Thing 18

Open Office is great! I haven't had much experience with it, but it seems very easy to use. I have used Google Docs. Once you play around with it, it's also pretty easy to use. But Open Office has so many more options. I plan to use Open Office on my home desktop computer -- it came with a 3 month trial version of a popular word processing and office tools software program, which has long ago expired. It seems that one advantage of using the free program is that you don't have to worry about expired licenses, not to mention expenses!

Thing 17

The Sandbox was easy to sign in to and to edit. I'm not sure what all the trouble was for others, based on their comments. I have vista, and was able to sign in and edit the page from home. I think wikis could be used in the classroom for many projects, but especially for book clubs or book reviews.

As a student, I am planning on using a wiki to share ideas for questions we need to come up with for interviewing current librarians. Since we (the 4 students) do not all have the time during the day to meet about this, it's a great way to communicate our ideas!

Thing 16

Wikis aren't totally new to me (a couple of months ago, I joined one as part of a team in one of my classes, for the purpose of sharing information for a project). But, I do wonder about using them as a classroom teacher now, and as a librarian in the future. I enjoyed looking at ways they are used. I especially like the example at Book Lovers Wiki. This is now a "snapshot in time," capturing the book reviews offered during one particular library's summer reading program. That's something I could see myself doing. I especially like how this wiki looked. It looked like a "regular" website. Sometimes, wikis look stark, plain, and drab. This one had flair.

I could see having a wiki for library programs you might conduct -- book fairs, bluebonnet book reviews, etc. But, when I create one, I want it to look interesting, like the sample one I mention above.

Thing 15

I really like the article at 2cents worth -- the suggested list for learning more 21st century skills is great -- because it includes accountability (working with a few others who also want to learn the same things). But, I especially like how it ends -- reminding us to model (as any good teacher should) being an master learner. Isn't that what we really want to do as teachers? We want to create life-long learners, so we do need to show that we are that.

To me, Library 2.0 means being a truly effective librarian, striving to meet the needs of my consumers (students and staff). For school libraries, it means being willing to change, to keep up with technology and the times, and our consumers!

Thing 14

Search results were definitely different when searching in blog posts versus blog directory. Now that I've played around a bit with Technorati, I think it will be a helpful tool. Too much of the web is so commercialized, but Technorati helps you see what "real people" see as important, useful, or interesting. Tags are very helpful for sorting and finding information -- like a filing system.

Technorati Profile

Thing 13

I looked at del.icio.us, and also digg. But they are confusing to me. I could not get the buttons to install on my browser for del.icio.us. I've sent in a request to their support link. Digg was a bit easier to use, but when I tried a couple of searches, some of the stuff that came up was very inappropriate. I would not feel comfortable using this with students. I'm interested in seeing how others think it can be used in school.

Thing 12

Using rollyo, I made a customized list of the websites I use most frequently for grad school.

I think rollyo can be useful for research purposes. I'm sure I'll be using it for much of my school work!