Thing 11.5

Wow! I was determined to make it through all 23 plus 11.5 Things this summer! Being a brand new librarian, I have enough mountains to climb. I figured I could at least get the knowledge base for technology before I step into the position of a media specialist. I have learned so much this summer.

1. My favorite discoveries on 11.5 have been Bookr, and using Animoto. It is so fun to put together movies...I can see my students getting excited about it also. Bookr has been a blast to use with my grandchildren. They have made information books this summer about Dinosaurs, Trucks, Butterflies, and Babies. The thrill I saw in their faces as they used the technology to create their own books ...becoming authors... was well worth the time spent learning these "things." I also love Skype. I practiced this with another librarian. I would love to use this with students to collaborate with foreign school libraries.

2. My learning goals have not really changed. I have always striven to learn more in whatever profession I have chosen. What has changed is the vast array of tools that I have found to make that learning so enriched. Besides opening a door to those tools, I have also come out with a much more open mind. I really shunned a lot of things on the internet as fluff in the past, reserved mainly for entertainment. Now, I see how these tools can actually become mind tools for the learner. In grad school we learned of Johansen and his idea of mind tools. He talked about technology should not be a babysitter, but a mind tool in the hand of a creative learner to expand his own thinking. All of the "things" I have experimented with fit this profile. I was very impressed.

3. My biggest surprise was how many tools are out there. I had no idea there were so many image generators or blogging tools. My biggest takeaway is that I can do this. I was really fearful, that I would not be able to figure these items out and actually manipulate it to utilize them for production. When I actually used the itouch the other day, I could actually figure out how to download to it. When I used the Macbooks, I could use the flip cameras and create movies. I can use Flickr, Animoto, and others with ease now. So it was just the sheer awakening that these tools are for everyone and anyone can be taught to use them...me...and anyone else...especially students.

4. I would love to see a wiki added for comments and discussion when a tool is utilized. The wiki would show a running conversation, unlike a blog highlighting one person's thoughts at that time...even though I have gotten fond of blogging.

Thank you for making this training available. I have truly been enlightened this summer.

Retro to Thing #6

I went to a Technology Petting Zoo today at the Media Center. It was great being able to look at the technology, navigate, and actually use the tools myself. I say myself...but we actually worked in groups to look at the different items, including MacBooks, flip camera phones, and the itouch. Working in groups made the tasks so much more stimulating. We were able to bounce off of each other in our discoveries. When using the Itouch, Shirley, the librarian, and I kept saying, "ooooh, look what I found!" With our co-exploring we found so much more than doing this alone. This made me think of my students. Sure they could sit down and enjoy the educational benefits of this technology and grow all on their own. But working with others causes us to grow in our zone of proximal development. By listening to her, I widened my base of knowledge to include so many other downloads, than what I could have done by myself. Problem solving also goes to a new level with a peer. As we used the itouch, there were several blunders made by she and I. We would help each other out of them, and keep going with the technology. As far as downloads, my favorites were the information and quizzes on the presidents, and the Barnes and Noble reader. I can't wait to watch my students experiment with all of these cool and exciting tools for technology.