Number 23 Plus One ("Thing" Number 24)

I'm working on my 23 Things plus one activity (activity #24). I created a learning activity that exposes individuals to the RightNow technology that we use at my job for our online answering system. I work at USF and "RightNow" is the technology that we use to answer prospective student questions. It was kind of neat being on the teacher side of things. It was also helpful to force myself too communicate in a way that was clear for users to understand.

I asked my mom to complete the learning activity that I created.

My mom's comments were:

"These are good questions for students to know. If the person needs to know a specific answer they can go directly to the question and there's the answer.

Then you just click on ask a question and get to ask a question very easily."

Reflections on Web Design Module

My reflections on the Web Design Module are as follows:

I used SeaMonkey software for my webdesign project. It is a very basic software that does the basics (links to files, lists text, etc.). Since the general public is so used to seeing more extensive websites, I do look forward to learning how to use more extensive software (such as possibly DreamWeaver) to create more customized sites.

I chose not to put a picture on the face of the site because I don't think you're supposed to really have a picture with something that is used as a supplement to your professional resume? I think that's the general rule but I could be wrong.

I had a little bit of difficulty getting the tables on SeaMonkey to appear as I wanted them to and the spacing and tabs seemed to be a little off.

I am happy that my site looks great on Mozilla Firefox but, unfortunately, it does not appear correct at all on Internet Explorer. My solution to this, at my current skill level, is to request that users only try viewing the site on Mozilla Firefox.

Nevertheless, creating the site was a good learning experience and I have already begun using it in my work and professional life.

Reflections on Podcast Module

My reflections on the podcast module are that I really like the Audacity Software and the ability to record podcasts. I created a podcast for my professional portfolio and it really makes things more personal rather than just reading text. One thing I noticed is that you really have to make sure and not talk to close to the microphone as it creates a "blasting" sound when you play back the recording.

It is really good to have free software for technology such as this so that a person's potential is not limited by their financial ability to purchase for-profit software.

Reflections on Publications Module

I have now completed the Publications module. My reflections on this are that Microsoft Publisher is much easier than Photoshop!

I had worked with Photoshop and other Adobe products before but was already apprehensive about producing documents because I always seemed to forget the rules about layering, etc.

I like Microsoft Publisher much better and now feel comfortable about using it in the future.

43 Things

Among the list of "43 Things I might want to do this year" I would consider doing the following:

Look at LibraryElf and see the potential for personal library tools.
8. Register at MSN Photo Album and build an album to share with friends, family, or colleagues.
9. Check out Myspace and see how this service has become so huge globally.
10. Have some fun with the links on the Generator Blog.
11. Download Firefox and compare it to Explorer and Opera.
12. Research bookmarklets and try a few.
13. Revisit Yahoo! and remind yourself why it is visited more than Google.
14. