tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-40438112176130781732024-03-13T13:29:30.899-05:00Library Byte by ByteLibrary Byte by Byte
is a blog about my adventures in the technology world!LKPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14254605059516636880noreply@blogger.comBlogger39125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4043811217613078173.post-78142545562457142402009-08-07T22:15:00.004-05:002009-08-07T22:30:08.655-05:00Thing #3 - Skype the whole wide world!<span style="font-family:verdana;">To be honest I have been using <a href="http://www.skype.com/getconnected/">Skype</a> for the last 2 and half years. My husband works from home for an Engineering software company and he has a team in Pakistan that he works with as well as talking to clients all over the world so he discovered <a href="http://www.skype.com/getconnected/">Skype</a> probably 4 years ago and has been using it ever since. Many times his <a href="http://www.skype.com/getconnected/">Skype</a> connection is much clearer than our cell phones at home! Anyway, when our district got laptops for all teachers I installed <a href="http://www.skype.com/getconnected/">Skype </a>and would use it to talk to my hubby at home from the different locations where the tech and library teams were doing "laptop rollout" --- it worked great! I actually told several folks on the tech team about it and had many of them using it by the end of that year.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;">So back to using <a href="http://www.skype.com/getconnected/">Skype</a> in schools --- a place I had managed to wander from!</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;">I can see many uses for <a href="http://www.skype.com/getconnected/">Skype</a> in the classroom. It would be a wonderful way to communicate with students in classes from other schools all over the world, kind of like "real time" pen pals! Because you can also use a webcam with <a href="http://www.skype.com/getconnected/">Skype </a>it would allow you see your class friends in their own atmosphere and encourage real discussions about differences in education in various countries. Another great way to use <a href="http://www.skype.com/getconnected/">Skype</a> was demonstrated by the <a href="http://www.txasla.org/">Texas Association of School Library Administrators</a> at their annual conference this past June. Although I had to miss the conference due to other district commitments, I did get to hear all about it both from my esteemed colleagues and through the comments left on the <a href="http://www.txasla.org/">TASLA</a> back channel. What happened is that one of the presenters was able to present to the group and exchange ideas from Australia via a <a href="http://www.skype.com/getconnected/">Skype</a> connection. How cool!!! Just think, with <a href="http://www.skype.com/getconnected/">Skype</a> your class could participate in presentations and class discussions with professors, researchers, and others all over the world!</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;">In conclusion, <a href="http://www.skype.com/getconnected/">Skype</a> is waaaaaaaay cool!</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Liz</span><div class="blogger-post-footer">Bytes by Liz</div>LKPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14254605059516636880noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4043811217613078173.post-92004324907109616912009-07-15T11:00:00.009-05:002009-07-15T12:05:18.789-05:00Thing #2 - Voice Thread, Animoto, and Bookr<strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">Before doing this professional development I have used both <a href="http://voicethread.com/#home">Voice Thread </a>and <a href="http://animoto.com/">Animoto</a>. I haven't created a <a href="http://voicethread.com/#home">Voice Thread </a>but below is one that I really enjoyed. </span></strong><br /><br /><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><a href="http://voicethread.com/#q.b90321.i459055">Voice Thread on Teaching with Technology</a></span></strong><br /><br /><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></strong><br /><br /><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Here is an <a href="http://animoto.com/">Animoto</a> that I created a couple of years ago when my son got a new puppy, it is still one of my favorites. </span></strong><br /><br /><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></strong><br /><p><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwVtWAgzEK2G3fkDWF5uok7g9r-QYAgCtVqRJ9kHwbtIJwfjNl4cR6HQOtm1B0a_DYwzOiML0D1xl-ynNmcMw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></p><p><span style="font-family:verdana;">Both <a href="http://voicethread.com/#home">Voice Thread</a> and <a href="http://animoto.com/">Animoto</a> are great tools for education! I have both used and seen them used for student projects, introducing a unit in a classroom, getting students interested in a topic, and as a way to summarize a classroom or student experience. I have seen an increase in the use of these image generators this year and I think that will only increase next year!</span></p><p><a href="http://www.pimpampum.net/bookr/">Bookr</a> is a great tool for creating a product based on a topic or subject. I think this would be great for language arts projects because it would require the student to combine both images and words to create either something original or an interpretation of literature. I played around with creating one of my dogs(of course :) but couldn't get everything set up in Flikr right. I'll have to try this one again later!