Thing 4: RSS

I've been using RSS for quite some time. I used to have a Bloglines account, but switched over to Google Reader some time ago. I love how it integrates into my iGoogle page. I use my iGoogle page as my home page on all my computers and love having everything at my fingertips.


Since I already use iGoogle, I checked out NetVibes. One big thing I noticed immediately is the ability to make my page public. That could be really useful for my library. My iGoogle page is very personal, and includes links to all kinds of things--Facebook, Twitter, email, bulletin boards I read, my banks, personal and work blogs in my feed reader--the list goes on! I like the idea of a public space and a private space. Netvibes might be able to fill this public space niche for me quite nicely. 


 Over the course of the summer, my school is leaving our existing web platform and migrating over to BlackBoard for our classroom web pages. I can't really visualize how this will work for the library, so I am investigating other alternatives. I can see Netvibes fitting in somewhere--I just don't have the big picture yet.


 A few things that are in my feed reader: 
Paige Jaeger's LibraryDoor
Joyce Valenza's Neverending Search 
Buffy Hamilton's UnQuiet Library 
Doug Johnson's Blue Skunk Blog
Steve Danna's Race to the Top Reflections
Stephen's Lighthouse 
Lindsay Cesari's No Shhing Here

Thing 3: Online Communities

I've had a Twitter account for quite a while and find it interesting, though I find myself fluctuating between using/monitoring my Twitter stream heavily and avoiding it entirely. Most recently, I've taken to using it when engaged in some professional development activity (the NYLA conference, SLMS retreat, and most recent SLS liaison meeting come to mind). I tweet little bits of info and things I want to remember, then use it as a digital notebook later. If I'm at a big enough event, I'll also use other attendees tweets as part of my digital journal, and glean information that I hadn't seen/noted myself. I have a few issues with Twitter. I find that it can be a bit overwhelming--if I sit and watch my Twitter feed and check out all the links that go by, I don't get anything 'on task' done. If I don't watch it, I feel like I'm missing so much! I often find that it's an all or nothing proposition for me. Also, I have a dumbphone with a pay-as-you-go plan, so I can't tweet mobile-y unless there is wifi. That can also be a bit frustrating.

For this thing, I checked out paper.li, and I really like the way it organized links and videos from my Twitter stream! I may start watching the feed only for bits of info and stuff and look for the links and videos via paper.li. Very cool!

Thing 2: Digital Storytelling

I poked around with several tools for thing 2, exploring how I might be able to use them in my library and school.  I tried out Knovio, and it looked really neat, and worked fine for my first test presentation, but when I went back to create a video to embed in my Prezi, it wouldn't record my audio and video.  I played with the settings, but it wouldn't come together.  I'll explore that one more later.  I think it could have real use for my teachers if we try the concept of flipped classrooms, which I've been hearing a lot about lately.  I also think it could work well for those students who are anxious about presenting or who cannot be present in a classroom when it is time to present.  I'm definitely adding it to my virtual toolbox. 

I signed up for a couple of other tools as well, including StoryBird, and will try those out in more depth in the future.  I've been meaning to try Prezi though, as I've seen some really neat Prezi's and really despise PowerPoint.  I haven't had time, so I decided that would be my tool.  I created a little Prezi using photos of my kids.  I wanted to try including a video, and had tried to do it with Knovio, but failing that, went back to my old friend Animoto and whipped up a quick video to include, just to see how it would work. I really dig the outcome and will try to incorporate Prezi into my prefessional work as well as using it with my students.

I am also really excited about the links to copyright-friendly images and sound and will add them to our library page listing those resources.  Yay for more resources!

Here's the Prezi I made:

Test on Prezi