Thing #23 - The End...But Now It Really Begins

Although I have complete 23 Things from Library2Play, I am not done! Now, I need to go back, relearn some of my favorite tools and incorporate them into my lessons. This experience has been a great one...I can't wait to share my experiences and new knowledge with my colleagues and principal! I thought I was pretty techno-savvy as I started this journey and boy did I eat a big piece of humble pie. I had no idea the wealth of information and technology tools that were out there. The crazy thing is that many of these "Things" were not intentionally created for educational purposes. This experience allowed me to stretch my imagination and look at different ways to see/teach/experience different ideas.

My favorite discoveries were mashups/3rd party sites (e.g. Mosaic Maker, Trading Card) from Thing #6. Also, after some real-life applications, I really love Delicious! It is so great to have a network of sites all in one spot so neatly organized. I will definitely be using this more. LibraryThing was pretty neat to. I had no idea that it would be so easy to use! It is another great resource for getting ideas about new and exciting books both for school and personal use.

It is so wonderful to know that:

1. These tools are free! So many people want money nowadays...it is nice to know that some things in life really are free.

2. They are so easy to use. The minds behind all of this thought of the everyday Joe when they created their products.

3. Anyone can access them...just a username and password and you are ready to go.

One thing I did not like was the fact that my district has most of this blocked. I have never tried (nor knew I could) "unblock" a site before. This is foreign territory to me. I understand the reasoning for filters, but something has to give!

There were some "Things" and some sites that were just to chaotic for me. In other words, there was an overload of information and links. While all of this can be helpful, I am the type of learner that likes things organized and concise. Too much fluff and I tend to tune things out. I get the main idea and move on.

This experience has been somewhat of a blur because I had to do it in 4 weeks. There is no way I explored and delved into these "Things" as much as I wanted to! I need to go back, find my favorites, and learn them again. But at least Library2Play will not go anywhere right?!

If I had the chance to do this again I would, but I would stretch out the time more. The amount of learning that I acquired is astounding!

In one word, this experience has been ENLIGHTENING!

Thing #22 - Nings

Well, in my journey with the Web 2.0 world, I have learned a lot. Some has been completely new to me...and Nings is among them! I had never heard of a "ning" before, but of course I had heard of My Space and Facebook. I just didn't realize there were so many social networks out there like these two popular entities.

I explored Teacher Librarian Network. It is pretty neat. I like the Forum the best. In just the beginning of it there was a post about decorating a library. There were already 8 comments. I thought that was pretty cool and I could see myself posting a question or idea and getting a responses from people interested in the same area as me! I also saw that videos could be posted! Yet another Web 2.0 extension to YouTube and Teacher Tube! I could also access blogs to members and get even more information. Again, it is neat to be in a social group of people online who share the same interests as me.

I think I will use this to get information and belong to a group of people who understand the library world. It will be another avenue of information that will help me be better at what I do.

Thing #21 - Podcasts

I have used Photo Story before for personal use last year. I had actually forgotten about it. It is an easy tool to use and very self-explanatory. I love how music can be added to the background as well. It looks so professional when it is all said and done. I like the fact that I can type out what to say before I record the narration. That helps me so much! I honestly don't know that I would actually use this yet in the classroom or library. I think if I read some other blogs and think of some lessons, I could find some ways to incorporate this tool...After some thought, I had a brainstorm...I would like to do some type of staff development about copyright and about how I can be of service to the school. Perhaps I could create a Photo Story that pertains to those two subejcts with my narration behind the images. Copyright is so difficult to understand, so maybe using this technology will liven it up a bit!

Regardless, below is my attempt at Photo Story. It is about my family's weekend together.