School Library Learning 2.0

The 23 Things

noreply@blogger.com (Jackie S, 2.0 project manager) — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 20:24:00 +0000

Welcome to School Library Learning 2.0.
This tutorial is brought to you by the California School Library Association (CSLA) 2.0 Team. You will learn the tools of the new Internet: Web 2.0 tools that are bringing our kids in touch with the entire world through social networking, wikis, video, podcasting, and gaming sites. The CSLA 2.0 team encourages you to take time to explore and enjoy. Read on! CSLA offers its members a 2008/09 School Year 2.0 Fun session. Registration occurs after you have completed the first three "Things."

There are 23 "Things" for you to complete. There are many places for you to explore, experiment with, and think about creative ways to use this in your library or to collaborate with classroom teachers. There is no deadline and this course will remain online through the 2009-2010 school year. If you are not yet a member, we invite you to join. [Note: Are you a classroom teacher? Check out Classroom Learning 2.0.]

Tutorial Format:
Each week begins with a brief explanation of a new web 2.0 topic, followed by Discovery Exercises. These exercises give you the background you need to understand the tools you're learning about. After the Discovery Exercises, you'll find a Thing -- activity -- to complete. Then you comment or "post" to your online log (Blog.) You will learn how to set up a blog. A blog is a tool to communicate your thoughts, new found skills, ideas, questions, and favorite websites. You'll receive feedback and encouragement from the CSLA 2.0 Team and other participants. It's your space! If you wish, you can register for Continuing Education units.

The links below will take you to each week's specific lesson.
Week 1:
1. Please begin by reading this blog & find out about the program.
2. Discover a few pointers from lifelong learners and learn how to nurture your own learning process.

Week 2: Blogging
3. Set up your own blog , add your first post, add an avatar.
4. Register your blog and begin your Learning 2.0 journey.

Week 3: Photos & Images
5. Explore Flickr and learn about this popular image hosting site.
6. Have some Flickr fun and discover some Flickr mashups & 3rd party sites.
7. Create a blog post about anything technology related that interests you this week.

Week 4: RSS & Newsreaders
8. Learn about RSS feeds and set up your own Bloglines newsreader account.
9. Locate a few useful library related blogs and/or news feeds.

Week 5: Play Week
10. Play around with with an online image generator.
11. Explore any site from the Web 2.0 awards list, play with it and write a blog post about your findings.
12. Roll your own search tool with Rollyo.

Week 6: Tagging, Folksonomies & Technorati
13. Learn about tagging and discover Del.icio.us (a social bookmarking site)
14. Explore Technorati and learn how tags work with blog posts.
15. Read a few perspectives on Web 2.0, Library 2.0 and the future of libraries and blog your thoughts.

Week 7: Wikis
16. Learn about wikis and discover some innovative ways that libraries are using them.
17. Add an entry to the Learning 2.0 SandBox wiki.

Week 8: Online Applications & Tools
18. Take a look at some online productivity (word processing, spreadsheet) tools.
19. Take a look at LibraryThing and catalog some of your favorite books.

Week 9: Podcasts, Video & Downloadable Audio
20. Discover YouTube and a few sites that allow users to upload and share videos.
21. Podcasts (You don’t need an iPod!)
22. eBooks and Audio eBooks
23. Summarize your thoughts about this program.
Copyright, Creative Commons, and CONGRATULATIONS!

2.0 Partners

noreply@blogger.com (Jackie S, 2.0 project manager) — Sat, 24 Feb 2007 18:01:00 +0000

Some school districts, county offices of education, and other organizations including other states are using the School Library Learning 2.0 course as a part of their own professional development efforts. If your organization would like to be a "2.0 Partner" in learning, let us know.

One district plans to use the summer 2.0 program as a foundation for offering the online program to teachers during the 2007-8 school year. In this case, district middle and high school technology representatives (about 20, mostly Library Media Teachers) will take the summer program as a way to build their technology leadership and become 2.0 coaches at their schools. They'll collaborate with local public children and teen librarians.

Top 10 Benefits. The tutorial is:

An introduction to web 2.0 applications and K-12 curriculum connections.

Free. Partners can use their own resources to encourage participation or recognize those who successfully complete the 23 THINGS. "Resources" mean your own virtual 2.0 cheerleaders, prizes, and recognition.

Strengthens district library and ed tech support teams. Most districts have a tech team (i.e., Educational Technology Coaches, Tech Facilitators, Technology Action Team, and so on) that can take the course first and then offer the course to classroom teachers and the broader school community.

Addresses district Library and Technology Plan training or professional development goals (i.e., Administrator training AB 43o Module III, E-RATE.)

Addresses school goals related to WASC and School Site Improvement.

Increases creativity and collaboration among faculty and staff.

Provides for optional CE units, which helps educators reach a higher pay level. Students are expected to spend a minimum of 36 hours on the course over a 9-week period. This averages 2-4 hours/week and will vary depending on student level of web 2.0 experience and interest."

A good way to encourage and build use of a district's own blog application (instead of Blogger, WordPress, TypePad, or other) as a professional development and district-wide communication tool.

An opportunity to expand communication channels among students, teachers, and the school community.

Fun.

2.0 Partners. The following school districts have notified the CSLA 2.0 Team that they will be offering School Library Learning 2.0 as a professional development course:

Berkeley USD
Clovis USD
CTAP Region I
CTAP Region IV
Davis Joint Unified School District
Fresno Unified School District
Sacramento City Unified School District
Carondelet High School
Adams 12 FiveStar School District (Colorado)
Washington Library Media Association (WLMA)
Pennsylvania Department of Education School Library Services and the Pennsylvania School Library Association (PSLA)
Massachusetts School Library Association (MSLA)
Region One Education Service Center - an extension of the Texas Education Agency
Clarkson Secondary School, Mississauga, Ontario, CANADA
Ohio Educational Library Media Association Northwest Region

Special thanks to AT&T for its continued commitment to California school libraries, including project management support by AT&T Library Advocate Jackie Siminitus."

Weekly tips

noreply@blogger.com (Jackie S, 2.0 project manager) — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 06:25:00 +0000

Launch Time - Week 1
06/01/2007
Ready to Launch - Read this & "bookmark" the URL. Got blog? Have you been flickrd? Are you Del.icio.us? It's time to launch the CSLA School Library Learning 2.0 online training program!The URL is http://schoollibrarylearning2.blogspot.com/

From time to time, you will receive an email or "comment" giving you tips and other suggestions for that week's lesson.

Week 1 Tips:
1. Read the ABOUT page. It has answers to frequently asked questions. You may want to refer back to this page from time to time as you work through the weekly lessons.

2. All of the lessons or "exercises" are on one page. Each lesson is also its own entry so you can click on a lesson title to be directed to its own page.

3. You may find it helpful or more fun to get yourself a buddy or "bunch of buddies" to explore the lessons with you.

4. Throughout the course, we encourage comments and feedback. Your participation is key to the success of this and future programs.

5. Each lesson is relatively short, particularly the first week's lesson. You will NOT be graded!

This program was designed by public and academic librarians and modified by school library media teachers in order to emphasize and include curriculum connections. Explore, have fun, and enjoy the lessons. You must complete the entire course if you want to receive special recognition. So, fasten your seatbelt, grab your mouse, and blast off !

Week 2 Tips:
1. Get yourself a small notebook or secret place to keep track of you passwords and logins.

2. You may encounter frustration as you set up your blog. The Blogger software interface is not particularly intuitive. Ask a colleague or one of us to help you if you get stuck. Try to get as far as you can by yourself. Remember this is about self-discovery and self-learning.

3. Privacy -- You may be concerned about privacy issues. When you create your blog, you may use any name you wish and reveal nothing about yourself. Look at some of the blogs already created. Try to guess who some of them are! The CSLA 2.0 Team will know your real identity because you must send us an email in order for us to track your progress. When the program is over, you have the option to delete your blog.

4. Signing On - If you create your blog in Blogger, you will always sign on as NEW BLOGGER. Follow the BIG ORANGE ARROW in the middle of your computer screen that says "Create your blog now" Then you will create a Google account which is simply any email address you choose that already exists such as, your work email address, a Yahoo email address, etc.

5. Once you create your blog, you may choose to change font, font size, add photos to your blog posts, photo of your avatar or other character on your main page, etc. Avoid black as a background -- hard on readers' eyes and printer ink! Much of these changes are done in the LAYOUT section.

