Time really does fly, I can't believe it is 'thing 23'. My absolute favorite discover over this process had to be some of the online image generators simply because I LOVE playing around with pictures. My fav of these were: www.magnigraph.com and http://labs.wanokto.jp/olds. I have since used these for personal pictures quite a bit. I also loved having to play around with youtube as it can be such a fun site...however that was not a 'discovery'.
One unexpected outcome I was not expecting was how hard it was for me to grasp one of the concepts. I am generally a very quick learner or am able to trial and error things until I get it. Being able to link correctly for thing #17 on the PBWiki, I still have not figured how to do it. I was able to link it, but not in the way it was supposed to be done...and it frustrates me that I can't figure it out! However, the other tools that were presented were easy to understand and I do feel better equipped to help patrons with technology questions.
I am still in school (until next Summer...then it's PARTY TIME!!!!!) but using these tools has greatly aided me in those studies. There are some things we spoke about in class that I had not had the opportunity to play around with, that were topics in this journey. I have already been able to use many of the things I have learned in papers as well as discussion posts, and feel better equipped to intelligently further discussions on where the future is headed, techno things, etc. I hope I will continue to pursue learning after I am done with school...because this has definitely shown me that although I have been in school pretty much full-time for the last 4 years - there is SOOOO much out there still to learn!
One tool set that was not touched upon here, and was shown at a recent presentation I attended is the Google ToolBox. They have SOOOO many tools that have potential applications to help us in our professional roles, as well as something we can show to our patrons.
Friday, November 7, 2008
Monday, November 3, 2008
#22 - Media/Book Downloads
I have used the MyLibraryDV...and also went to the training, so I feel pretty confident already using that service. With as many questions as we get about OverDrive, I know some things about that service although I do not personally use it (even though I apprently could still learn a TON more about it, haha!). I chose to look at TumbleBooks since I have never used or even looked through this particular resource.
The books themselves that were available for viewing were fun, I enjoyed the animation that Tumble gave to the picture book illustrations - it makes it more entertaining and the story can come alive for children who are viewing them. It would have been nice to have more 'classic' stories for children to connect with. Other parts of the web-site were great...the games that were available to play. I did most of them :-) The WordCatch was a little odd, and even though I 'chose' the correct word every time the score did not reflect that and it could discourage some children who understand they are doing it correctly but not being given that credit by the game. The Match The Sentence game is GREAT for comprehension. The user has to read the sentence and then choose the picture that best matches. Some of the pictures are fairly close to one another so the child has to truly comprehend the entire sentence to choose correctly. The memory game has pictures and words (that are colored which are great for kids who are visual learners) and after each game is over you can move to a higher level...I don't know how far up these levels go.
The thing I found most frustrating (and the reason this is the first time I have used this resource) is because when you click on TumbleBooks from the 23Things page OR from the web links on SamePage it takes you to a page asking for a login/password. I did not even realize we had full access to this database until I was able to get in through the Kids Page off of the library homepage. That is the ONLY way I was able to successfully use the program. I understand that this is the only way a patron could have access, it was just frustrating to me personally :-)
The books themselves that were available for viewing were fun, I enjoyed the animation that Tumble gave to the picture book illustrations - it makes it more entertaining and the story can come alive for children who are viewing them. It would have been nice to have more 'classic' stories for children to connect with. Other parts of the web-site were great...the games that were available to play. I did most of them :-) The WordCatch was a little odd, and even though I 'chose' the correct word every time the score did not reflect that and it could discourage some children who understand they are doing it correctly but not being given that credit by the game. The Match The Sentence game is GREAT for comprehension. The user has to read the sentence and then choose the picture that best matches. Some of the pictures are fairly close to one another so the child has to truly comprehend the entire sentence to choose correctly. The memory game has pictures and words (that are colored which are great for kids who are visual learners) and after each game is over you can move to a higher level...I don't know how far up these levels go.
The thing I found most frustrating (and the reason this is the first time I have used this resource) is because when you click on TumbleBooks from the 23Things page OR from the web links on SamePage it takes you to a page asking for a login/password. I did not even realize we had full access to this database until I was able to get in through the Kids Page off of the library homepage. That is the ONLY way I was able to successfully use the program. I understand that this is the only way a patron could have access, it was just frustrating to me personally :-)
#21 - Podcasts
I have had to use podcasts before for classes...professors will record themselves giving a lecture and then link it to the class site for us to listen to at will to gain insight on whatever the topic is for the week. This is a great use for them, as it is not just a lecture we are reading, but we can hear voice inflections and if something is meant to be funny/serious/sarcastic...tone can often clue in the listener.
On the sites we were encouraged to look at:
Podcastdirectory.com - I did not really like this site, it was way too busy for my personal taste.
Podcastalley.com - this is the site I liked the most, it was pretty busy but the interface was set up in a way I enjoyed using. This is also where I found the podcast to add to my RSS feed link. After doing a keyword search, the user could click on links to items that had been brought up and it gave a quick overview of what the basic subject was. Very helpful!
myYahooaudio - this had a googlesque search interface, which was a little too bare for me...I did like on the other sites how it gave suggestion topics, most listened to, etc.
I added 'Packers Therapy' to my Google Reader RSS account. It is 2 lifers (green bay packer fans for life) discussing current games and news surrounding the organization. From its description it sounded as though it would be really fun to listen to, as well as maybe learning something new about the team!
Uses in the library could be endless...some I know it is already being used for are book talks, audio of author visits, describe a database or service we provide, etc. It is a *free* way to encourage use of our resources and to promote ourselves!
On the sites we were encouraged to look at:
Podcastdirectory.com - I did not really like this site, it was way too busy for my personal taste.
Podcastalley.com - this is the site I liked the most, it was pretty busy but the interface was set up in a way I enjoyed using. This is also where I found the podcast to add to my RSS feed link. After doing a keyword search, the user could click on links to items that had been brought up and it gave a quick overview of what the basic subject was. Very helpful!
myYahooaudio - this had a googlesque search interface, which was a little too bare for me...I did like on the other sites how it gave suggestion topics, most listened to, etc.
I added 'Packers Therapy' to my Google Reader RSS account. It is 2 lifers (green bay packer fans for life) discussing current games and news surrounding the organization. From its description it sounded as though it would be really fun to listen to, as well as maybe learning something new about the team!
Uses in the library could be endless...some I know it is already being used for are book talks, audio of author visits, describe a database or service we provide, etc. It is a *free* way to encourage use of our resources and to promote ourselves!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