<br />LKP<br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Bytes by Liz</div>LKPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14254605059516636880noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4043811217613078173.post-52476807790159280522009-07-14T14:31:00.001-05:002009-07-14T14:31:11.992-05:00Glogster<img style="visibility:hidden;width:0px;height:0px;" border=0 width=0 height=0 src="http://counters.gigya.com/wildfire/IMP/CXNID=2000002.0NXC/bHQ9MTI*NzU5OTc*Njg*MyZwdD*xMjQ3NTk5ODY3ODEyJnA9MjIxNjMxJmQ9Jm49YmxvZ2dlciZnPTImbz*2ZmVkNGU2MzljOGY*MzhkYjlmZTk1NWQ2NzlkNTY3OCZvZj*w.gif" /><embed src="http://www.glogster.com/flash/flash_loader.swf?ver=1242737091" flashvars="sl=http://www.glogster.com/flash/glog.swf?ver=1242737091&gi=2564573&ui=840257&li=3&fu=http://www.glogster.com/flash/&su=http://www.glogster.com/connector/&fn=http://www.glogster.com/fonty/&embed=true&pu=http://www.glogster.com/blog-thumbs/1/2/56/45/2564573_2.jpg&si=6&gw=4,1,0&gh=5,5,5" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="window" allowScriptAcces="always" allowNetworking="all" allowFullScreen="true" height="555" width="410"> </embed><div class="blogger-post-footer">Bytes by Liz</div>LKPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14254605059516636880noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4043811217613078173.post-68194362565547886742009-07-14T14:14:00.007-05:002009-07-14T14:55:58.723-05:00Thing #2 - Glogs and Voki!The next two things I played with are <a href="http://www.glogster.com/edu/">Glogster</a> and <a href="http://www.voki.com/">Voki</a>.<br /><br />Here is the <a href="http://www.glogster.com/edu/">Glog</a> I created for my dogs:<br /><br /><a href="http://philippi.glogster.com/Thor/">http://philippi.glogster.com/Thor/</a><br /><br />I think one great way to use Glogs would be for a school project. I can just see report on a person(biography), science topic (maybe landforms), or even a book being presented in this unique and fun way!!! What a cool tool!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.voki.com/">Voki</a> is the newest version of the old Avatars and boy is it fun!!!<br /><br /><script language="JavaScript" type="text/javascript" src="http://vhss-d.oddcast.com/voki_embed_functions.php"></script><script language="JavaScript" type="text/javascript">AC_Voki_Embed(200,267,"1dea921ab59617f7baa009ef0f501cd1",1590167, 1, "", 0);</script><br /><a href="http://www.voki.com/"><b>Get a Voki now!</b></a><br /><br /><br /><br />I can see some uses for Voki's also, students could use them in Facebook to avoid putting a picture of themselves on the internet. They could also be used for creating a "character" to use for narrating a project that is posted in either a blog, wiki, or ning!<br />Fun, fun, fun!<br />LKP<div class="blogger-post-footer">Bytes by Liz</div>LKPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14254605059516636880noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4043811217613078173.post-5769367379316576092009-06-29T18:29:00.006-05:002009-07-14T14:14:04.881-05:00Thing #2 - Wordle and Wordshift<div><br /><br /><br /></div><div>I played around with Wordle and made the one below using the student reflections from our Problem Based Learning Elem. Summer School pilot project. The result was interesting and very visually affective. </div><div><br /><br /><br /></div><div></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSjfEG6Ld-ImsqGcVxmCJv-su4nG5ArzvV3BXaNLM7kFEgU4EGfqaBWBQFjwCISWbNTxP700uw10q0QI4SKzhPNzQxd-dzoHJcraoUP6hb7UlZ09Ysx3_BkkDrn9VbY7n-MpwqYs7COErW/s1600-h/Wordle+1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5352896185816324866" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSjfEG6Ld-ImsqGcVxmCJv-su4nG5ArzvV3BXaNLM7kFEgU4EGfqaBWBQFjwCISWbNTxP700uw10q0QI4SKzhPNzQxd-dzoHJcraoUP6hb7UlZ09Ysx3_BkkDrn9VbY7n-MpwqYs7COErW/s320/Wordle+1.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /></div><div>This is a great way for students to see the power of words and understand the connection between reading the words and visualizing the meaning of those words. </div><div><br /><br /></div><div></div><div><br /><br /></div><div>Then I played with Wordshift and used an Emma Goldman Speech on "What is Patriotism?". Here it is. </div><div><br /></div><div></div><div><br /></div><div></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoUm8dmZJtEQNix4OLRqBmi-oNh29bumOoizmTTbDgydV1KX2CCJ_MbtmBK5SmlgvJZrJxY3PShrdIbNavOjPsEFKtkBV50bWKvev50GoqgWIPg97I2QEbX5tEdtFY9gdGpzOhfy094fTV/s1600-h/Word+Shift.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358393857975351746" style="WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 210px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoUm8dmZJtEQNix4OLRqBmi-oNh29bumOoizmTTbDgydV1KX2CCJ_MbtmBK5SmlgvJZrJxY3PShrdIbNavOjPsEFKtkBV50bWKvev50GoqgWIPg97I2QEbX5tEdtFY9gdGpzOhfy094fTV/s320/Word+Shift.jpg" border="0" /></a></div><div> </div><div>Both were easy to work with, and saving them was simple because I used PowerPoint and screen capture to save the image as a jpg and then uploaded it to here. </div><div> </div><div>Both of these tools would wonderful for showing students the importance of words and how they interact together. Because both enlarge the words that are used most frequently they are a great way to visually analyze any passage from a book, famous speech, or even website content! Great tool!