Thing # 13: Online Productivity Tools

I chose to set up a start page with iGoogle. It was really easy to select the things I wanted. There are tons of choices! Who knew I could even have Cooking Light recipes posted for me daily? I like iGoogle because it's easy and because I already have a few other Google accounts so it'e easier to streamline things. I haven't decided yet if I will make it my homepage. This could be something that teachers would enjoy trying. I could show them how this works. I like the online calendar although I still would rely on my written planner (old fashioned but reliable!). It's hard to always have access to a computer when I need to get to a calendar. The To Do list sites are similar to the calendar. For me, I may not want to tie myself to a computer.

I think there are definite uses for students. They could use help with organizing and the Calendar and To Do lists would be good for them. But at the same time, many students at my school don't have computers at home so this may not be great for them.

Overall, these tools are great, but take time to set up and have to become part of your daily routine to make them worth it.

Thing #12 Do you Digg?

I think these news article sharing sites could be used in my school through social studies classes. Quite often they use current event articles in class and maybe they could create an assignment that involves one of these sharing sites. For the junior high student I don't think Digg and Mixx and the other sites are really going to be used a lot. I think they'd find it interesting, but reading news articles just isn't really a common hobby for that age group! Also, it's very easy to get side-tracked by articles that don't really have importance to what you were looking for. This could be a drawback for use in the classroom. Personally, I found the concept interesting and I can see why it's popular. But it kind of reminds me of Google Reader where I can get the latest posts from blogs in one place.

#11 Tagging and Delicious

I've used Delicious before but haven't kept up with it. It was good to revisit and take a closer look at how useful the tagging system is. After looking at the examples of libraries who use delicious accounts, I see how useful it is to have clear tagging labels. The patrons of the library can find websites based on the tags that the websites are labeled with. I think this kind of account could be set up for my junior high students to help them with research or finding good books to read. I need to find out if people who view my bookmarked sites can alter my tags or add new sites to my account. It would be best in my library setting to have full control over the account and just make it viewable to students.

#9 Online Collaboration Tools

I enjoyed trying both Google Docs and Zoho Writer. I don't think I have a favorite, they seem pretty similar. When I signed up with Zoho Writer it opened up right away with a bunch of options about what I could do with it (upload pictures, create outlines, share documents, etc.). I thought that was a good way for them to promote their tool. Honestly, doing the activity where we altered the declaration of independence was a useful way to learn about the two tools, but I can't really see how this would ever be used practically. Maybe a L.A. class could use it for teaching grammar, punctuation, etc. The ability to add information to a document reminds me of a wiki.

23 things on a stick wiki

I added a comment to the 23 things on a stick wiki. My comment was "This does seem pretty easy. The tools at the top look just like Word documents. I think if I were to use a wiki from my library website, I'd want more pages linked so that everything's not all on the same page and easier to find. LC 8/08" I put it near the top.

Wikis

This was a really helpful tool to learn about. I've always wondered how wikis work. It doesn't seem hard to use at all. I'm surprised! I'd like to try using this with teachers and students on class projects or maybe create a book review/comment wiki for students to share thoughts about books they've read. I wonder how well it will work with junior high students? Is there a way to keep them from erasing other people's comments? I can picture some messing around with this. But if there's a way to track who does what on the wiki, that could cut down on problems.

Share Your Creations

I learned a lot from this activity. I didn't know you could create, upload and share slide shows from a website. This could come in handy on some of our laptops that don't have Microsoft Office on them. The eFolio idea is really useful for new grads. I liked making a motivational reading poster on Big Huge Labs. The only problem is thinking of creative photos and lines to go with them. It was really easy to make the poster and I think this could even be a project idea for teachers to use. They could have students create their own posters.

Read Poster

Read Poster
Originally uploaded by lauriecoddington

I created this motivational reading poster on Big Huge Labs.

Web 2.0 Communication Tools

My junior high library doesn't use email to communicate with students. However, staff use email frequently to communicate requests, ask questions, and get help from the media center. Our district may be giving students school email accounts this year which could open up possibilities for the library to utilize student email in the future. I think that the Web Reference tools that libraries are using are great resources. I've used the "Ask a Librarian" question/answer method for getting help with questions before. I do not text message or IM so I don't use those resources, but I think it's great to meet people where they are at with technology. I plan to attend a webinar through Minitex this week on the Gale K12 database offerings.