Thing #7

Google Earth was great fun, however, again dial-up issues. It took 1-1/2 hours to download the program. But then I spent hours playing with it. I suppose it was because of dial-up that some images took a while to load, but after finding my house, of course, I then "toured" in England and France and actually saw Stonehenge and the Eiffel Tower! Awesome!!! I have seen Google Earth demonstrated before and was shown some 3D images of structures...like the Colosseum in Rome for example. Try as I might I could not find where to make these appear on my maps. Anyone know how? Also one irritating thing was all the little camera icons all over some locations. I realize they were actual photos when clicked on, but could never get them to open with my dial-up. I just wanted to get rid of them so I could see things better (the Eiffel Tower was covered in them obstructing the image). Anyone know how to "turn off" the camera icons. I can see much potential for using this in classes...especially our world geography class.

I also played with Picasa Web Album. I use Picasa to store and enhance my photos but did not know about Web Album. I uploaded one photo just to see how it works. I was afraid my dial-up would take forever, but it only took a few minutes to upload one photo. It is online here. My husband said he would use it to show his friends he really had met Red Steagall at Palo Duro Canyon! I can foresee using it for sharing photos with friends and photos taken of library events.

Thing #6

Try as I might to understand about mashups while reading the information, I'm just not techno savvy enough to understand them...it was like reading another language!! Regardless, I did explore the suggested sites and play around with them. CD cover in FD Toys I really liked and can use for most any CD I create. I really liked the look of movie poster and thought we might could use it during Teen Read Week. Students could dress up and/or create backdrops to represent a favorite book, and we could put the photos into movie posters to advertise Teen Read Week. I also tried mappr, trading cards, guess the title, jigsaw, and mosaic maker and just wasn't that taken with any of them.

Thing #5

I could spend days playing with this site. Tried uploading 8 photos. With dial-up it is a little slow, but doing a few photos at a time (and doing something else while they upload!) works OK. I think I understand tags, sets, and groups. I created my own flickr address and put some vacation pictures on the map. I opened it only to some family and friends and am sending them the site to check and see what they think.

Twilight Fans

This blog post is for fans of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series. If you have a comment on the the author, the books in the series, the upcoming movie, related web sites, or any similar book on paranormal fiction to recommend, please click on comments and add to the post.

Thing #4

Registering by email was easy enough. I have an idea for a blog but now need to figure out how to do it. My students (and some teachers) are HUGE fans of the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyers. I want to set up a blog for students to log on and make comments about the series as well as comments about other books on vampires and other paranormal fiction. It seems when we get them hooked on Twilight, they read everything we have on the subject. They are always asking for a recommendation on the new vampire books but I haven't had time to read them all. Student comments would help.

Thing #3

Again dial-up issues. I could not open the PowerPoint on blogging at home and had to open and read it at school. However, I was able to set up my blog, post to it, and create my avatar at home. Fun, fun, fun! I am discovering that you can play forever and will have to self-pace to complete this course on time! I also learned (because I did not do it the first two times on the main blog posting) to include my html so that others can get to my site. I did go on a couple of other blogs and read them which gave me a good idea of what I'm supposed to be doing.

Thing #2

I am discovering that some "things" do not work so well at home in my pajamas. Although I have fairly good dial-up internet service, I am finding some items do not open well at home. The slide show for lifelong learners only opened half the time. I'm glad the words were printed on the side. Easiest for me--accept responsiblity for my own learning. I like to be totally in charge. Hardest for me--view problems as challenges. I tend to see problems as crises. I have to work on this constantly.

Thing #1

I had mixed emotions before starting this online course...excited to learn about all the "things" I've been reading about in School Library Journal and apprehensive about starting something new. I am grateful for the opportunity to get to participate in this course. As a "one-woman" librarian in a small rural district, it is hard to get real-time practice with new ideas.