</div><div>LKP<br /></div><div></div><div><br /></div><div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Bytes by Liz</div>LKPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14254605059516636880noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4043811217613078173.post-1009937150501753632009-06-13T11:30:00.004-05:002009-06-13T11:36:22.219-05:00Thing 1 - the networked student<span style="font-family:verdana;">This video is what we should all aspire to for our students and ourselves. The 21st century will be the age of information management and use for our students and our children. As such, we need to be the connectors, modelers, and guides for them --- if we don't do this we are failing our students. This video helps even network beginners understand the potential and responsibility our profession holds for us in the 21st century! Great video!</span><div class="blogger-post-footer">Bytes by Liz</div>LKPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14254605059516636880noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4043811217613078173.post-87625981813492244842009-06-07T14:33:00.000-05:002009-06-07T14:34:02.961-05:0011 1/2 Things Begins!Okay, new journey, same old blog.<br />But I am hoping to use these new tools to spruce up my old blog and get back into the habit of posting to my blog again!<br />Soooooooooo the Beach Trip begins!!!<div class="blogger-post-footer">Bytes by Liz</div>LKPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14254605059516636880noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4043811217613078173.post-38981387921207475942008-08-31T21:34:00.006-05:002008-08-31T22:19:18.600-05:00My First MemeThis is a meme that I got from a <a href="http://topshelf.edublogs.org/">colleague</a> whose blog I like to read regularly. I have never done a <strong>meme</strong> before, but this one sounded interesting, so I thought I would give a try!<br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>meme</strong> - n. A unit of cultural information, such as a cultural practice or idea, that is transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another.<br /><br />This started as a list <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2007/mar/01/topstories3.books">compiled from a poll of 2000 people</a> of the 10 books that you could not live without and has apparently "morphed" into a list of 100 books.<br /><br />If you would like to participate then follow the rules below:<br /><br />1. <strong>Bold</strong> the titles that you have read.<br />2. <em>Italicize </em>the titles you intend to read someday.<br />3. Put an asterisk* by the titles that you LOVE.<br />4. Strike out the titles that you have no intention of reading - ever.<br />(I couldn't figure out how to "strike through" the titles I don't intend to read, so I just left the text plain)<br /><br /><br />1. <strong>Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen*</strong><br />2. <strong>The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien</strong><br />3. <strong>Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte</strong><br />4. <strong>The Harry Potter series - JK Rowling*</strong><br />5. <strong>To Kill a Mockingbird*</strong><br />6. <em>The Bible</em><br />7. <strong>Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte</strong><br />8. <strong>1984 - George Orwell</strong><br />9. His Dark Materials series - Phillip Pullman<br />10. <strong>Great Expectations - Charles Dickens</strong><br />11. <strong>Little Women - Louisa May Alcott*</strong><br />12. <em>Tess of the D’<span style="color:#000000;">Urbervilles -</span> Thomas Hardy</em><br />13. <em>Catch 22 - Joseph Heller</em><br />14. <em>Complete works of Shakespeare</em><br />15. <strong>Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier*</strong><br />16. <strong>The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien</strong><br />17. Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks<br />18. <strong>Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger</strong><br />19. <em>The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger</em><br />20. Middlemarch - George Eliot<br />21. <strong>Gone with the Wind - Margaret Mitchell*</strong><br />22. <strong>The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald</strong><br />23. Bleak House - Charles Dickens<br />24. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy<br />25. <strong>The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams</strong><br />26. <em>Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh</em><br />27. Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky<br />28. <strong>Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck</strong><br />29. <strong>Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll</strong><br />30. <strong>The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame</strong><br />31. <strong>Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy</strong><br />32. <strong>David Copperfield - Charles Dickens</strong><br />33. <strong>Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis*</strong><br />34. <strong>Emma - Jane Austen</strong><br />35. <em>Persuasion - Jane Austen</em><br />36. <strong>The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - CS Lewis*</strong><br />37. <em>The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini</em><br />38. <em>Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres</em><br />39. <strong>Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden</strong><br />40. <strong>Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne</strong><br />41. <strong>Animal Farm - George Orwell</strong><br />42. <strong>The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown*</strong><br />43. