Lost In CyberSpace

NUMBER 23 - YEE-HA!

2007-07-27T14:26:00.000-07:00

Never thought I'd get here! As confused as I got at times, I feel I learned alot about what technologies are out there, and the possible uses for them. I was especially interested in the digital photography sites, and I also like learning about the online applications for creating documents, etc. I'm not sure I'll ever be interested in the social aspects of the web, and I still think it's strange to interact with people you don't know at all in ways that seem "friendly." But overall the program was interesting. I thought it was odd that the beginning was much harder to navigate through than the last parts. But just when I was about to give up, it got better. At least I know some of the terminology now.

9.3

2007-07-27T14:19:00.001-07:00

We use NetLibrary at Caroline, so I've already played with that. I love it, since I love audio books, but at home I only have dial-up connection, so it's not practical for me to use. Instead, for this exercise, I explored Project Gutenberg, which I found very interesting. I'm currently listening to Charles Dickens' Tale of Two Cities, so I looked that up. I can see that this could be a useful tool for students, or to explore classics.

9.1 and 9.2

2007-07-27T14:06:00.000-07:00

Hmmm. I'm not too excited about podcasts. I did explore YouTube, and I watched 3 videos - Win at Chess in 3 Moves, which I still can't do, How To Become a Hogwarts Student, which was awful, and RSS in Plain English, which was good. I was intrigued by the variety of skill levels of the videos - some were well-done and some weren't. I also looked at some quilting podcasts and got 2 of them onto my blog. I was confused by the fact that some are audio only and some have video but you have to do a download first...it was a little much for me, and the end result wasn't worth the effort, I felt. I can learn more from a website.

Week 8 and a half...

2007-07-27T10:27:00.000-07:00

I played around with Picnik, since I love to do the photo things. I found it had some neat options, and would definitely use it again. I manipulated my beach photo, and managed to upload it here, after a few false starts. Fun!

Week 8 Begins...

2007-07-27T08:57:00.000-07:00

Week 8 of the 23 things,
and my brain is beginning to zing,
with techno
and info -
it's all just too much-o,
I find it all
quite challenging!

I was able to easily access and use Zoho Writer, but was unable to publish directly to my blog - I had to export to HTML and then go into my blog and post it here manually. For some reason, I was unable to access my blog through Zoho. But I can see the value of this program, since I have MicrosoftWorks at my home computer, and MicrosoftWord at work. I can never create anything at home and use it at work. Maybe this will help!

Week 7 - Better Than Last...

2007-07-21T09:34:00.000-07:00

OK, my enthusiasm is returning with Week 7! I managed to poke around in Book Lovers Wiki and Library Success, where I learned about the Bookettes synchronized book cart group. What a great marketing tool they are! I can see that wikis could be a good tool to use to interact with others whom you share an interest with, but I'm disappointed by the ease with which anyone can edit a wiki. There is so much potential for bad information! I added my blog to the sandbox, and added my list of favorite foods, not that anyone could possibly care what they are! I still think this social networking is a waste of time, but that's probably just my opinion. Obviously, plenty of people like to do it!

Week 6 - The Worst One Yet

2007-07-13T13:33:00.000-07:00

I have really lost my enthusiasm this week. All three Things, 13, 14 & 15, struck me as just a big waste of time. If all I had to do in my day was play on the computer, poking around into other people's thoughts through their blogs, sure - these would be great tools. All three Things this week reminded me of Reality TV - another one of my pet peeves. Do people really have such boring lives that they have to entertain themselves by interacting with other people at this level? How sad. Give me a real conversation with a real person sitting in front of me. Give me a good book. Give me breathing space to quietly daydream. Give me a break. The one Thing I learned anything from was #15 and the information on Library 2.0. Wish I'd had that at Week 1.

Week 5, Things 10, 11, 12

2007-07-06T10:17:00.000-07:00

At last, a week that I didn't spend 5 hours on my Things! Loved the LibraryThing, and can see the advantage of creating your own search tool, but can't see the point of the image generator. Ah, well, soldiering on...

Number 9 - Merlin Magic

2007-06-29T10:09:00.000-07:00

Although I didn't find MERLIN to be a particularly helpful site, I was able to add a link to it on my blog and also found the RSS feed. I was able to find feed sites through Yahoo, which was easy to use. If I wanted to have a blog of my own, I can see how these would be fun to play with.

Number 8 News You Can Use

2007-06-29T07:52:00.000-07:00

Finally managed to get an RSS feed - not the one I wanted, but at least I got one!

Week 3, Thing 7, FINALLY!

2007-06-23T10:57:00.001-07:00

So far, the most interesting things for me have been creating my blog and exploring Flickr, because I love to take digital photos and play with them. I think from now on, I'll need to work with a co-worker to help me navigate through the other 16 things. I'm insanely green with envy over Jessica and Jen's blogs - they are so creative and well-thought-out. But at least I've managed to create one! Focus on the positive! (Lesson 8 - ha!)

Feeling Mashed Up

2007-06-23T10:50:00.000-07:00

Week 3.5 -Have no idea what is going on anymore, but have decided that if this technology passes me by, it's OK. Mashups are beyond what I can teach myself about, but I enjoyed Flickr and am amazed by all that is out there, in cyberspace. I use Picasa to print photos at home, and it's better than other programs, including the one that came with the camera.

Flickr Foto

2007-06-23T10:39:00.001-07:00

Broad leaf lupine - Lupinus latifolius,
originally uploaded by Alan Gage.

Took me forever, but here it is...

Easy and Hard Habits

2007-06-23T08:29:00.000-07:00

Week 3 of the program is here, and I'm only just finishing up last week! Easy Habit for me is mentoring/teaching others. I love to try to look at something through someone else's eyes and help them understand something they are struggling with. Hard Habit for me is having confidence about learning new things. I feel I "missed the boat" on a lot of computer technology, which wasn't used in my high school or college much. I have a hard time learning things that seem to come easily to others. I am grateful for the constant help and support I get from my co-workers, who never treat me as the computer-idiot I feel I am. Maybe I'll gain some confidence if I survive these 23 things!

7 1/2 Habits of Highly Successful Lifelong Learners

2007-06-15T12:55:00.000-07:00

1. Begin with the end in mind.
2. Accept responsibility for your own learning.
3. View your problems as challenges.
4. Have confidence in yourself as a competent effective learner.
5. Create your own learning toolbox.
6. Use technology to your advantage.
7. Teach/Mentor others.
7 1/2. Play!

Creating Time for 23 Things

2007-06-09T07:57:00.000-07:00

A big challenge will be finding time to complete the 23 things, while juggling other multiple tasks all day long. Lifelong learning is important to practice, and as a library staff member, is practically part of the job.