Reflections.......

I really enjoyed this exercise and learned a lot from it. I think it expanded my ability to learn to find things on the Internet. Some of the activities were things that I wasn't even aware of.

My favorite by far was the how-to videos on You Tube. I didn't know that they had things like that on their website. I was under the impression that it was just funny, frivolous stuff.

I learned a lot about basic computer functions such as linking websites, finding addresses to copy and paste, and importing photos and videos onto blogs. I have to admit that until 2.0 started I was totally biased against blogs. I'm afraid that I just didn't understand them, but now I think I could find them very useful.

I think this exercise helped me in interacting with my co-workers. We had to ask each other for help during activities we didn't understand and we all learned from each other's trials and errors.

Having the dedicated time to just pursue this learning was a very nice thing. It was a lot of fun to actually learn new stuff. I'm pretty sure that I'll use some of this in my personal time on the computer at home.

Well, those are my thoughts on Discover 2.0. I'm very happy that we had the opportunity and I hope we have more chances for this sort of thing in the future.

Twitter....

I didn't enjoy this activity very much... I think some people would use them, but once again, it involves spending way too much time with your nose stuck up against a computer screen. If everyone you knew did this, I guess twitter would be a valuable communication tool. I check my computer so seldom, I would always be behind the times. I didn't understand the tumblr.com situation so that was a total waste of my time. I'm sure someone out there likes it, just not me!

Aurora Australis

I enjoyed looking at the videos on some of the sites, especially the how to videos. There are a lot of them. I was amazed at the different way each site will search differently, even with the exact same wording. I chose this video to post to my blog because I have always wanted to see the Northern Lights and thought this was a very pretty

Podcasts?

I looked at some podcasts and, WOW, are there a lot of them!! I located some which were library related but they weren't all that interesting. My thought was, if they're doing all this podcasting whose's filing all the books.....anyway, back on task. I did find about a million podcasts that interested me and that I would love to watch. I don't think I've ever stumbled onto these when I'm on my computer at home because we still have dial-up, yes I said dial-up. They just won't load from my house so I'm glad I got to see how interesting and informative they can be while working on this project. There seems to be something out there for everyone.

Wiki's Made My Head Spin....

I've roamed around the wiki websites and I have to say I'm very overloaded and confused. Perhaps it's because I wasn't looking for a topic that really interested me and therefore I tend to not get to excited about them. I think they could be very useful for a group of people who were all computer literate enough to make them work. I liked the little camping example in the video but it all seems like too much trouble to me. I'm the one who would like to just pick up the phone and speak to someone. I think if this was your communication method of choice then you would be much more comfortable with it.

Music on my blog!!

I wanted to put some music on my blog, but didn't think it was possible...I did some research through the blogger help section and I actually figured it out!! Don't know how long it will stay there or if it was done the proper way but I'm feeling very techno-savvy for the moment!!
After all the times this lesson has stomped me into the dust, I think I'll just sit here and enjoy this feeling for a minute or two!

Audio/Video.....

I checked out the audio/video sites and they were quite interesting.. I particularly liked the music site. I enjoy music from the internet but I usually live vicariously through my teenage daughter's music downloads and purchases. I can't say that I would spend a great deal of time looking at music on my computer.
The Mango Languages site was very interesting. I could see how this could be very useful to people. If you were actually paying for the service I would think you would be more motivated to make use of the lessons. They were very easy to use and understand which would appeal to many.
Audio books are not my thing, in the library or on the internet, so I wasn't really impressed with that site.
Once again, there are so many things out there that I never would have discovered on my own.

Google Docs Again...

I went back to google docs today to try to fix some things that weren't working for me yesterday. I made a presentation of photos to experiment and had a great time. I invited some coworkers to share my pictures but haven't heard yet if the whole thing went through to them correctly... If it did this could be a great sharing tool and it's also a great way to play while learning new things!! I even figured this out without the help of the afore mentioned younger co-worker - Yipee for me!!

Wow! That was a great way to post to my blog!!

Online documents could be a very valuable tool for people. They would enable people who don't have home computers and rely on public computers such as the library's, to make documents and be able to send and share them with others quite simply. I have to admit, I didn't know these existed until doing this activity. I think I would like the presentation feature if I were bright enough to make the imported photos big enough for other people to see...perhaps I'll have to seek the advice of younger, hipper, more techno-savvy co-workers. You know who you are!

I'm not to sure how I feel about my documents being out in the public arena however. I know everyone says everything will be secure, but it seems every day there are breaches to someones security. I don't have much important to say but I'd just as soon not everyone in the world was privy to it..

Despite these little hurdles, I think they are valuable tools that many will take advantage of.

Cool Stuff Was Fun!!