6. Please remember your email, password and the blog URL you create. That is your responsibility. See tip #1 about a password notebook or secret place. Be creative or funny or whatever with your blog title. Don't you just love "Below Approach" or "Crowe's Nest."

7. Entries -- Please clearly identify which WEEK and which THING you are doing in a blog entry. This will make life easier for the CSLA 2.0 Team as it tracks your progress. It will also make your blog a much more useful reference tool for you.

Week 3 Tips:
1. Please remember to do the exercises and clearly label blog entries that are related to the exercises (WEEK 2, #3 First Post, for example.)

2. If you haven't already, add a photo to a blog entry. When you are in the COMPOSE mode of a POST, there are icons/symbols for Bold (B), T (Text color), etc. There is also one for inserting/uploading a picture or photo. Check it out. Photos can also be added to your template by using the Page Elements in the Layout section. Several of you have already figured out how to add photos, particularly for your profile photo. Keep the creativity and fun coming. This is a fun fun fun week!

3. This is a good time to add "Word verification for comments." Here's how:

-- Go to your blog. Sign in.

-- Click on "CUSTOMIZE." Go to "SETTINGS." Go to "COMMENTS"

-- One of the choices under "COMMENTS" (near bottom of page) is SHOW or HIDE "WORD VERIFICATION." Select "yes, show word verification for comments."

4. Blogger uses an automated classifier. Automatic spam detection is inherently fuzzy, and occasionally a blog is flagged incorrectly. If you get an email from from Blogspot saying: "Your blog at: [your Blog url] has been identified as a potential spam blog.To correct this, please request a review by filling out the form at: [ Their url]"Don't panic! Follow the instructions in the email and all will be fixed.

Week 4 Tips:
1. It is not too late to participate in this course. Exercises are short and fun.

2. To register your blog with the California School Library Association, please click here with blog title and URL. This is how we know you are participating, how we are able to track you and give you special recognition upon completion of all the exercises.

3. Did you know that you have some word processing capabilities when composing a blog post? Notice the tool bar with icons for bold, linking, adding images, font size and color, etc. Ask your colleagues or contact the CSLA 2.0 Team if you have questions. Remember this is about self-discovery and self-learning, so first give it your best problem solving effort.

4. If you encounter log-in problems with Blogger, it may be Blogger and not you. The application has been known to be problematic. Try again or let the CSLA 2.0 Team know.

5. As a reminder, Blogger is not the only blogging software but it is free. Wordpress is an option. At least one of our CSLA 2.0 Team uses Wordpress. See this blog.

6. You will learn about RSS readers, in particular, Bloglines. By the way, Google Reader is another option and preferred by some people.

7. We appreciate the feedback from you!

Week 5 Tips:
1. We're loving your blog titles! Check out your fellow participants' blogs and cheer them on by posting a "comment" to one of their posts.

2. You are doing a fabulous job with prose and photos!

Week 6 Tips:
1. By now, some of you might be feeling a bit overwhelmed with your regular job duties or entertaining summertime house guests, and feel that you don't have time for the School Library Learning 2.0 weekly lessons.

2. You have time. You'll find that some of the lessons go faster than you expected. And some go slower. Most are pretty fun though!

3. You do not have to create a Flickr account to download an image from Flickr for the image exercises.

4. Doing the tutorials or reading the resources suggested for each lesson really helps to prepare you to do the exercises.

5. You don't have to like or embrace or adopt any of the tools you are learning about. Remember this program is about exploring and being exposed to emerging technologies and to get you thinking about the tools for professional and personal use. The CSLA 2.0 Team is enjoying reading your observations in your blog posts about the tools. We learn a lot from each and every participant. Thanks for sharing your discoveries and curriculum connections.

Week 7 Tips:
1. You probably already know a bit about wikis especially if you know about Wikipedia, the community built encyclopedia. Most California cities, airports, mountains, parks, etc. have an entry in Wikipedia. Actually, come to think of it -- what doesn't... Search to see what is entered for "teacher librarian."

2. One of the driving forces for why wikis are so popular is the idea that communities of people with a vested interested or expertise in a topic work together to create content. You are an author who may write and edit material just as you do with your personal blog.

3. Ah, the downside to wikis .... is the information accurate? Is it reliable? Is it current? Is it a good example for teaching students the concept of "verify."

4. Look at your co-workers' blogs and leave them comments. We bet you'll learn from what they have written besides being entertained with super prose and photos.

Week 8-9 Tips:
1. Some of you are having problems making your Bloglines reader public. First, this is completely optional. If you choose to make it available: How to find your public Bloglines URL: 1. Click on the Share tab within your Bloglines account:2. Scroll down the right screen pane and locate the public URL or To share your blogroll, log into your Bloglines account. Then, click on "Account" in the upper right corner. Click on "Blog Settings," in the middle near the top. Type in a user name if you haven't yet. For "Show my Blogroll" click next to "Yes, publish my blogroll." Click "Save changes."

2. Rollyo - adding a search roll to your blog is completely optional. However, if you choose to do so: In Rollyo you can add the search roll you create to your blog by going to the "tools" link at the top of the page. Click on "Put a Rollyo Searchbox on your site." Scroll down to where you see three grayish boxes in columns. In the "Searchrolls" box click on the searchroll that you want to add to your blog. Click on the right facing arrow to add it to the "Searchbox Rolls"column. Select the style of searchbox you want. There is a preview on the right when you choose the various types. In the far right column, titled "Copy and Paste Code," highlight all the text in the white box. You can just click in the box and then press CTRL+A. Copy this code (CTRL+C). Log into Blogger and go to the layout page for your blog. Click on "Add a page element" wherever you want the search box to appear. In the box that pops up, find where it says "HTML/JavaScript" and click on "add to blog." Enter a title, then paste (CTRL+V) the code into the content box. Click "save changes." Preview the layout and be sure to save the changes before you leave the layout screen.

3. If you aren't able to finish in time or for those who weren't able to participate, the blog will remain online indefinitely for further self-discovery opportunities. This course is for you to learn and grow on. Best wishes.

Participants

noreply@blogger.com (Jackie S, 2.0 project manager) — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 06:13:00 +0000

School Library Learning 2.0 Participants (Blogs)
Listed on the lower right side column are the blogs of registered participants in CSLA's School Library Learning 2.0 program. See the Blogroll of participant blogs. For the purposes of this program, only the blog's names will be listed here. Participants may choose to reveal or conceal their identity themselves as they wish through their blogs.

Spring 2007 "Test Drivers" and the CSLA 2.0 Team*
Below are CSLA "Test Drivers" from around the state. Many thanks go to these volunteers who worked through the course on weekends and late at night so they could recommend clearer instructions, alert us to non-working links, and share their curriculum connections ideas. As CSLA "Test Drivers" complete the program, they become guides-on-the-sides to "cheer on" participants this summer. They also become members of the the CSLA 2.0 Team. In fact, all CSLA members who successfully complete the program join the CSLA 2.0 Team -- How hip is that?

CSLA 2.0 Team Leaders Connie Williams and Jackie Siminitus give special thanks to the following CSLA members:

Doug Achterman,* Diane Alexander, Jamie Boston,* Andrea Catania, Rob Darrow,* Liz Dodds,* K.E. Hones, Thomas Kaun, Teresa Lai*, Judith Martin, Maria Petropulos, Jane Ritter, Robert Skapura, Deb Stanley, Alison Steinberg, Susan Thompson ... and their avatars!

