Week 5--Thing 12--Rollyo

Rollyo looks like an excellent tool. It's easy to make and install just about anywhere, even on a Firefox banner. Even on this blog! Check it out. I made one on a common elementary school theme--animal studies. I'm eager to share this with our computer specialist to see if this is something we can use instead of Google.

Week 5, Thing 11--Web 2.0 Awards

The Lulu site is an easy-to-navigate self-publishing tool. Formats are available for cookbooks, dissertations, paperbacks, hardcovers, children's books, manuals and more. Also available are a variety of "photo creations", including wedding and other albums. Have an old book you want scanned? Lulu can. (Better check copyright permissions.) Need a grip on your digital music and images? Lulu offers solutions. All of this comes at a price, of course. Small and large print runs available. Best of all, no rejection letters!

Week 5, Thing 10--Image Generators

After a long time browsing the image generating world, I found something I could use in my computer lab. But the host site server was overloaded, so more time elapsed, and I can't show it yet. At this point I'm unimpressed with image generating freeware. I can use my time more productively elsewhere. At least, I now have some understanding of what this is.

Week 4, Thing 9--Blogs and News Feeds

I used Blogline's tools to get set up, then cruised around some favorite sites, adding blogs that I've been reading for awhile, anyway. I played around with several of the suggested blog search tools (Technorati, the Edublog Awards) and several school library blogs. But, I realize that getting into heavy blog reading requires a change of habit. Now that I know how to add blogs to my Blogline account, I'll make those changes as they come along, and not just for the sake of practicing new skills and filling space with blogs I'll have to delete later.

Week 4, Thing 8--RSS Feeds

RSS feeds are going to save a lot of time. It's good to have the "daily news" posted in one place, rather than having to jump all around my admittedly messy bookmark set(s). I see this also as a much more efficient use of the Internet as information source. It focuses the reader on main interest topics, and diminishing the amount of time wasted on eye-catching fluff. Sometimes that's fun--even edifying--but I've wasted a lot of time randomly reading the internet.

Having recently read a sobering piece on Google's (lack of) privacy policy (http://www.gmail-is-too-creepy.com/), I'm staying away from any Google RSS tools, and reconsidering how I use my gmail account--and yours.

Week 3, Thing 7 Thoughts

I'm able to use technology in more ways in my personal life than in the library. This keeps me on top of the game in school--good--but also illustrates the empowerment gap--not good. Time and $$$$$ usually stand in the way in school.

Favorite technology at school, for kids: Internet and word processing. Freeware is leveling the playing field regarding the expense of software. Word processing forces students to focus, concentrate and remember (keyboarding). These are skills students seem to be having more difficulty with these days. Using the internet in the library is wonderful for modeling and teaching good evaluation practices.

Favorite technology at school, with adults: email, followed by email. Communication is everything.

Personal favorite technology right now: Internet (I call her Gladys, as in "Let's ask Gladys where to find the best, affordable HDTV before the Super Bowl starts."). Love digital cameras. Made a 12-month family photo calendar for my elderly mother for Xmas. She declared it her favorite present. (Awwww.) Love just about anything Apple. "Read" myself to sleep at night with a book on my iPod, which I've taken to China--twice. Yes, you can recharge it--with the right adaptors--on Chinese current. Like cell phones, but don't love how people use them in public. Received a portable GPS for the holidays. Plan to go geocaching when the weather clears, but for now am following those little voice directions around Boston. Can't do without an electronic tuner for the mandolin. Makes tuning 8 strings waaaaaaay easier. Finally, also received a Roomba for Xmas. The little thing is so industrious and does a good job, wouldn't ya know. So easy EVERYONE can use it, which is really the point. Best of all, it frees up time to spend on other technology :)

The downside of all of this? Energy consumption and techno trash.