I took a look at Sketchcast.com and made a beautiful piece of art, Ha!Ha!. I did have fun playing and soon realized it isn't easy to create a masterpiece with a mouse!! I guess that's why I work at the library and not a fine art studio.. When creating my own personal masterpiece I actually did get better. I know this is hard to believe but some of my earlier works were actually discarded.
Wordshoot can become very addictive so I've had to stay far away from this sight for a while... I have actually played this at home and really do find it a lot of fun! It actually does help with the typing so I guess one could look at it as an educational experience!!

Library Thing!!!!

Wow, what a great site!! I really had fun playing in there. I liked it a lot better than the Goodreads site. I think some of it may have been the website design itself with more graphics, color, etc.. It was also very easy to use and also very self explanitory. This would be a very useful tool for many people. I know that I personally read so many books that I forget what I've read and try to write it down on paper which always gets lost. This way they would always be available to me. I also liked the suggestion feature. This is also a hard one for people who read alot. It is very hard to find something new which you enjoy. After some of the more disappointing excersises I have completed for the Discover 2.0, this one was a great big WINNER!!!!

Draft Blogger

A coworker showed me lots of fun stuff here. I could spend a lot of time playing with this stuff!!!

Technorati

I didn't do so well on this one.... I couldn't find half of the stuff we were supposed to . I did the searches for Learning 2.0 and came up with different results for each. There is just waaaaaaay to much information on there. I think my brain is numb from information overdose!!!

Tagging - del.icio.us

I set up an account on del.icio.us, then began browsing. I found some interesting information and sites using this tool but found I could become very overwelmed quite quickly. I think it could be handy for some.

Meebo????

I can see how MeeboMe widgets could be useful for library reference but I still prefer the face to face (or voice to voice if over the phone) interaction between people. I think the computer kind of isolates us from each other. Sure, we're communicating but you don't have human interaction. I also think IM could take up a lot of work time between co-workers which could be put to better use.

Tried Fototrix.com.....

Fototrix.com was a lot of fun. I put my daughter on the cover of Car and Driver.... I also looked at hairmixer.com but couldn't find photos of mine which would work with their hair. There are a lot of creative things to do on these sights. I'd never get anything else done if I tried them all!!!

I do like social network sites. I actually have a my space which I set up quite a while ago. It's a great way to keep in touch with people. I think libraries could make good use of these sites as a way to reach young people. They seem to like getting their information in this format versus others that are used. I think this would be the perfect vehicle for YAAB information.

RSS - More Feeds

I made it to activity 8 and tried my best to put more feeds onto my blogline. I only added two additional. This seems to be quite difficult for me. It makes no sense that it should be this hard. I was able to find a feed icon on CNN and that one went quite smoothly. I also was able to find a blog feed for Multnomah Co. Library that went on OK also. As to finding that little spot on any of my favorite websites, forget it. Either they aren't there or I just can't see them. I can do alright when I search directly off bloglines since things just go smoothly, go off that site and I'm lost. I can see this being useful for patrons as a way of getting updates on building issues and also on new books we may have, but only if they are savvy enough to figure the whole thing out. This makes it seem less likely that our older patrons would be able to partake.

RSS Was Definitely Not My Favorite...

Rss was definitely not my favorite task so far. I found some things when searching for feeds that were interesting, but overall it didn't grab my interest. I guess I just don't want all that information flying at me all the time. I know it comes anyway but to go and seek it out is just a little depressing for me. I try to find better things to do with my spare time.

I Never Knew......

I never knew there were such things on the internet. I loved the Montagr on Flickr, which enabled me to look at a vast array of images with a theme at one time. I found the image above while browsing through there. My absolute favorite though was the Colorpickr. Being able to look at images based on color was really fun. I love sewing quilts and searching through the color wheel is kind of like being in a candy store for me. This was amazing in that you could not only search by color but vary the intensity and hue also. Tons of fun!!!!

Flickr made me very unhappy......

As I was wandering around Flickr trying to find a photo to blog about, I came across some very beautiful photos. One caught my eye and I thought I was definitely onto something. Trying to get that picture onto my blog was one of the most frustrating experiences I've had since I can't remember when!! I tried every which way to load it but to no avail. After many, many attempts I decided there must be some sort of block on attaching to the photo. I searched through the copyright free section and came across this photo of reflections, whose upper left image is very close to my first choice. I like it because of the colors and movement. I think it would make a wonderful quilt!!
I learned an awful lot about Flickr and being patient during this exercise.

I Made It To My First Blog Post!!

Wow! Getting a Blog set up has expanded my techno-knowledge already... My thoughts on the Lifelong learner are as follows:
I like to think of myself as a lifelong learner in so much as if I want to know something I will usually find a way to learn it. Generally from the library or on the Internet. Beginning with the end in mind is one I find easy to relate to as I tend to stay pretty focused. The habit which I find increasingly hard is having confidence in myself when venturing into the world of technology. Being middle-aged, we didn't have computers until I was a Junior in high school. When I need help I generally ask my teenagers. There is so much out there and it is always changing, so it can be a little hard on an old gals self confidence!!