of fun things with this feature. I can imagine using it as a publicity tool, a reward system, a way to advertise books, a new end-product for an assignment... I'm sure the list goes on and on.

You can see my first trading card at the link below. I took the photo last week and turned it into a computer poetry assignment.

http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/viewpostcard.php?id=111452-71524

January 12, 2009

What an interesting exercise to think about the new things you learn each week. Typically, I might say I didn't learn anything at all this week. But, since I've resolved to learn something new EVERY SINGLE WEEK, I've had to be reflective. I surprised myself by learning...

1) a new word - exigent - if something is exigent, it needs to be taken care of immediately.
2) the important details in buying a man's suit - the best fabric is wool, the length of the sleeves and cuffs are dictated by how formal the occasion (more shirt sleeve is seen in a more formal suit), and a permanent crease in the pants is created by running a line of silicone on the crease line inside the pants.
3) how to get back to this site to create a new posting.

We can't help learning. It's part of being human.

January 5, 2009

I'm not big on resolutions, but, since I really want to learn all about blogs, I've resolved to learn one new thing every week and post it here. My niece, Jessica, won a hula-hoop contest a few years ago. I decided I'd learn to hoop too. Here is a picture of me with four hoops going all at once. I figured out the trick in the first week of 2009.