Chelsea

When are you going to put me on the right side of your blog?

Browser

Thing 24 - Refresh Your Blog

I have created a number of blogs since completing the original 23 Things on a Stick. Some of these blogs have been professional and others have been personal. The use of blogs has been a great way to quickly post information to the web. I have also worked with others on setting up blogs over the past year. Currently, I am working with a number of our school administrators in the use of blogs. This has proven to be a very good communication tool. I have my class at SCSU using blogs throughout the semester course work. These students are our future educators. I have found that the blogs have been a good tool as they prepare for their future careers.

Thing 23 - Final Thoughts

This project has been fantastic. I learned so much because I had committed to spend the time on these Web 2.0 tools. I feel that now that I have reached the end of the project, I want more content to explore.
The timing of this project was great. The MEMO board did some goal setting last summer. One of the goals was to explore Web 2.0 applications. Thank you for providing us with the tool to do this.
I would definitely be interested in continuing to explore more applications and tools. Also, I would support repeating this project for others to jump aboard.
Great project! Thanks!

Thing 22 - What Did I Learn Today?

Probably the best way for me to keep up with the available Web 2.0 tools is to set a time at work and home each week to explore. I found out that using my lunch time does not work. So, I would schedule a block in my calendar each week to work on 23 Things on a Stick. I found the time that I spent watching a sporting event or news on the weekend could be utilized by multi-tasking this viewing with working on this project. I will need to continue these practices to keep up with the available web applications.
I believe that my role within the school district will assist me in staying committed to this exploration. By supervising the media specialists, I will need to guide the group to available tools. By supervising the district support staff, I will need to work with the staff in ensuring the needed tools are available for staff. I also began presenting one Web 2.0 application at each curriculum team meeting. I believe that it is essential that we have our curriculum leaders in the know when it comes to available and emerging Web 2.0 applications.
I suspect that it will take a little more time to explore Web 2.0 tools once I have completed 23 Things on a Stick. The layout and format of this project has made it very easy for participants to move though the project.

Thing 21 - Beyond MySpace: Other Social Networks

We have been developing a ning site for MEMO members to explore as an attempt to enhance the MEMO web presence. So far, we have 35 members signed up and about a half a dozen active participants. Over the next few weeks, we are making a push for MEMO members to participate in the development of this site. If you are reading this post and interested in participating, the site can be found at http://memotech.ning.com.
I attempted to explore gather.com. However, I never received the confirmation email to fully utilize the site. I did finally spend some quality time with webjunction. I was very impressed with the resourse and features available. I plan on working with our district media specialists to encourage use of this valuable resource.
I believe that there is definitely a place for social networking within our profession. Too often media specialists and media support staff feel isolated in their day to day tasks. Social networking is a vehicle to provide needed support.

Thing 20 - Libraries and Social Networks

Let me begin by professing that I am proud of my liberal views. However, when it comes to MySpace and Facebook, my liberal views seem to take a back seat. My experience with these two sites has been as a father and through my role as overseeing district wide media. Fortunately, my experiences as a father have been positive. I discussed both apps with my daughter and we set up the accounts together. She becomes a little frustrated as I view her accounts. As she is approaching the age of 18, it will be soon up to her to continue making responsible decisions. On the work side, my experiences with these apps has not been as positive. Often I work with police on activity that could be criminal or on students that have set up factious accounts to discredit a teacher.
I understand the value of social networking. However, I truly believe that there are other tools or applications that will serve this purpose better than these two applications. Personally, I hesitate communicating through these vehicles due to the abuses that I have seen first hand. Maybe I have to remember the good interaction that my daughter has experienced and have to find my liberal hat and get back into this century.