Congratulations to the 60-member CSLA 2.0 Team
Completed "summer 2.0 fun" course by September 1, 2007

1. Alex-CSLA
2. BalerLibrary2.0
3. Bibliomaniac
4. California Dreamin' by Rob Darrow
5. Continuing Education!
6. dejongsplace
7. Happy Trails
8. Helen's World
9. Joan's School Library Learning
10. Let's Blog! Let's Podcast!
11. Library 2.0 test drive
12. Library Learner
13. Library Information Science
14. M1llion school library ideas
15. 2CoolTools
16. Napa High Books
17. OC Libraryland
18. PageSpace
19. whats up
20. redwoodlmt2
21. Goddess of Books
22. Resliblearning
23. kangaLMT2
24. Library Blog
25. Learning4library
26. Springaheadlibrary2
27. Bibliotecaria's Musings
28. Book-Case
29. CSULBcybrarian (0) (0)
30. TufRookie
31. library lady log lmt2
32. Stacks and Beyond
33. Our Library Moves Forward
34. Life-Long Learning
35. One Step Ahead
36. Web 2.0 Newbie
37. Queen's Quarters
38. LMT Techie in Progress
39. elmolibrary2
40. The Inquiring LMT
41. Harboring thoughts
42. Road Reader
43. Cardinal Reader
44. Becca's path
45. Book Lover 2.0
46. Jane the Librarian
47. KidsBooksblog
48. Book Diva 1
49. DebD at Ustach
50. Dragon Lady
51. DebD at Ustach
52. learningtrek
53. Ms Mac, Library Lady
54. Bookapalooza!
55. OWElibrary2
56. Comet librarian LMT2
57. newstuff4libr
58. 2 Roads Taken
59. libraryslim
60. librarycard
NOTE: The above list represents “test drivers,” “early birds,” “late comers,” and all CSLA member bloggers in-between who successfully completed School Library Learning 2.0 by the end of summer 2007.

About

noreply@blogger.com (Jackie S, 2.0 project manager) — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 04:52:00 +0000

This blog has been set-up as part of the CSLA School Library Learning 2.0 program to encourage all of us to experiment and learn about the new and emerging technologies that are reshaping the context of information on the Internet today. The CSLA 2.0 Team modified The Learning 2.0 program designed by Helene Blowers, Technology Director, Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County and is loosely based upon Stephen Abram's article, 43 Things I (or You) might want to do this year (Information Outlook - February 2006) and the website 43 Things. We also drew heavily from the jslibrarylearning2 program. The School Library Learning 2.0 program contains direct links and offers suggestions for ways to incorporate these tools into your classroom and teacher collaborations. We offer ideas to "jump start" your thinking and hope you will share your ideas as you learn how to use web 2.0 tools. The design of this online program was completely built on Web 2.0 technologies that are freely available on the Internet. These sites include: Blogger, Flickr, Odeo, YouTube, PBWiki & Bloglines.

Frequently Asked Questions:
1. How does this online learning program work? This is a self-discovery program which encourages participants to take control of their own learning and to utilize their lifelong learning skills through exploration and play. CSLA members are encouraged to work together and share with each other their discoveries, techniques, and "how to's" both in person and through their blogs. This course is web-based and not tied to any particular computer. In fact, you may want to work at home or at a public library if your school Internet filtering software blocks too many blog or multimedia sites.

2. Is this program open to all CSLA members or just some? This program is open to all CSLA Members. Participants who complete the entire course will receive special recognition. If you are not yet a member of CSLA, you are welcome to follow along or, better yet, join CSLA.

Are you from "out-of-state" but want to join in on California's winter 2.0 fun? You are welcome to register as a non-member, but unless you also join the California School Library Association, our CSLA 2.0 Team will not be able to provide prizes or individual attention such as "cheering" and other comments as you work your way through the 9-week course. See also "2.0 Partners."

3. How long do I have to complete the program? The 9-week program will remain online throughout the 2009-2010 school year. You are expected to work on an exercise each week. However, you may work ahead or take a week off here and there. It is up to you! This course is web based and not tied to your computer at work. We will keep the course online through the school year so you can invite your colleagues to take the course and you can cheer them along.

4. How do I track my progress for the 23 Things? You will be asked to make a blog of your own to track your progress. Please use your blog to write your reactions to the lessons and add any ideas you may have on how to use web 2.0 tools for yourself and your school. This is YOUR time to experiment, have fun, and learn at you own pace. Web 2.0 is here....and now, so are we! To the right, see a list of blogs of participants.

Recommended way to track: Include WEEK # and THING # in the heading of each post. It will help you and the CSLA 2.0 Team track your progress. It is also real helpful when you want to refer back or add something new on a specific topic or tool.

5. Can we get Continuing Education credits for the course? Yes. Fresno Pacific University offers (2) continuing education credits for this program. If you register for C.E. units, you will need to complete The 23 Things, the Discovery Exercises, and get ideas from the Curriculum Connections.

The Fresno Pacific University Center for Professional Development offers professional development courses that are designed for students who have baccalaureate degrees and appropriate teaching credentials. These courses are post-Baccalaureate, professional development units that are not part of a degree program, but are designed in collaboration with school districts to meet specific staff development needs. Students should seek approval of appropriate district or college officials before enrolling in these courses to satisfy any degree, state credential, or local school district requirements. The FPU transcript legend reads as follows for workshops: "University credit offered through the Center for Professional Development for workshops and conferences."

Course # is IND 1149. Cost is $150 for two units of credit. Participants can register for these units up to December 1, 2009. Students are expected to spend a minimum of 36 hours on the course over a 9 week period. This averages 2-4 hours/week and will vary depending on student level of web 2.0 experience and interest.

Tips for signing up for these units:
A) AFTER you register with CSLA, get your credit card handy and go to Fresno Pacific's website.
-- Under the heading “Professional Development Workshops,” click on the link that says “Register online” (this will open another window.)
-- Fill in your information and at the bottom, use the pull down menu and select “School Library Learning 2.0”
B) Once registered, please send an email to Liz.dodds@gmail.com with “FPU School Library Learning 2.0 units” in the subject line. (Liz will be your primary “online instructor” to verify work completed.)
C) You will receive further instructions later in June regarding what needs to be done to verify your work towards these units (this additional work will be completed online via Moodle, an online course management system).
D) Fresno Pacific will mail you a letter verifying that you have completed these (2) units. If you need an official transcript, you may request one by mailing in the form (with a fee) found at: www.fresno.edu/registrar/transcripts/.

Further questions about these units should be directed to Liz Dodds, liz.dodds@gmail.com or 559-436-8047. Questions about the online registration should be directed to Fresno Pacific Center for Professional Development at 559-453-2043 or 800-372-5505 or via email to Peggi Kriegbaum at pllee@fresno.edu.

6. What are "Curriculum connections"? Curriculum connections are the ideas that participants develop throughout the course. We are asking everyone to think of ways to use each of these 2.0 tools in their own library and classroom. We are especially looking for ways to create dynamic collaborations with teacher librarians and classroom teachers. We have created a curriculum wiki. At the end of the course, you will have a lot of ideas to use and share.

7. WEEK 7 is Wiki Week. We have created a California 2.0 Curriculum Connections wiki especially for you, so when you learn a new 2.0 application and use it in a special way for your school library or a classroom collaboration, you can add and share that "2.0 Best Practice." Participants are welcome to contribute to the wiki as they move through the 9-week course, or can wait until WEEK 7. It is your choice. Just "copy and paste" your applications into the wiki.

8. Will there be any training classes offered to show CSLA members how to do this? No, this is a self-directed learning program. We will provide helpful hints, encouraging words, and post comments from time to time. You are also encouraged to be resourceful and to find a co-worker or another staff member who can help. Be sure to share your knowledge and expertise too! The CSLA 2.0 Team will be available by e-mail to answer your questions. We may surprise you with a webinar or two at a few "checkpoints" during the summer, but they would be optional opportunities to share stories or ask questions.

9. Is there any tech support? What tech support do you have now? At work? At home? At your local coffee shop or library? If you run into difficulties, ask the CSLA 2.0 Team. We can assist you with the course, but not your computer or Internet connection.

10. Why Do This? Web 2.0 is a phrase that was coined in 2004. It refers to the fact that the Internet is now an interactive medium rather than a ‘place’ to go to get information. Since it is the young who are flocking to these Web 2.0 sites, it is important that those of us who work in school libraries should be up-to-date with the latest trends in education and technology and learn how they can be utilized in or with our school libraries.

In April 2007, at the Computers in Libraries Conference the keynote speaker was Lee Rainie, Founding Director of the Pew Internet and American Life Project The title of his keynote was: “Web 2.0 and What it Means to Libraries.” In this presentation, he spoke about six “hallmarks” of the Web 2.0 world that matter to libraries. These hallmarks outline the important fact that more and more Internet users are using the Internet to make connections, contributing their ‘know-how’ and customizing their experiences on the web.