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez<br />44. A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving<br />45. The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins<br />46. <strong>Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery</strong><br />47. <strong>Far from the Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy</strong><br />48. <strong>The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood</strong><br />49. <strong>Lord of the Flies - William Golding</strong><br />50. <em>Atonement - Ian McEwan</em><br />51. <strong>Life of Pi - Yann Martel</strong><br />52. Dune - Frank Herbert<br />53. Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons<br />54. <strong>Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen</strong><br />55. A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth<br />56. The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon<br />57. <strong>A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens</strong><br />58. <em>Brave New World - Aldous Huxley</em><br />59. <em>The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon</em><br />60. <em>Love in the Time of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez</em><br />61. <strong>Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck</strong><br />62. <em>Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov</em><br />63. The Secret History - Donna Tartt<br />64. <em>The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold</em><br />65. <strong>Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas*</strong><br />66. On the Road - Jack Kerouac<br />67. Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy<br />68. <strong>Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding</strong><br />69. Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie<br />70. <strong>Moby Dick - Herman Melville</strong><br />71. <strong>Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens</strong><br />72.<strong> Dracula - Bram Stoker</strong><br />73. <strong>The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett</strong><br />74. Notes from a Small Island - Bill Bryson<br />75. <em>Ulysses - James Joyce</em><br />76. <strong>The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath</strong><br />77. Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome<br />78. Germinal - Emile Zola<br />79. Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray<br />80. Possession - AS Byatt<br />81. <strong>A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens</strong><br />82. Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell<br />83. <strong>The Color Purple - Alice Walker</strong><br />84. <em>The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro</em><br />85. <em>Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert</em><br />86. <em>A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry</em><br />87. <strong>Charlotte’s Web - EB White*</strong><br />88. <strong>The Five People You Meet in Heaven - Mitch Albom</strong><br />89. <strong>Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle*</strong><br />90. The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton<br />91. Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad<br />92. <strong>The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery</strong><br />93. The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks<br />94. <em>Watership Down - Richard Adams</em><br />95. <strong>A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole</strong><br />96. A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute<br />97. <strong>The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas*</strong><br />98. <strong>Hamlet - William Shakespeare</strong><br />99. <strong>Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl</strong><br />100. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo<br /><br />I have read 52 of the titles listed, how many have you read or want to read???<br /><strong><em>Happy Reading!</em></strong><br /><strong><em>Liz</em></strong><div class="blogger-post-footer">Bytes by Liz</div>LKPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14254605059516636880noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4043811217613078173.post-85670079200657443782008-08-15T19:15:00.002-05:002008-08-15T19:25:01.274-05:00Middle School here we come!I DON'T WANT TO GO!<br />This is John's comment! He is a little nervous, but I think he will really enjoy it. The charter school he will be going to offers lots of advanced classes in Math -- one of his favorite subjects, plus they offer a really interesting variety of electives. They have a unique 6 weeks program of electives that allows the students to rotate between things like; strategy games, engineering, cooking, clay arts, la crosse, computer classes, etc.<br />Anyway, it looks like it will be an interesting, exciting, and fun year for both of us! The only real drawback is, sigh.... getting up early again :(.<br />Wish us luck!