Thing #19 – Awards

As many have said, “This is a place to get lost” or “So many sites—so little time”.

I found Swivel. It appears to be a site that facilitates expressing data in graphs on the web. One web page on the Swivel site talks about how to combine graphs for further data analysis.

I think it would be fun to compare the awards from different years to see what trends might be on the increase of decrease.

Thing #18 – OpenOffice plus

Because everyone else said it took a long time to download. I chose not to. My computer is running slow (or perhaps I am running slow—it is Spring Break after all!). But I did go through the tour for Impress, the “PowerPoint” version of OpenOffice. I like the way it looked. It seemed to have all the features I am used to in PowerPoint and some extras. The 3D and the ability to turn into a Flash document seemed more than I know how to do with PowerPoint. I am ready to switch to OpenOffice.

I like this part of the rationale for open source software: .”… For rapid evolution to happen, people need to be able to experiment with and redistribute modifications.”

I agree with all the positive comments I have seen about Google Docs. I think they are an excellent resource. I have seen teachers use Google Docs for some exceptional WebQuests for their students. Like I said, something is slow. I could not get the “Learn more" link to work. Therefore, I could not confirm nor refute the rumor that everything created on Google Docs belongs to Google. More research is needed.

Thing #17 – Wiki Sandbox

I just posted to the Wiki. The Sandbox idea is a great one. It allows us to play on a wiki without having to create one in case we are not quite ready. The comments are wonderful ideas that inspire me to think of new ways I might use a wiki.

Like I said, Wikis are wonderful!

Thing #16 – Wikis

Wikis are wonderful. No one person can know everything about a subject. Wikis allow many people to combine their information.

On this Wiki http://teacherlibrarianwiki.pbwiki.com/New:+Saving+school+library+programs+for+learners!

I found a new study

http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2005/2005302.pdf

An interesting paragraph said:
Students. self-reported use and opinions of their school libraries

The ELS:2002 student survey contained several questions about students. use of and opinions about their schools. libraries. Students reported using the school library sometimes or often for research papers (54 percent), in-school projects (53 percent), Internet access (41 percent), and assignments (41 percent) (table 18). Females used the school library more often than males for assignments, in-school projects, homework, research papers, and to read books for fun. Students from different SES backgrounds used school libraries for different reasons. Students from high-SES families were more likely than students from middle- or low-SES backgrounds to use the library sometimes or often for assignments and in-school projects. Students from low-SES families were more likely than students from middle or high-SES families to use the school library sometimes or often for homework, leisure reading, to read magazines or newspapers, to read books for fun, and for interests outside of school. Students with different test scores also used the library for different purposes. Students with high test scores were more likely than students with low or middle scores to use the library for assignments, in-school projects, and research papers. Students with low test scores were more likely than students with high or middle test scores to use the library for homework, leisure reading, to read magazines or newspapers, to read books for fun, and for interests outside of school.

Like I said, Wikis are wonderful!

Thing #15 – Library 2.0

I think this is one of the best “Things” yet. There are so many powerful thinkers writing about what Library 2.0 means and what Librarians with these social networking tools can do. I would love to see Libraries with the technology and Librarians with the attitude and willingness to help students create videos like the one about the "A Vision of Students Today". What I do not understand is how to get teachers and Librarians working together to inspire students to want to learn. It seems that wonderful teachers inspire students and wonderful Librarians inspire students, but wonderful teachers who don’t know if their Librarian is wonderful will not give the Librarian the opportunity to contribute. Seems like we all lose.

Thing #14 - Technorati

What I like about Technorati is that I can search web sites chosen as meaningful to others similar to del.icio.us. Searching by tags is useful if I happen to think of the same tag that others used. I claimed my blog. I will go back in later to see if anyone has linked to me. Technorati has the best tag clouds.

Thing #13 - del.icio.us

What I like most about del.icio.us is that I can search web sites chosen as meaningful to others. Searching by tags is useful if I happen to think of the same tag that others used. When I find a web site I like and want to remember, I can use the tool bar links to go directly to my del.icio.us site to save the web page. Unfortunately, I have to set up the tool bar links on each computer I regularly use. And I have to remember the username and password I set up for del.icio.us. I found another site that might be useful for keeping track of my usernames and passwords called OpenID.