Hallmark #1: The Internet has become the computer;
Hallmark #2: Tens of millions of Americans, especially the young, are creating and sharing content online;
Hallmark #3: Even more Internet users are accessing the content created by others;
Hallmark #4: Many are sharing what they know and what they feel online and that is building conversations and communities;
Hallmark #5: Tens of thousands are contributing their know-how and/or their processing power to the online commons;
Hallmark #6: Online Americans are customizing their online experiences thanks to Web 2.0 tools.

It is because of these “hallmarks” that the CSLA 2.0 Team offers this fun professional development tutorial for you!

11. Who are members of the CSLA 2.0 Team? CSLA 2.0 Team leaders are Connie Williams and Jackie Siminitus. Initially, a small number of CSLA members were invited to join the CSLA 2.0 Team, in order to "test drive" the program and recommend relevant school library web 2.0 sites and activities. A larger team of "test drivers" were then invited to work through the full School Library Learning 2.0 program in order to provide feedback on ease-of-use, additional school library ideas, and how to best market the summer program. All CSLA members who successfully "test drive" or complete School Library Learning 2.0 essentially become members of the CSLA 2.0 Team.

Jackie in her virtual library. Connie & pup visiting a classroom.

#23 (WEEK 9) Copyright, Creative Commons, and Congratulations!

noreply@blogger.com (Jackie S, 2.0 project manager) — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 05:27:00 +0000

Putting the ‘social’ into social networks allows us to freely exchange information. But with the free exchange of information comes the responsibility of how we share it, and how we give credit to the author of that information. Check out this video, “A Fair(y) Use Tale” and learn some history of copyright.

In the school library and classroom, we are often faced with copyright challenges of when it is acceptable to copy something and how much of an item [book, website, music, video, etc.] we can copy. Faced with declining budgets and little time, we are tempted to make the copies. But with the advent of file sharing, downloading, and RSS, we must acknowledge and teach the ethics of information gathering and sharing.

Creative Commons is a copyright license that allows us to choose to share our intellectual property. This course is designed under a Creative Commons license and is an example of how one can take a piece of information or a product and re-work it to make it fit your needs. By acknowledging the original authors, they have given permission for you to share. One place for good information about what's going on with the Creative Commons is Lawrence Lessig's blog. Lawrence Lessig is one of the Creative Commons developers and a Stanford University professor.

Discovery Exercise:

Find an example or attribution that shows this program has been modified from it's original.

Discovery Resources:

Online copyright comic book developed by students at Duke University Law School.
Creative Commons website.
“Wanna Work Together?” YouTube video about Creative Commons.
California Technology Assistance Project, Region IV cybersafety website. See Piracy.

Congratulations!! You’ve reached the 23rd thing. Give yourself a pat on the back for completing the program.

Please give us your feedback on your experience by completing this online survey and by relecting on your learning journey by posting a few thoughts. Here are some questions to prompt you:

What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?
How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?
Were there any take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?
What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?
If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you choose to participate?
How would you describe your learning experience in ONE WORD or in ONE SENTENCE, so we could use your words to promote CSLA learning activities?

We hope this is not the end of our learning journey together as a staff and a system, but the start of something amazing …such as:

maintain your blog as your educational journal
add your blog URL to your e-mail signature line
re-purpose it as your school library blog

share it with your colleagues and administrators
start a NEW blog or WIKI -- you are now a pro!

#22 (WEEK 9) Explore eBooks and Audio eBooks

noreply@blogger.com (Jackie S, 2.0 project manager) — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 05:25:00 +0000

For this thing, you will explore where you can get free ebooks and get an idea of the types of titles you can find here. Take a look around and locate a few titles of interest. Many school and public libraries have audiobook and ebook collections, so check what they have in their collections. Audiobooks are popular for ELL and Special Education students, as well as communters who enjoy a good story during a long ride. There are a number of commercial audiobook and ebook sources, and many of these companies have exhibits at library conferences.

Discovery Exercises:
1. Explore World EBook Fair' site for FREE downloads from the Gutenberg Project. Also just explore the site - there's much to check out.
2. Create a blog post about your findings.

Discovery Resources:

LibriVox, audiobook versions of copyright-free books from the Gutenberg Project. Read by volunteers. Started in August 2005 by Hugh McGuire. Check it out!
British Library Online Gallery includes digitized original classics. An audio feature allows a visitor to have the book read aloud. Don't miss the original version of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures Under Ground. Mozart's Musical Diary includes 75 audio excerpts. Take the tour and encourage your students and colleagues to do so too! This resource is AMAZING.
Check out "Best Places to Get Free Books" site.

#21 (WEEK 9) Podcasts (No iPod Needed)

noreply@blogger.com (Jackie S, 2.0 project manager) — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 05:20:00 +0000

The word podcast is used to refer to a non-musical audio or video broadcast that is distributed over the Internet. What differentiates a podcast from regular streaming audio or video is that the delivery method for podcasts is often done automatically through RSS.

In 2005, "podcast" was named the "word of the year" by New Oxford American Dictionary and with the growth of podcasting over the last year and a half; it’s easy to see why. Podcasts take many forms, from short 1-10 minutes commentaries (like the ones used in this Learning 2.0 program) to much longer in person interviews or panel group discussions. There’s a podcast out there for just about every interest area and the best part about this technology is that you don’t have to have an iPod or a MP3 player to access them. Since podcasts use the MP3 file format, a popular compressed format for audio files, you really just need a PC (or portal device) with headphones or a speaker.

iTunes, the free downloadable application created by Apple is the directory finding service most associated with podcasts, but if you don’t have iTunes installed there are still plenty of options.

For this discovery exercise participants are asked to take a look at some popular podcast directory tools. Do some exploring on your own and locate a podcast that is of interest to you. Once found, you can easily pull the RSS feed into your blog reader (i.e., Bloglines or Google Reader) account as well, so that when new casts become available you’ll be automatically notified of their existence.

Discovery Exercises:

Take a look at one or two of the podcast directories listed and see if you can find a podcast that interests you. See if you can find some interesting library related podcasts here like book review podcasts or library news.
Add the RSS feed for a podcast to your blog reader account.
Create a blog post about your discovery process. Did you find anything useful here?

Discovery Resources:
· To find out more about podcasts start with Yahoo: What is a podcast tutorial
· There are many, many podcast directory and finding tools out there. Here are just three of the more popular ones that don’t, like iTunes, require a software download:
o Podcast.com
o Podcastalley.com
o Yahoo Podcasts
. See also Educational Podcast Directory

Curriculum Connections:

Idea #1: Interview candidates for local office, or town officials about top issues in your community.

Idea #2: Create a daily school news podcast, including an issue of the day such as copyright/music downloading/file sharing, Internet safety tips, or newest web 2.0 applications.

Do you want to learn how to be a podcaster ? (Here are optional Resources for those who want to learn to create podcasts)
Yahoo: Publish a podcast
Odeo’s Studio – online recording studio.
Beginners guide to Podcasts & Creating Podcasts
How to podcast tutorial

20 (WEEK 9) Discover YouTube and a few sites that allow ussers to upload and share videos

noreply@blogger.com (Jackie S, 2.0 project manager) — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 05:15:00 +0000

Within the past year online video hosting sites have exploded allowing users to easily upload and share videos on the web. Among all the web 2.0 players in this area, YouTube is currently top dog serving up over 1 million video views a day and allowing users not only to upload their own video content easily, but also embed clips into their own sites easily.

Do some searching around YouTube yourself and see what the site has to offer. You'll find everything from 1970s TV commercials and 60s music videos to library dominos and a video made by library school students for National Library Week. There's also the cult classic Conan the Librarian. CLA 2006 conference Library Cheer was fun, too. See also:

Of course, like any free site you’ll also find a lot stuff not worth watching too. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t explore and see for yourself what the site has too offer. :)

Discovery Exercise:

Explore YouTube & find a video worth adding as an entry in your blog.
Create a blog post about your experience. What did you like or dislike about the site and why did you choose the video that you did? Can you see any features or componets of the site that might be interesting if they were applied to library websites?

OPTIONAL: Try placing the video inside your blog using the copy and paste code for the for "Embeddable Player.” Note: you'll need to use Blogger's Edit HTML tab when pasting this code.