<div class="blogger-post-footer">Bytes by Liz</div>LKPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14254605059516636880noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4043811217613078173.post-82468644527050187302008-07-19T21:35:00.004-05:002008-07-19T21:45:42.007-05:00Loki at his first BIG showHere is a video of my young boy Loki at his first big show in the Best of Breed ring, he is still very young but he looked pretty good even with all the "Big Boys" in the ring!<br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzvAvV-rzn55csE77mEE3u4l6TTx3saDY0VHg2s4DC-a6RkCHuOwP4h0C6AJoAb9GVSUl6RzatERq-3jwnuQw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><div class="blogger-post-footer">Bytes by Liz</div>LKPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14254605059516636880noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4043811217613078173.post-63558696016323566722008-06-24T19:01:00.005-05:002008-06-24T19:18:49.309-05:00Podcast test<a href="http://media.switchpod.com/users/philippi/Johnreview.wav">John's book review<br /></a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Bytes by Liz</div>LKPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14254605059516636880noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4043811217613078173.post-70721003213059472562008-06-19T08:11:00.001-05:002008-06-19T08:14:25.435-05:00Test post<br />trying out posting a podcast using switchpod<br /><br /><a href="http://media.switchpod.com/users/amitchell/HowToStealADogPodcast.wmv">How to Steal a Dog<br /></a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Bytes by Liz</div>LKPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14254605059516636880noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4043811217613078173.post-90089537754532246102008-03-22T22:41:00.008-05:002008-03-23T20:16:35.188-05:00Thing #23 - SummaryThis was a great journey!<br />Although I had a part in creating this program there were areas that I really had not investigated before and that was great for me. Often in both my personal and professional life I get so busy that I forget to "Play" and this was a great way to force me to play with the neat tools that are out there. I am so thankful that I work where I do and with the people I work with, even when I get in a rut doing the "daily" tasks I have to, my colleagues push me to go farther and find more and that is something that you can't get just anywhere or from anyone!<br />I will, of course, take part in another version of this, because I know that there are ALWAYS new things out there to find and discover! What a wonderful world!!!<div class="blogger-post-footer">Bytes by Liz</div>LKPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14254605059516636880noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4043811217613078173.post-60573095820270829312008-03-22T22:41:00.006-05:002008-03-23T20:00:00.967-05:00Thing # 22 - Ning, nang, and pingI have been a member of both the <a href="http://teacherlibrarian.ning.com/">TeacherLibrarian</a> <a href="http://www.ning.com/">Ning </a>and the <a href="http://txschoollibrarians.ning.com/">TexasSchoolLibrarians</a> <a href="http://www.ning.com/">Ning</a> for at least a year, so I know a good bit about them. I think that Nings are a wonderful way to collaborate with others in your profession from all over the world. When the last Harry Potter book came out, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Harry-Potter-Deathly-Hallows-Book/dp/0545010225/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1206320210&sr=8-1">Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows</a>, the <a href="http://teacherlibrarian.ning.com/">TeacherLibrarian</a> <a href="http://www.ning.com/">Ning</a> had a discussion group totally devoted to discussing the book and the ending of the series. It was awesome! I got to share my ideas and thoughts about the book with librarians all over the world and read what they thought about the book! The <a href="http://teacherlingo.com/">Teacher</a> <a href="http://www.ning.com/">Ning</a> was great, I liked that it was split by grade levels and that you could join discussions that directly related to problems and ideas that you would deal with on a daily basis.<br /><br />For me <a href="http://www.ning.com/">Nings</a> are a wonderful example of the potential collaboration that the web currently offers! I am SOOOOOOO glad I live in today technological revolution ---- what a great time to be a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teacher">teacher</a> and a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Librarian">librarian</a>!<div class="blogger-post-footer">Bytes by Liz</div>LKPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14254605059516636880noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4043811217613078173.post-33047895441614623542008-03-22T22:40:00.005-05:002008-03-23T19:32:37.780-05:00Thing # 21 - Pods, casts, vods, and more!I have been playing around with Podcasts and Vidoecasts for a couple of years now, and I believe that they have unlimited potential in the educational setting, especially in elementary! What a wonderful way for students to show what they have learned about a topic AND using technology for the final product!<br /><br />Anyway, the thing about blogs and podcasts that is frustrating is that you can't directly load an audio file into a blog, so you have to have a place to host or keep your audio file or podcast, or you have to do a photostory. The file below is one I created when teaching a class on podcasts and videocasts, it is on the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alamo_Mission_in_San_Antonio">Alamo</a> and instead of talking through the pictures I put in background music.