Woohoo! I finished! It's been a long journey, but a fulfilling one. I chose to undertake this journey with my former co-workers at the Harford County Public Library even after I had relocated to a different state! I felt it was very worthwhile, and I had been involved since the get go, with the Tech Fair that was put on.
Some of the technologies that we learned about I knew enough about to fiddle around with them. This discovery course helped me to learn more in depth characteristics of the different technologies. I enjoyed learning about some of them that I had been to "shy" or "lazy" to try, like Flickr. I found that exercise very exciting and informative. I may actually use that for some vacation photos, but at the very least I'll visit the site and look at other people's photos of topics that interest me.
The exercise of blogging has kept up my skills and forced me to put my thought down on the computer. (I'm usually one for pen and paper composition before transferring it to the computer.) The exercise I enjoyed the least and put off for the longest was tagging. I recognize it's importance and inherent value, however, it just plain doesn't interest me.
I also enjoyed the process of setting up the Bloglines account. I currently have a Yahoo account also, but Bloglines isn't bad, it may not be as visually appealing, but it's still useful! Finally, I thoroughly enjoyed editing the wiki! I think this is something that I have come to love and may use this for planning a big family vacation next year! Awesome!
I think I gained a lot of knowledge, sometimes it surprised me just how long I could spend at the computer working on some of the exercises! I could spend a couple hours looking at things that held a real interest for me. If HCPL did this again, and they let me, I'd participate!
As for my lifelong learning goals, well, I really try to keep up with the new technology that's out there. So, this was a big plus, it was structured and made me sit down and devote time to it. I always had it in the back of my mind when I sat down at the computer. I would tell my friends and family about it and try and get them interested in some of the technology! Kudos to HCPL for taking part! Thanks for the experience!
Monday, August 6, 2007
#22 Learn Audiobooks
I was interested in this assignment because I don't listen to many audiobooks. I own the Harry Potter series and have listened to a few other Young Adult books on audio, but usually I prefer to have the print version in front of me for reading.
Anyway, since I no longer work at the library, nor do I live in Maryland, I took a look at Project Gutenberg instead of the other two. I think it's interesting. Obviously you're not really going to find titles there that are of popular interest. But I was excited to find the Canterbury Tales available in Middle English (medieval or anglo-saxon english) Yes, the English major in me shines through with that statement. Anyway, I was also excited to see many Jane Austen titles available too.
I liked the top 100 books feature, it makes it easy to take a look if you're feeling a little lazy on a given day. Project Gutenberg is something I might visit from time to time, but it's not something I take a huge interest in. It was interesting to explore the site though.
Anyway, since I no longer work at the library, nor do I live in Maryland, I took a look at Project Gutenberg instead of the other two. I think it's interesting. Obviously you're not really going to find titles there that are of popular interest. But I was excited to find the Canterbury Tales available in Middle English (medieval or anglo-saxon english) Yes, the English major in me shines through with that statement. Anyway, I was also excited to see many Jane Austen titles available too.
I liked the top 100 books feature, it makes it easy to take a look if you're feeling a little lazy on a given day. Project Gutenberg is something I might visit from time to time, but it's not something I take a huge interest in. It was interesting to explore the site though.
#21 Podcasting
Well, hello all!
I've worked my way to #21! Woohoo! Anway, I did a little searching in all three directories. I think I like the Yahoo directory the best! It's very visually pleasing and easy to use. In order to compare I performed the same searches in all of the directories.
I now have three new feeds in my bloglines accounts for podcasts that I enjoy. They of course are all centered around Walt Disney World. I mean, c'mon, what did you expect? Anyway...finding the podcasts, listening to them, and subscribing to them is pretty much a walk in the park for me. I was familiar with podcasting before this discovery exercise, but I did learn about new directories. I pretty much used Itunes, since it's on my computer for my Ipod anyway.