Discovery Resources:

#19 (WEEK 8) Check out LibraryThing

noreply@blogger.com (Jackie S, 2.0 project manager) — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 05:10:00 +0000

Are you a booklover or cataloger at heart?
Do you enjoy finding lost and forgotten gems on the shelf to read?
Then LibraryThing may be just the tool for you. Developed for booklovers, this online tool not only allows you to easily create an online catalog of your own, it also connects you to other people who have similar libraries and reading tastes. Add a book to your catalog by just entering the title (it’s so easy that you don’t even need to know MARC format) or connect with other users through your similar reading tastes. There are lots of ways to use LibraryThing. You can even view your books on a virtual shelf, add a widget to display titles that are in your catalog (see sidebar for sample), or install a LT Search box on your blog.

Not just for personal collections, libraries have started using LibraryThing as well. “Small libraries are using LibraryThing to catalog their collections. Libraries are using the LibraryThing widget on their web pages to recomend books and list new titles.” (via http://wlaweb.blogspot.com/). Being a non-commercial site makes LibraryThing a good option for libraries. According to their website, LibraryThing "is exploring relationships with libraries, to offer non-commercially motivated recommendations and other social data." See also a blog comment by the Librarian-in-Black.

So why not join the ranks and create your own library online. With over 95,000 registered users (LibraryThing also has group forum for librarians) and 6.7 million books cataloged, you’re bound to discover something new.

Discovery Exercise:
1. Take a look around LibraryThing and create an account.
2. Add a least 5 books to your library.
3. Blog about your findings and be sure to link to your LibraryThing catalog. How popular were your books? Did you find any discussions about your favorites?

Discovery Resources:
· About LibraryThing
· Library Thing tour
· MoBuzzTV Review (3rd story in the 5 min broadcast)
· LibraryThing blog (updates & news)
· Thingology blog (“LibraryThing's ideas blog, on the philosophy and methods of tags, libraries and suchnot.”)
How libraries are using LibraryThing

Some Libraries using LibraryThing:
Shenandoah Public Library
Creston Public Library
Southwestern Community College LRC
Washington State Library (RSS feed also on their blog; Note - They chose to use Wordpress as their preferred blogging software).

Curriculum Connections:

Idea #1: Have your students count all the books in their house (see Curriculum Connection idea for THING #18), then create a LibraryThing catalog of at least 25 books. [Or, some students could make a LibraryThing catalog of the classroom book collection.]

#18 (WEEK 8) Take a look at online productivity tools (word processing, spreadsheets, and more)

noreply@blogger.com (Jackie S, 2.0 project manager) — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 05:07:00 +0000

One major benefit to web-based applications is that they eliminate the need to worry about different software versions or file types as you email documents or move from PC to PC. Another bonus is that they easily accommodate collaboration by allowing multiple users to edit the same file (with versioning) and provide users the ability to easily save and convert documents as multiple file types (including HTML and pdf). And, you can even use many of these tools, such as Zoho Writer and Google Docs (Formerly known as Writely) to author and publish posts to your blog. Another new free and open productivity suite is OpenOffice.com.

It’s this type of integration with other Web 2.0 tools that also makes web-based apps so appealing. For this discovery exercise, you are asked to take a look at a web-based word processing tool called Zoho Writer, create a simple document and then document your discoveries in your blog. If you are up to the challenge, you might even export your document as an HTML file or publish it through Zoho to your blog. With Zoho and web-based applications, the possibilities are endless.

Discovery Exercise:
1. Create a free account for yourself in Zoho Writer
2. Explore the site and create a test document or two.
3. Try out Zoho Writer’s features and create a blog post about your discoveries.
4. Check out the Google Sites tutorial

Optional: If you’re up for the challenge, try using Zoho’s publish options to post to your blog.
* Note: You can also explore Google Docs (formerly known as Writely), Google's online word processing, as an option for this exercise. All these tools keep getting better and better. Be sure to also explore OpenOffice.org because it is popular with netbook users who do not want to buy a commercial product for working offline.

BTW: Here’s a Zoho-created document (viewable as a webpage) about some of the beneficial features of Zoho.

Discovery Resources:
A short list of web-based productivity applications – Note: This list was authored in ZohoWriter and exported as HTML.

Curriculum Connections:

Idea #1: Have your students count all the books in their house (not including cook books.) Have them sort them by type (fiction/nonfiction, mystery, sports, subject, size, color -- their choice) and list these on a spreadsheet. [Note: you may want to limit the books to 200.]

[Note: Remember to include WEEK# and THING# in your heading posts.]

#17 (Week 7) Add an entry to "Sandbox" Wiki

noreply@blogger.com (Jackie S, 2.0 project manager) — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 04:53:00 +0000

A sandbox is a term that wikis often use to describe the area of the website that should be used for pure play so for this discovery and exploration exercise, go to the sandbox portion of the California Curriculum Connections wiki -- go ahead and play! The magic password is "library."

Discovery Exercise:
1. Visit the California Curriculum Connections wiki and go to the section devoted to one or more of the topics covered in the 9 weeks of the School Library Learning 2.0 course.

2. Create a post in your blog about the experience. How might you use wikis?

3. Visit the California School Library Association 2007 Conference wiki to see the page we created especially for CSLA 2.0 Team and Friends.

Discovery Resources:

· PB Wiki Tour - Find out how this collaborative tool can be used

· PBWiki Video Gallery - Short videos of PBwiki features

· PB Wiki Tips

. WebTools4U2Use - a wikispaces wiki of educational uses of web 2.0 tools

Curriculum Connection:

Idea #1: Select one of your favorite curriculum ideas from your own blog. "Copy and paste" it to the California 2.0 Curriculum Connections wiki. Password is "library."
Idea #2: Visit the California Curriculum Connections wiki and go to the section devoted to wikis. Add or enhance an idea from that page. Password is "library."

*NOTE: The CSLA2007 conference wiki and the California 2.0 Curriculum Connections wiki were created using the free version of the Bay Area based PBWiki, a tool that lets you create webpages that anyone can edit.

#16 (WEEK 7) Learn about wikis and discover some innovative ways that libraries are using them

noreply@blogger.com (Jackie S, 2.0 project manager) — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 04:45:00 +0000

A wiki is a collaborative website and authoring tool that allows users to easily add, remove and edit content. Wikipedia, the online open-community encyclopedia, is the largest and perhaps the most well known of these knowledge sharing tools, but with benefits that wikis provide the use and popularity of these tools is exploding.

Some of the benefits that make the use of wikis so attractive are:

Anyone (registered or unregistered, if unrestricted) can add, edit or delete content.
Tracking tools within wikis allow you to easily keep up on what been changed and by whom.
Earlier versions of a page can be rolled back and viewed when needed.
Users do not need to know HTML in order to apply styles to text or add and edit content. In most cases simple syntax structure is used.

As the use of wikis has grown over the last few years, libraries all over the country have begun to use them to collaborate and share knowledge. Among their applications are pathfinder or subject guide wikis, book review wikis, ALA conference wikis and even library best practices wikis.

Discovery Exercise:
1. For this discovery exercise, you are asked to take a look at some library wikis and blog about your findings.
Here are a few examples to get you started:

SJCPL Subject Guides – a pathfinder wiki developed by the St. Joseph County Public Library system.
Book Lovers Wiki - developed by the Princeton Public Library.
Library Success: A best practices wiki
CSLA Conference 2007 wiki – an example of a wiki created to support a specific event.
The Albany County Public Library Staff wiki – an example of a wiki created for library staff to document procedures.
Library Bloggers Wiki
Sample school wiki
Sample Literary Circle Wiki (10th Grade English)
Sample AP World History Wiki
http://teacherlibrarianwiki.pbwiki.com/
pbwiki for educators and librarians
Other library wiki examples such as library instruction.

2. Create a blog post about your findings. What did you find interesting? What types of applications within libraries and schools might work well with a wiki?

Discovery Resources:

Use these resources to learn more about wikis:

· Wiki, wiki, wiki - from the Core Compentency blog of the Public Library of Charlotte-Mecklenburg County.
· Wikis: A Beginner’s Look – an excellent short slide presentation that offers a short introduction and examples.
· What is a Wiki? – Library Success wiki presentation.
· Using Wikis to Create Online Communities – a good overview of what a wiki is and how it can be used in libraries.

Curriculum Connections:

Wikis can be made for any classroom!