<br /><br />As a side note; in the previous "Thing" I did find a <a href="http://switchpod.com/">website</a> that will "host" your podcasts and you can link from there, so there is a way to do it, it's just not easy!<br /><br />Here is my pod/videocast:<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyuaxoxKyJCc5pD897Hdi4istZ281EeOtMpSc7diMJBnOao-bzmQabTjIxS7FKmYAB3bkmqmEOAXBQUrMcQ8Q' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><div class="blogger-post-footer">Bytes by Liz</div>LKPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14254605059516636880noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4043811217613078173.post-71043972632532640922008-03-22T22:38:00.004-05:002008-03-23T18:38:57.535-05:00Thing # 19 - And the award goes to.......There were so many options!!! It was really hard to choose, but since I have done a lot with podcasting I picked <a href="http://odeo.com/">Odeo</a> to explore first. It is a site where you can store a list of podcasts for future listening and search other podcasts to find ones you want to hear. You had to register, it was free, but you did need to sign up. I thought at first that I would be able to upload podcasts I had created there, but for that they suggest you use one of two sites where you can upload and save your podcasts, so I went to <a href="http://www.switchpod.com/">Switchpod</a> and registered for the free service that will allow you to upload 450 mb of audio files. Here is the link to my son's book review podcast that I uploaded;<br /><p>Your podcast url:<a href="http://www.switchpod.com/users/philippi/Johnreview.wav">http://www.switchpod.com/users/philippi/Johnreview.wav</a></p>I also took a look at <a href="http://www.yourminis.com/">YourMinis</a>, this site has a collection of Widgets that you can add to your blog, webpage, or Google page. It has everything from a weather widget, quote of the day, calendars, and even YouTube videos. I have just started playing with Widgets so this one was pretty fun for me!<br /><br /><br /><br />I also looked at <a href="http://www.farecast.com/">Farecast</a>, a travel site. Our family goes to visit my inlaws twice a year and occasionally we do get a real family vacation, so this was a great site for me to keep an eye on the price of flights to New Jersey, and prices for Disney trips!<div class="blogger-post-footer">Bytes by Liz</div>LKPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14254605059516636880noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4043811217613078173.post-41068018730163264632008-03-22T22:26:00.003-05:002008-03-22T22:38:30.840-05:00Thing # 18 - Online tools, or Can we really get it free???I tried both of the word processing tools mentioned. I found that <a href="http://www.openoffice.org/index.html">OpenOffice</a> took a good bit of time to download but was useful when I got it loaded. I was however VERY impressed with the ease and simplicity of <a href="http://docs.google.com/">GoogleDocs</a>. I also liked the way that you can share and edit documents with <a href="http://docs.google.com/">GoogleDocs</a>. I have used <a href="http://docs.google.com/">GoogleDocs</a> with a class that I am currently auditing, all of the students are located in different parts of the state and the U. S. and we were able to take a document and all look at it and make our comments and edits in one place without the hassle of emailing and sending a document all around to get the changes and ideas we needed to get a finished product. I think that both tools offer a viable alternative to Microsoft Office with the added benefit of sharing the document with others for either viewing or editing. It is like being in a "virtual conference" room and collaborating with others from all over the world --- what an awesome world we live in!<div class="blogger-post-footer">Bytes by Liz</div>LKPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14254605059516636880noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4043811217613078173.post-22228545069105953372008-03-22T22:02:00.003-05:002008-03-22T22:26:28.229-05:00Thing #17 - Playing in the Sandbox!The <a href="http://sbisdlibraryfuture.wikispaces.com/SandBox">Sandbox Wiki</a> was really fun. I have contributed to wikis before, but the fun thing about this was reading all of the comments of the other <a href="http://library2play.blogspot.com/">Library2Play</a> players! What a good way to see what everyone else is thinking about this professional development tool and reading what other players are experiencing. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collaboration">Collaboration</a> is the heart of education (at least in my opinion) and what better way to collaborate!<div class="blogger-post-footer">Bytes by Liz</div>LKPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14254605059516636880noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4043811217613078173.post-13553604683156828932008-03-22T21:39:00.005-05:002008-03-22T22:02:13.397-05:00Thing #16 - Wicky, wacky, wikis!I have worked with <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">wikis</span> for at least four years, thanks again to my incredible boss, and I think there are unlimited uses for them!!! In our school district we have several <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">wikis</span> that we use for a variety of things, we have one for posting new websites that are good for different subject areas, one that we posted reviews of "required reading" titles for our secondary schools, several that solicited thoughts and comments on different school district initiatives like new library construction, technology in libraries, etc.