Week 9, Thing #23

Copyright...hmmm, didn't the YouTube video I just watched violate every copyright law out there? I have to admit, I am guilty of wanting to use anything and everything on the Internet, thinking that if it is there...then it is to be used. Technology makes it even easier to re-use photos, clipart, videos, etc. I try to stick to the 10% rule. I am sure I will learn more, since my first graduate course at Drexel comes with the text book Complete Copyright, an Everyday Guide for Librarians.

There were so many useful tools in this course. I am excited about using many. I feel I can give intelligent answers when people ask, "what's a wiki?" or "how do you create a blog?" and so on. Not to mention my first research project with the third graders will be to find a Pennsylvania location, research and then make a trading card.

Week 9, Thing #22

I explored The British Library Online Gallery. I am a huge Jane Austen fan and was extremely pleased to find her original manuscript for Jane Austen's History of England. Not only was the book photographed and you could turn the pages, but I could listen to an audio version and read along. With the help of the magnifying glass, I was able to keep up! Pretty awesome. I will use for a lesson including Alice's Adventures Under Ground by Lewis Carroll. I can see using this with the smartboard during library class...I need to process this information more! And do some more exploring...hi-dee-ho.

Week 9, Thing #21

Bio Bottle Project-4Th Grade

We're all about podcasting in our school. We have students create avatars and give book recommendations and perform a monthly "In Your Library" podcast for our library website.

One of my favorite down loadable podcasts comes from the UK's radio streaming from Classic FM. They have created podcasts of classic fairy tales, The Brave Tin Soldier, The Matchstick Girl, Goldilocks, etc. The best part is the storyteller. A Brit with accent and all. I love it! Here is a link to Classic FM. In contract and comparison, we listen to a podcast and I read the fairy tale. Then the students contrast and compare the two versions.

My favorite is Samantha Morton retelling The Princess and the Pea.

Week 9, Thing #20

I am a YouTube junkie. The beautiful part about YouTube in our school district; one of it's creators comes from the elementary school where I teach...Chad Hurley. Chad's mother, a retired TVSD teacher still volunteers in one of our 3rd grade classrooms...here's the beauty part...it is blocked in our school district. I understand why the district has to block it, I just think there is a bit of irony in it. My nephew was visiting last night and asked about the electoral college and how it worked. I found this great explanation for him on YouTube...Electing a US President in Plain English

Week 8, Thing #19

Nice application! I'm thinking this could be a cataloging answer to our little church library. Signing up was easy and adding books was even easier. By far, the book on my shelf that has the highest number of readers and reviews is Jane Eyre, 15, 739/204. The discussions were interesting. Could help someone write a paper if they were having problems formulating an argument. Gotta go...I need to join a discussion.

Week 8, Thing #18

I have used Zoho docs and Google docs. The best part, when I leave the lan and go home with my computer all I have to do is login to Google docs and open my document. It saves a lot of time emailing a document to myself to work on at home and resaving it to the network when I get back to school.

Week 7. Thing #17

Am I missing something? I was able to edit the California web 2.0 sandbox using the invite key, I tried using the same key for the pacurriculum pbwiki...alas, that was incorrect. So I am assuming that I need a different key. I wonder if people feel the same type of empowerment when editing. It allows you to say what you are thinking without interruption or correction. Which can be useful for someone like me who is distracted down rabbit-holes before my thought is complete.

What is the major difference between a wiki and blog site? I think it is the fact that if invited into a wiki, you may edit one document. Whereas a blog it is entry after entry...am I correct? I'll have to study this more.

In my elementary school, children are blocked from wikis and blogs. And at home, there may not be a computer available (hard to believe but true). I am not sure how successful blogs or wikis would be in my elementary. I have a blog set up since I became a librarian two years ago on my schoolsite webpage. Students do blog me over the summer to let me know what they are currently reading, if they enjoyed it and where they are reading. Each year, I log a few more bloggers.

Week 7, Thing #16

Wikis encourage global communication through sharing thoughts, ideas and aspirations. I found myself on the "blogging libraries wiki" and was interested in seeing how others in my profession were using a wiki. Global wikis, wow. There were several wikis that were initiated for book discussions...only that there were no discussions. Many of the blogs have been inactive for months. So how do you create a wiki to be successful?

I liked the idea of a book discussion wiki. Or a book talk wiki. I will explore this further.

Once again, the information available on wikis is overwhelming. So much to learn and read...read...read about.