Idea #1: Collaborative note-taking. Everyone pitches in and adds a fact or two about a topic. Teachers can encourage students to include opinions, challenges, and appropriate criticism. Students would then write essays using only these notes. Make sure that each addition includes a citation to website, book, or database, including page numbers so that it can be checked.
Idea #2: History. Students can compile a wiki of famous artists, architects, writers, and other key historical figures from a city, state, or country.
Idea #3: Create a "top 10" lists and supporting material. This could include scientists and their discoveries, top writers and their books, ... you get the idea.
Idea #4: Mission trading cards (see Week 3), once completed, could be added to a class wiki.

So what's in a wiki? Find out by doing some exploring on your own.

[Note: Please remember to include WEEK# and THING# in your heading posts.]

#15 (WEEK 6) Read some perspectives on Web 2.0. Future of Libraries

noreply@blogger.com (Jackie S, 2.0 project manager) — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 04:41:00 +0000

Library 2.0 is term used to describe a new set of concepts for developing and delivering library services. The name, as you may guess, is an extension of Web 2.0 and shares many of its same philosophies and concepts including harnessing the user in both design and implementation of services, embracing constant change as a development cycle over the traditional notion of upgrades, and reworking library services to meet the users in their space, as opposed to ours (libraries.)

Many have argued that the notion of Library 2.0 is more than just a term used to describe concepts that merely revolve around the use of technology; it also a term that can be used to describe both physical and mindset changes that are occurring within libraries to make our spaces and services more user-centric and inviting. Others within the profession have asserted that libraries have always been 2.0: collaborative, customer friendly and welcoming. But no matter which side of the debate proponents fall, both sides agree that libraries of tomorrow, even five or ten years from now, will look substantially different from libraries today.

Discovery Exercise:
1. Read two or three of the perspectives on Library 2.0 from the list below. Create a blog post about your thoughts on any one of these.
2. Library 2.0 - It's many things to many people. What does it mean to you? What does it mean for school libraries?

Discovery Resources:
OCLC Next Space Newsletter – Web 2.0: Where will the next generation of the web it take libraries?

Five Perspectives:
Away from Icebergs
Into a new world of librarianship
To more powerful ways to cooperate
To better bibliographic services
To a temporary place in time
Wikipedia – Library 2.0
Library 2.0 Discussions (list of great references from Wikipedia)
The Horizons Report - 2008 Applications of emerging technologies to teaching, learning, and creative expression.

We hope you're enjoying all the exercises you've done so far. Keep having fun exploring and thinking about Web 2.0/Library 2.0/School Library 2.0

#14 (WEEK 6) Explore Technorati and learn how tags work with blog posts

noreply@blogger.com (Jackie S, 2.0 project manager) — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 04:36:00 +0000

So now that you’ve been blogging for awhile, you might be wondering just how big is the blogosphere? Well according to San Francisco based Technorati, the leading search tool and authority for blogs, there are “over 175,000 new blogs (that’s just blogs) every day. Bloggers update their blogs regularly to the tune of over 1.6 million posts per day, or over 18 updates a second.” Technorati currently tracks 62.5 million blogs. If the blogging trend continues, it is estimated that Technorati will have tracked its 100 millionth blog in just 5 months.

Yes, these numbers are astounding, but as you’ve already seen for yourselves, blogging is so easy that these publishing tools are being taken advantage of by almost every industry, including libraries.

So how do you get your blog listed as part of the blogosphere and how can you tag your posts with keywords to make them more findable through a Technorati search? The answer to the first question is that your blog is probably already being captured by Technorati due to the fact that you’re already using Blogger, the most popular blogging tool. But if you want to join the party and have your blog officially listed on Technorati and also take advantage of the watchlist and other features, you’ll need to claim your blog yourself. As for tagging posts with Technorati tags? This is easy too. All you need to do is add a little bit of HTML code to the bottom of your post (see example below) and Technorati will pick up these tags when it spiders (or web crawls) your site.

There are a lot of features in Technorati including the capability to search for keywords in blog posts, search for entire blog posts that have been tagged with a certain keyword, limit a search by language, or search for blogs that have been registered and tagged as whole blogs about a certain subject (like photography or libraries).

Discovery Exercise:

1. Take a look at Technorati and try doing a keyword search for “School Library Learning 2.0” in Blog posts, in tags and in the Blog Directory. Are the results different?

2. Explore popular blog, searches and tags. Is anything interesting or surprising in your results?

3. Create a blog post about your discoveries on this site.

4. Now that we’ve worked with tags in Flickr, Del.icio.us, and Technorati, what are your thoughts about tagging? What are its advantages? What are its disadvantages?

OPTIONAL: If you're up for a challenge, learn how to tag your posts with Technorati tags so they can become part of Technorati tag searches. Create a post about something. It can be anything you want and add the HTML code to the bottom to tag it as “SJLibrary2.0.” You may also want to consider claiming your blog and creating a watchlist.

NOTE: When adding HTML code, you'll want to make sure you're in Blogger's Edit HTML window. There's a lot to explore.

Discovery Resources:

Technorati Tour – videocast of new features & new look
Technorati Discover & Popular features

Curriculum Connections:

Idea #1: Use these tools to locate blogs and other sites relating to election or other issues.

#13 (WEEK 6) Learn about tagging and discover Del.icio.us (a social bookmarking site)

noreply@blogger.com (Jackie S, 2.0 project manager) — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 04:30:00 +0000

Tagging is an open and informal method of categorizing that allows users to associate keywords with online content (webpages, pictures & posts). Unlike traditional library subject cataloging, which follows a strict set of guidelines (e.g., Library of Congress subject headings), tagging is completely unstructured and freeform, allowing users to create connections between data in any way they want.

In the past few weeks, we’ve already explored one site – Flickr - that allows users to take advantage of tagging and in week 3 many of you even used a common tag to create an association between photos that we individually uploaded. This week, in addition to exploring Technorati and LibraryThing tagging, we also want to take a look at the popular social bookmarking site Del.icio.us (typed in as http://del.icio.us/).

Why social bookmarking? Well, have you checked your list of favorites or bookmarks on your internet browser lately? If you’re like me, your favorites list may need some pruning or organization. Or, if you don’t happen to be on your regular computer, how do you even remember all the sites you’ve bookmarked?

Del.icio.us is a social bookmarking manager which allows you to bookmark a web page and add tags to categorize your bookmarks.

Many users find that real power of Del.icio.us is in the social networking aspect, which allows you to see how other users have tagged similar links and also discover other websites that may be of interest to you. You can think of it as peering into another users’ filing cabinet, but with this powerful bookmarking tool each user's filing cabinet helps to build an expansive knowledge network.For this discovery exercise, you are asked to take a look at Del.icio.us and learn about this popular bookmarking tool.

Discovery Exercise:
1. View the Del.icio.us tutorial by Santa Cruz Public Library to get a good overview of its features. SCPL created several tutorials to support its 23 Things program.

2. Take a look around Del.icio.us using the SJLibraryLearning2 account that was created for this exercise. Note: In this account you will find lots of resources that have been highlighted or used throughout the course of the Learning 2.0 program. You can keep up to date with what's added by subscribing to the RSS feed.

3. Explore the site options and try clicking on a bookmark that has also been bookmarked by a lot of other users. Can you see the comments they added about this bookmark or the tags they used to catgorize this reference?

4. Create a blog post about your experience and thoughts about this tool. Can you see the potential of this tool for research assistance? Or just as an easy way to create bookmarks that can be accessed from anywhere? How can libraries take advantage of social bookmarking sites?
Would you like to read more about del.icio.us and other social bookmarking tools? Go to SJLibrary’s del.icio.us page and look for entries under the tag headings “del.icio.us” and “bookmarking.”

OPTIONAL: If you’re up to the challenge, create a Del.icio.us account for yourself and discover how this useful bookmarking tool can replace your traditional browser bookmark list. You might even want to explore Del.icio.us’ latest addition, a network badge. (Psst! see it over there at the end of the navigation sidebar.)

Note: If you do setup a Del.icio.us account, here’s a quick word about the Del.icio.us Buttons. On PC that have the toolbars locked down, these will install as options in your browser bookmarks. Use the “Post to my Del.icio.us” link to add the current webpage to your account (you may need to log in). Use the “My Del.icio.us” link to view your online account.