<br />Anyway, I even started a wiki to record family information from relatives all over the U. S., essentially a place to write down <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">antidotal</span> stories from our childhood about our long lost relatives. I think <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">wikis</span> a an awesome tool for sharing thoughts, ideas, and stories for anything! They allow us to share in real time with people who live all over the world, they really are a boon to us in this mobile information society.<br />As for education uses, it's a great way to share student thoughts, comments, and ideas in a common space, I even know of a school where they use a wiki for teachers to order lunch from a local salad and sandwich restaurant. What a great example of the use of digital technology!<div class="blogger-post-footer">Bytes by Liz</div>LKPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14254605059516636880noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4043811217613078173.post-69141286197079605362008-03-17T17:29:00.005-05:002008-03-22T21:39:06.670-05:00Thing # 15 - Library 2.0ooooooooooIn the office that I work in I have heard about Library 2.0 and Web 2.0 for at least the past 5 years! This is primarily because I have the kind of boss who is a "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visionary">visionary</a>" and a great "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leadership">leader</a>", so we are always (or at least trying) to keep up with the newest developments in libraries, school libraries, and technology. After reading the articles on Library 2.0 I can honestly say I knew a lot of what they were talking about, but there is still so much out there to learn! I was especially intrigued by the metadata ideas and the new browers that allow your library catalog to behave like Google and the thought of sharing materials world wide via the <a href="http://www.oclc.org/us/en/worldcat/default.htm">Open WorldCat Project</a>.<br />I guess the bottom line is that in the Mid life of my career I feel like I am sitting on the edge of a whole new school library world! I am so glad that I have gotten to see this door open and that I have the opportunity to experience it! What a wonderful gift to the world of education and libraries!!! And to quote a popular song, "the future is so bright(for libraries) I've gotta wear shades".<div class="blogger-post-footer">Bytes by Liz</div>LKPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14254605059516636880noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4043811217613078173.post-17529669400304808652008-03-17T16:51:00.007-05:002008-03-23T18:55:37.234-05:00Thing # 20 - You TUBE, I TUBE, let's ALL TUBE!I have played around in both YouTube and TeacherTube for about 2 years now, and I have found many, many, videos that could be used for both student/classroom use and professional development use. I LOVE the ease of using <a href="http://www.zamzar.com/">Zamzar</a> to download YouTube videos! Since that site is blocked in our district it is a great way to use these resources!!! What fun!<br /><br />Below is a video that I found through <a href="http://stephenslighthouse.sirsidynix.com/archives/2008/03/a_vision_of_k12.html">Stephen's Lighthouse</a> blog by Stephen Abram. It is a great way to give some educators today a "wake up" call where technology and our students are concerned. Hope you think so too!<br /><br />From YouTube<br /><br />Remember this site is blocked within our district, so to see it you will have to view it at home!<br /><br /><em>"A Vision of K-12 Students Today"</em><br /><br /><br /><br /><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/_A-ZVCjfWf8&hl=" width="425" height="355" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent"></embed><br /><br /><br /><br />A really good video from YouTube about learning to "listen" to what stuiedents are telling us about their world and how they "learn" today!<div class="blogger-post-footer">Bytes by Liz</div>LKPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14254605059516636880noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4043811217613078173.post-65094482222519419382008-03-17T15:35:00.003-05:002008-03-17T16:47:21.900-05:00Thing # 14 - TechnoratiOkay, this was fun! I had played around in <a href="http://technorati.com/">Technorati</a> before and had even add a page element, but this time I went in and added a couple more <a href="http://technorati.com/">Technorati</a> <a href="http://technorati.com/widgets/blogwidgets">widgets</a>. I have played with <a href="http://technorati.com/widgets/blogwidgets">widgets </a>before, but this was way more fun than I had before using <a href="http://technorati.com/widgets/blogwidgets">widgets</a>. The <a href="http://technorati.com/widgets/blogwidgets">widgets </a>in <a href="http://technorati.com/">Technorati</a> that I used were the <a href="http://technorati.com/widgets/blogwidgets">"Tag Cloud Favorites"</a> and <a href="http://technorati.com/tools/linkcount/">"Technorati Link Counts"</a> these both keep you updated on the tags used in your blog, The <a href="http://technorati.com/tools/linkcount/">"Technorati Link Counts"</a> will display in REAL TIME the number of links from your blog (not that I expect many of those :). Anyway, it was a lot of fun using the <a href="http://technorati.com/widgets/blogwidgets">widgets </a>but it's even more fun learning about tagging and using tags to identify things on the Web. I knew about tagging before I did this blog, but I have since had to learn to use them with my work. Before I just thought of tags as a way to identify material for my searches, or identifiers to use when searching, now I have to "tag" my self and that's a whole new ballgame! So happy tagging everyone!