Thing 12 Do You Digg?

These sites were new to me. After exploring web 2.0 for several weeks now, I was not surprised to see services like them. A very democratic way of receiving and commenting on news. I spent a couple of hours visiting Mixx, Digg, Newsvine, and Reddit. I kept thinking that I just don't have time! For the same reason I don't tune it to the 24-hour news shows on TV. I don't need to know everything going on in every corner of the world. These would definitely be productivity detractors for me personally. But would they have a use in my work as a Library Media Specialist? Not at the elementary level, even middle school is questionable. There is a huge range of quality of writing, reliability of sources, and many of the comments left by readers tended to be more in the category of opinion (even ranting) rather than furthering the news value of the story. The best uses I see would be as an example of the democratic right to express your opinion, examining comments for bias, and discussion of how to craft your own comment to show a well thought out argument that might actually sway others to your point of view. At the high school and post secondary level these sites would be a way of staying current on popular stories and trends.

On to 13!

Thing 11 Social Media, Tagging

OK, Del.icio.us is great. I like the man-in-the-street flavor of the tags. Now we can search for cars and not have to remember that the official subject is automobiles. Finally! But--what about that PAGEKEEPER?! Is that the coolest ever? No ads! Free! Geared to teachers and students! Really? Just for us? Who knew we had a fairy godmother (or godfather) all this time? I am going to be building something there!

Thing 10 Wikis

I have had a wiki for about a year, but haven't done much with it yet. I started it to collaborate with my sister who lives 1,000 miles away on a writing project. She wasn't as interested in the project as I was, so I reworked the site. I started creating a site where students could share and find favorite books. This also was disappointing with the district ban on student accounts.

I like the idea of sharing information and projects on wikis. I draw the line at recommending them as authoritative sites for research. Because of the opportunity for anyone to edit the information on a wiki, I warn students of the possibility of inaccurate information. I suggest that if they plan to use information they find on a wiki site they confirm that information on a site that has been written by experts. Too often students still assume that if they read something it must be true. Wikis provide a good opportunity to show how easy it is to falsify information and to discuss ethical online behavior.

I visited the 23 Things wiki and commented. It looked so much like my own wiki page that I felt right at home!

Thing 9 Online Collaboration

Google Docs is amazing! I have not seen this before, but can see great applications for use in group projects. Collaborating with colleagues and use with students would be so easy. The ability to comment without changing the original document and the login and date stamping improve higher order thinking skills and accountability.

On to Thing 10!

Thing 7 Communication Tools

This was a busy thing!
Starting with email, I have, out of necessity, this year made my work email account more efficient with folders and flags and such.
I really like the idea of online meeting schedulers. Meeting Wizard starts its FAQ with the promise that they won't sell any user information, saying their long-term success is based on the trust of their users. Again, mention of trust as a basis for the web 2.0 community. I love it!
I have in the past 'attended' webinars, but hadn't for a while. This was a good reminder to check what is new out there. It really is great to be able to access them either live or in archive files and catch up on something new. I am usually more a fan of in-person presentations, but for the sake of time, money, accessibility and convenience, you can't beat the them.

On to Thing 8.

Thing 6 Image Generator

Thing 6 is so much fun, and I can see so many uses with students. In fact, this is one of the tools that got me so excited about participating in 23 Things in the first place. I had just finished a collaborative project with a 7th grade teacher in which her students created trading cards of famous people. It was a fun project and the kids were doing a good job of using resources to find the needed information. Their information was transferred to 5 X 7" index cards. I saw this fun tool on Flickr and knew that it would take this project to the next level--authentic learning with 21st century tools!

Thing 5 More Flickr Fun

I'm trying to do some catch-up here, so am running through Thing 5 kind of quickly. I had been to several of the sites in my initial exploration of the 23 things site a month ago. This time instead of just oohing and ahhing I played around with the tools. I read the comments on the Thing 5 link to see what experiences others had had. It really helped when I was ready to upload my spellings to my blog. I easily found the 'add a page element' link and then, because I had read the Thing 5 comments, knew to choose the html/java option, and paste in the html language from Flickr.

Students would have a blast with these tools. I worry most about the limitations of the district technology. I am doing most of my work from home because the network at school is maddeningly slow. It is a major obstacle to any of these new web 2.0 tools. The next discussion would have to be blocking of sites that would make education relevant to students' lives.

Thing 4 Flickr

Yes, I would agree with the person who said that these things are taking longer than the ~15 minutes daily. But mostly because it is all so new, and takes time to ponder how these new web 2.0 tools might fit into our work with students/library patrons.

I have really struggled with how to make use of the cool capabilities of Flickr with my students. I've gone in and set up an account. I uploaded a photo, just one, to Flickr and from there to my blog. Most of my work has been with elementary students, and so I am still wondering how I might use these in an elementary library media center setting. We do need to be mindful of student privacy. For the time being, I think the internal district intranet, and building closed circuit systems looping PowerPoint slideshows is a more appropriate venue for the youngest of our users. At what point will this become so common place that we don't even think about it for intermediate students and older? I have heard the echo of "radical trust" from the first few articles in Thing 1. I forget now who wrote that statement. But it is certainly an issue that needs to be discussed with all users/stakeholders.