Discovery Resources:

-- Otter Group Del.icio.us tutorial (12 min video) - Highly recommended!!! -- Us.ef.ul: A beginners guide to Del.icio.us -- Several Habits of wildly successful Del.icio.us users -- Libraries that del.icio.us: (d=that library's del.icio.us page)
. Maui Community College Library (d)
. McMaster University Library (d)
. Menasha Public Library (d)
. San Mateo Public Library (d)
. Seldovia Public Library (d)
- Web 2.0 Library Website Recommendations Site.
- See also http://www.diigo.com/ as an alternative to Del.icio.us

[Note: Please remember to include WEEK# and THING# in your heading posts.]

#12 (WEEK 5) Roll your own search tool with Rollyo

noreply@blogger.com (Jackie S, 2.0 project manager) — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 04:25:00 +0000

Do you have a group of websites that are your favorites? Or a set of online resources that are similar that you frequently use to answer homework or reference questions? Well Rollyo may be the tool for you. Rollyo allows you to create your own search tool for the just the websites you know and trust.

Take a look at some of these search rolls that have already been created:
Public Domain e-Books Search
Rare Book Library Search
Free Photos
Quick Quotes
Explore other rolls here.
Here’s searchroll created to search ten of the Reference sites listed in SJLibrary's WIReD.Try a search for broad term like "homework” or “history” to see results listed from multiple sites.

Discovery Exercise:

Explore Rollyo and create an account for yourself.

Create a search roll for any subject you like.

Create a post in your blog about your experience and link to your search roll. Can you see a potential use for tools like this?

OPTIONAL: Add your searchroll to your blog using the "Create a Searchbox" tool.
Select...Reference. Search The Web

Rollyo - You just never know when this little tool might come in handy.

OK - Time for a "fun break" -- check out the song written especially for "23 Things" for special librarians.

#11 (WEEK 5) Explore Web 2.0 award-winning applications and Ning

noreply@blogger.com (Jackie S, 2.0 project manager) — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 04:16:00 +0000

Throughout the course of this Learning 2.0 program we’ve explored just a small sampling of the new internet technologies and websites that are empowering users with the ability to create and share content. But given time there are so many more we could explore! A recent estimate placed the number of Web 2.0 tools at somewhere between 300 & 500 with only a handful emerging as market dominators. And although time will only tell which of these new collaborative, social networking and information tools will remain on top, one thing is for sure, they're not going to go away (at least anytime soon).

For this discovery exercise, participants are asked to select any site from this list of Web 2.0 Award Winners and explore it. With so many to choose from, it might be handy to first select a category that interests you (like Books or Personal Organization) and then select a tool/site to explore. Be careful to select a tool that is Free and that doesn't require a plug-in or download. The majority of these are free, so this shouldn’t be a problem. Another site that is gaining in popularity is the social networking site called Ning. With Ning, you can set up your own social network such as an after school or book club. To learn more about Ning, check out one of the librarian or school related groups such as: Library 2.0, ALA Members, Teacher-Librarian, or Teachers2.0.

Discovery Exercise:

Select any site/tool from the list of Web 2.0 Awards winners (If you prefer to select from just the winners, here’s a link to the short list.)
Explore the site you selected.
Create a post about your discovery. What did you like or dislike about the tool? What were the site’s useful features? Could you see any applications for its use in a library setting?
Join a Ning network.
Play -- check your Travel IQ.

Web 2.0 – with so much to explore, just start with ONE. :)
We hope you're having fun with the exercises.

#10 (WEEK 5) Play around with online image generators

noreply@blogger.com (Jackie S, 2.0 project manager) — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 04:08:00 +0000

Generators? No, I’m not talking about those gas powered back-up things. The generators I’m talking about are websites that allow you to easily manipulate images. See examples:

For this discovery exercise, we want you to have even more fun than you're already having! Find a few fun image or text generators to play around with and write a post in your blog about one of your favorites and the display the result. Often adding the image you mocked up to your blog is as simple as copying and pasting code that the page provides. If not, you may just need to right click on the image and then save it to your hard drive before using Blogger’s image button to add it to your post. If you’re having difficulty getting your image added to a post in your blog, ask a colleague for help or your CSLA 2.0 Team.

Discovery Exercise:
1. Play around with some image generators and find one that you like.
2. Post the result of your discovery process in your blog.
Note: Be sure to include a link to the image generator itself, so other participants can discover it too. Take some time and have fun with this exercise. And remember to be tasteful too!
* Images created with FD Toys, Comic Strip Generator, Image Chef.

Discovery Resources:
.The Generator Blog FD Flickr Toys
.Also try searching for online generators, text generators or image generators such as Comic Strip Generator, Image Chef.

Curriculum Connections:

Idea #1: Image generators: Show how to make an interesting image to use as interesting story starters. For example: using the star image on Hollywood Boulevard, a teacher or student could add the name of a character, a famous person, or any name. The students could make up a story about how that person got his/her very own star on the Hollywood walk of fame.
Idea #2: Use comic strip generator to make cartoon directions - students and fellow educators might follow THOSE directions!!
Idea #3: Generate an image for your library website, newsletter, or bulletin board.

[Note: Please remember to include WEEK# and THING# in your heading posts.]

#9 (WEEK 4) Locate a few useful School Library related blogs and/or news feeds

noreply@blogger.com (Jackie S, 2.0 project manager) — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 04:02:00 +0000

Now that you have an RSS Reader (your Bloglines account), you can begin adding other feeds that interest you. There are several ways you can locate RSS feeds:

When visiting your favorite websites -- look for RSS feed icons that indicate the website provides it. Often a feed icon will be diplayed somewhere in the navigation of the site.
Use Blogline's Search tool - Bloglines recently expanded search tool lets you search for news feeds in addition to posts, citations and the web. Use the Search for Feeds option to locate RSS feeds you might be interested in.
Check out the top "Edublog" award-winning blogs and school library blogs.

Other Search tools that can help you find feeds:
Feedster - One of the largest collections of RSS feeds, Feedster lets you search for feeds in three categories: news, blogs & podcasts
Topix.net - This search tool allows you to locate recent newsfeed items based upon keyword or phrase searching. The tool focuses specifically on news and media outlets RSS feeds for information, not weblogs
Syndic8.com - Syndic8 is an open directory of RSS feeds that contains thousands of RSS feeds that users have submitted.
Technorati - Technorati is a popular blog finding tool that lets you search for blogs. Since RSS feeds are inherent to all blogging tools, Technorati Blog Search can help you find RSS feeds for topic specific blogs you may be interested in.

Google Blog Search - See what appears when you search "school library learning 2.0"

Blog Pulse - Tracks conversations (try putting CSLA 2.0 to see who is talking about us)
Additonal Resource: Technorati Tutorial on finding and adding your blog

Discovery Exercise:

Explore some of the search tools noted above that can help you locate some news feeds.
Create a blog post about your experience. Don't know what to blog about? Here some questions to think about ...Which method of finding feeds did you find easiest to use? Which Search tool was the easiest for you? Which was more confusing? What kind of unuseful feeds did you find in your travels? Or what kind of unusual ones did you find? What other tools or ways did you find to locate newsfeeds?

#8 (Week 4) Learn about RSS feeds and set up a blog reader account

noreply@blogger.com (Jackie S, 2.0 project manager) — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 03:48:00 +0000

Make Life “really simple” with RSS & a news reader
powered by ODEO

You’ve heard of RSS? You’ve seen those small funny tags on websites? You’ve heard co-workers and acquaintances swear by it, but still have no idea what RSS is? Well don’t worry, according to a this survey you’re still in the majority, but this is changing rapidly. In the information world, RSS is not only revolutionalizing the way news, media and content creators share information, but it also is swiftly changing the way everyday users are consuming information.

RSS stands for “Really Simple Syndication” and is a file format for delivering regularly updated information over the web. Just think about the websites and news information sources you visit everyday. It takes time to visit those sites and scour the ad-filled and image-heavy pages for just the text you want to read, doesn’t it? Read more about RSS here or see this video at BlipTV.

Now imagine if you could visit all those information sources and web pages in just one place and all at the same time … without being bombarded with advertising… without having to search for new information on the page you’d already seen or read before… and without having to consume a lot of time visiting each site individually. Would that be valuable to you? Well, it’s available now through a newsreader and RSS. This week’s discovery exercises focus on learning about RSS news feeds and what free tools you can use to do this.