<br /><br /><br /><br />Liz's Bytes<div class="blogger-post-footer">Bytes by Liz</div>LKPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14254605059516636880noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4043811217613078173.post-12559311356057350202008-03-15T19:38:00.004-05:002008-03-15T20:36:05.782-05:00Tag and YOU ARE it!Okay, this "thing" is about tagging and <a href="http://del.icio.us/">del.icio.us</a> I downloaded the <a href="http://del.icio.us/">del.icio.us</a> link and bookmarking tag on my computer, but unfortunately the laptop is fried! My biggest problem now is finding a way to load it on to the laptop I am using. This is a problem for me, I love the idea of saving all of my bookmarks in one place and being able to access them by logging into <a href="http://del.icio.us/">del.icio.us</a>, but I would LOVE to have it on all the computers I use!!!<br />Anyway, I am a big fan of tagging and I really have gotten a lot out of <a href="http://del.icio.us/">del.icio.us</a> and the concept of tagging. I can see a real usage for schools in that if you tagged and created your list of bookmarks then you could use it in a classroom to direct students to specific sites for research. One thing I really LOVED about this exercise is discovering and using tag clouds! Tag clouds are awesome!!! I love the idea of teaching students to use tag clouds to help them narrow down and zero in on the specifics of a topic or to help them find the "heart" of what they want to their report on. I can really see some practical uses for this "thing"!<div class="blogger-post-footer">Bytes by Liz</div>LKPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14254605059516636880noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4043811217613078173.post-76435710467381427652008-02-20T20:16:00.008-06:002008-03-02T14:56:47.621-06:00Thing # 12 - Rolling, Rolling, Rolling.....American Presidents<br /><div style="MARGIN: 10px; WIDTH: 160px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><form action="http://www.rollyo.com/search.html"><fieldset style="BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP: medium none; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: url(http://rollyo.com/remote/togo-bg-c2.png) no-repeat left top; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; PADDING-TOP: 4px; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; HEIGHT: 60px"><div style="Z-INDEX: 99; FLOAT: left; WIDTH: 46px; POSITION: absolute; HEIGHT: 50px"><a href="http://rollyo.com/"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none" height="50" src="http://rollyo.com/remote/x.gif" width="46" /></a></div><input style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; FONT-SIZE: 12px; FLOAT: left; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 2px 0px 0px 48px; WIDTH: 90px; PADDING-TOP: 0px" onclick="'this.value=" size="30" value="Search..." name="q"><br /><select style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; FONT-SIZE: 7pt; FLOAT: left; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 12px 0px 0px 46px; WIDTH: 78px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; HEIGHT: 15px" name="sid"><option value="348320">Select...</option><option value="348320">American Presidents</option><option value="348327"></option><option value="348326"></option><option value="web">Search The Web</option></select><input style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 12px 0px 0px 3px" type="image" alt="Go" src="http://rollyo.com/remote/btn-togo.png"><input type="hidden" value="1" name="togo-v"></fieldset></form></div><br />This is my Rollyo search on American Presidents. It was fun, a little confusing at first, but after I explored a little I did find a way to post my <em></em>ROLLBAR! It was fun after I got a little better at finding my way around!<div class="blogger-post-footer">Bytes by Liz</div>LKPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14254605059516636880noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4043811217613078173.post-40260365044071799882008-02-01T13:49:00.000-06:002008-02-01T13:55:37.433-06:00Thing # 11 - And the THING is Library Thing!<span style="font-family:verdana;">What fun! I put in just a smattering of some of my favorite books into <a href="http://www.librarything.com/">LibraryThing</a> and it was so much fun!!! I put a widget on my blog that shows some of the books I read along with pictures. It was so easy and fun! What a great site for librarians to play with. </span><div class="blogger-post-footer">Bytes by Liz</div>LKPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14254605059516636880noreply@blogger.com1