Since I'm not working in a library right now I will admit to not looking at how to make a podcast. If and when the time comes, I can always refer back to the instructions. All in all, a very easy, although informative little task.
I've worked my way to #21! Woohoo! Anway, I did a little searching in all three directories. I think I like the Yahoo directory the best! It's very visually pleasing and easy to use. In order to compare I performed the same searches in all of the directories.
I now have three new feeds in my bloglines accounts for podcasts that I enjoy. They of course are all centered around Walt Disney World. I mean, c'mon, what did you expect? Anyway...finding the podcasts, listening to them, and subscribing to them is pretty much a walk in the park for me. I was familiar with podcasting before this discovery exercise, but I did learn about new directories. I pretty much used Itunes, since it's on my computer for my Ipod anyway.
Since I'm not working in a library right now I will admit to not looking at how to make a podcast. If and when the time comes, I can always refer back to the instructions. All in all, a very easy, although informative little task.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Walt Disney World 'Wishes come true' Fireworks
Here is someone's video of one of my favorite fireworks shows at Walt Disney World.
#20 Playing with YouTube
I really do love this site! There are A LOT of funny things on here. I searched a couple different things that I have interests in and watched some videos. It wasn't that bad from home, the bandwith wasn't an issue. Tip for anyone having trouble; let the clip start loading and then pause it and let the red status bar under the video load all the way. It's then saved to your temporary memory and you can play it without any problems.
I looked up a cartoon from my childhood, Tranzor Z and was able to watch some it. I also found a clip from a comedian showing the "History of Dance" and finally, just for a happy thought I decided to see what was there on Disney World. You can see clips of the rides and much more. I choose one of the fireworks show, Wishes.
I like all the features that are available on YouTube, it's very simple to create an account and save things if you like.
I looked up a cartoon from my childhood, Tranzor Z and was able to watch some it. I also found a clip from a comedian showing the "History of Dance" and finally, just for a happy thought I decided to see what was there on Disney World. You can see clips of the rides and much more. I choose one of the fireworks show, Wishes.
I like all the features that are available on YouTube, it's very simple to create an account and save things if you like.
#19 Award Winning Sites
Alright, for those of you who know me, you could probably guess that I would have tried the games section. I mean, c'mon, it's me we're talking about. Anyway, I wasn't in a serious mood today, so gaming it was. I tried the Guess-the-Google site.
It's a game that shows you a montage of images and you have to guess the keyword search that would have produced those results. The kicker is you have 20 seconds to do that. I found it easy sometimes, but very challenging otherwise. Does this have library applications? Yes, I think it does. It could be put under the games section of TeenZone. It could even be used in a class that teaches about Google. It might make the audience think about their keywords a little more with some prompting. Beyond that, no, it doesn't have much library appeal. But, like I said, I wasn't in a serious mood today. The site was also very visually pleasing, just as a side note. Try it if you get bored.
It's a game that shows you a montage of images and you have to guess the keyword search that would have produced those results. The kicker is you have 20 seconds to do that. I found it easy sometimes, but very challenging otherwise. Does this have library applications? Yes, I think it does. It could be put under the games section of TeenZone. It could even be used in a class that teaches about Google. It might make the audience think about their keywords a little more with some prompting. Beyond that, no, it doesn't have much library appeal. But, like I said, I wasn't in a serious mood today. The site was also very visually pleasing, just as a side note. Try it if you get bored.
#18 Productivity Tools
So, I played with Zoho Sheet and worked on a spreadsheet for our Dungeons and Dragons gaming group. For each adventure we collect "loot" and we send out a table with all the "loot" or magical items etc the adventuring party has collected so that it can be divided up. I just finished up the table from the latest adventure on Zoho. It wasn't bad, it's pretty much like using Excel. This would be a nice feature because then you can share it with everyone and all they would need is access to the Internet. A plus, since the group is divided between a couple states!
I'm going to try and publish my sheet.
I'm going to try and publish my sheet.
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