Discovery Exercise:
1. Follow these discovery exercises to set up your own, personalized RSS feed reader. Learn about the difference between RSS feed readers, Bloglines, and Google Reader.
2. Create a free "RSS aggregator" account from either Bloglines or Google Reader and subscribe to at least 5 newsfeeds to your reader. [BLOGLINES. Here are the steps for creating an account in BLOGLINES. See Using Bloglines Tutorial steps 1-3 for instructions. See also a short video on YouTube on how to add feeds ; GOOGLE READER. You may prefer to set up an RSS aggregator in Google Reader. Tutorials include: Google Reader Tour, video tutorial#1 or #2.]
3. Create a post in your blog about this exercise. Don’t know what to blog about? Think about these questions: What do you like about RSS and newsreaders? How do you think you might be able to use this technology in your school or personal life? How can libraries use RSS or take advantage of this new technology? Optional: If you're up to the challenge, you can provide the URL address to your public bloglines account (find where to find this below)

Newsfeeds to add to your reader:
San Jose Mercury News Feeds (pick at least one)

Reader’s Club new review feeds

Unshelved - Library cartoon feed

Maybry Middle School, Georgia - example RSS feed

Westwood School, Georgia - example RSS Calendar Feed

Discovery Resources:

CNET Video: RSS – Feel the Need for Feeds (3:32) – a good over view of what RSS is and the benefits to users.
Feed Me: A gentle introduction to Internet feeds - a good tutorial from Palinet, a library cooperative
What is RSS? Video by Common Craft. See other similar videos.
How to Make your RSS Feeds Pop! Check your local newspaper and discover if they have an RSS feed you can subscribe to.
Additional Bloglines news feed subcription information · Your co-workers or members of the Virtual Services Task Group - tap into their knowledge and experience with RSS feeds and readers.
Post about usefulnesss of Google Gears

How to find your public Bloglines URL:

1. Click on the Share tab within your Bloglines account:
2. Scroll down the right screen pane and locate the public URL.
Why have a public account? To share blog rolls with others, of course. That's how we keep track of School Library Learning 2.0 participants.

#7 (WEEK 3) Create a blog post about anything technology-related that interests you this week

noreply@blogger.com (Jackie S, 2.0 project manager) — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 03:39:00 +0000

Simply blog about anything technology related. Yes, it can be anything that relates to technology! You just need to share a few thoughts. For example:

I like digital cameras because it's much easier to share photos with family and
friends now that I have a Flickr account. Skype lets me talk with friends through
computers. Technology advancements for music and medical equipment are amazing! Video Games, iTunes, iPods, Flatscreen televisions, etc.

Curriculum Connections:

Idea #1: Never miss an opportunity to share and discuss issues related to technology such as Internet safety & ethics, censorship, plagiarism, copyright, and library collection development.

PS: Also be sure to add at least one comment to another participant's blog. That's what online communities are all about - connecting and communication. CHEER and otherwise encourage your CSLA colleagues :)

#6 (WEEK 3) Flickr fun, mashups, and 3rd party sites

noreply@blogger.com (Jackie S, 2.0 project manager) — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 03:29:00 +0000

Like many web 2.0 sites, Flickr has encouraged other people to build their own online applications using images found on the site. Through the use of APIs (application programming interfaces), many people have created third party tools and mashups* that use Flickr images. Here is just a sampling of a few …

· Mappr - takes Flickr images and allows you to paste them on a map
· Flickr Color Pickr - lets you find public photos in Flickr that match a specific color.
· Montagr – create a photo mosaics from photos found on Flickr.
Discover more mashups, web apps, and Flickr tools.

Discovery Exercise:
Your discovery exercise for this “thing” is to: Explore some of the fun Flickr mashups and 3rd party tools that are out there. Create a blog post about one that intrigues you. You might want to check out FD Toys’ Trading Card Maker. And there’s a ton of librarians out there that have created their own Librarian Trading Card. So have some fun discovering and exploring some neat little apps. If you are up to the challenge while you’re at it, create a trading card of your own. :) or a movie poster or magazine cover from this Flickr site.* Mashup Note: Wikipedia offers some great articles that explain mashups. Basically they are hybrid web applications that take features from one application (like Flickr) and mash it up with another (like a map) In this example, you get Mappr (http://mappr.com)

Curriculum Connections:

Idea #1: Use Flickr toys to make a magazine cover. Many classes make their own magazine. This would be perfect! Example for covers: "Crusade Times," "Heading West," or "Genetics Today." Students could create a magazine cover and headlines for a famous person, historical event, or story character.
Idea #2: Create trading card sets. Liven up 5th grade mission projects, annual "animal" or "state" reports, and other topics that are ripe for change. Each student could create a card or student groups could design their own trading card pack. Trading the cards can be a fun game, but they can also be useful for recommended reading, books, illustrators, authors, and historical bios/dates. How would you use them? How about using them as Flash cards for vocabulary, periodical table, foreign language or ELL.

#5 (WEEK 3) Explore Flickr and learn about this popular image hosting site

noreply@blogger.com (Jackie S, 2.0 project manager) — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 03:20:00 +0000

Photo sharing websites have been around since the 90s, but it took a small startup site called Flickr (now owned by Yahoo) to catapult the idea of “sharing” into a full blown online community. Flickr uses "tags" or what we would call keywords to help identify and search for photos.

For this discovery exercise, you are asked to take a good look at Flickr and discover what this site has to offer. Find out how tags work, what groups are, and all the neat things that people and other libraries (list also here) are creating thanks to Flickr.

Discovery Exercise:
In this discovery exercise, you have two options…
a. Take a good look around Flickr and discover an interesting image that you want to blog about. Be sure to include either a link to the image or if you create a Flickr account, you can use Flickr's blogging tool to add the image in your post. Another option you have for including images in your post is to use Blogger's photo upload tool.
--OR--
b. If you are up to an easy challenge ... create a Free account in Flickr and use your location's digital camera to capture a few pictures of something in your school library. Upload these to your Flickr account and tag at least one of the images “School Library learning2.0” and mark it public. Then create a post in your blog about your photo and experience. Be sure to include the image in your post. Once you have a Flickr account, you have two options for doing this; through Flickr's blogging tool or using Blogger's photo upload feature. So go ahead, explore the site and have some Flickr photo fun and if you're interested in looking at some photo hosting sites, then check out Picasa Web Albums from Google and another service called Smugmug.
PS: A quick word about photo posting etiquette - When posting identifiable photos of other people (especially minors) get the person's permission before posting their photo in a publicly accessible place like Flickr. Never upload pictures that weren't taken by you (unless you have the photographer's consent) and always give credit when you include photos taken by someone else in your blog.

Discovery Resources:
· Flickr Learn More tour (6 steps)
· Mediamazine Flickr Tutorials
· Flickr: Popular tags Interesting- Last 7 days
· Flickr Services (3rd party applications & mashups) and here's another Flickr site that lets you create movie posters, CD covers, magazine covers and so on.
· libraries that Flickr or 365 Days of Library Pictures in Flickr.

[Note: Please remember to include WEEK# and THING# in your heading posts.]

#4 (WEEK 2) Register your blog with ... School Library Learning 2.0

noreply@blogger.com (Jackie S, 2.0 project manager) — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 03:07:00 +0000

If you’ve made it this far, you already have three items or “things” completed of the ’23 Things.’ We hope you are enjoying the adventure so far and having fun. Remember to share with colleagues knowledge or experience that may help them out if they get stuck or vice versa!

But how do you qualify for the special recognition? Good question! You need to do two things. You have to register your blog with the CSLA 2.0 Team, plus you have to record your progress on each of the ‘23 things’ on your blog. Reminder: Clearly identify each WEEK and each exercise (THING) in your entries. The CSLA 2.0 Team will track and verify your progress in a log that they will maintain. So, here’s Thing #4 – click here to register your blog right away. You will then be officially registered and become eligible to receive your special recognition upon completion of all “23 Things.”

Remember … your blog address is in the format http://insertname.blogspot.com/
It’s really that easy and just think, now there’s only 19 more things to go. :)

Curriculum Connections

Idea #1: A blog is an excellent forum for discussion of issues. Create one for the next school, local, state, or national election and discuss the issues of the day.
Idea #2: A book discussion blog is a library favorite. Start one today and then branch out into other topics such as pro/con topics of interest, student opinion surveys, or campus activity discussions.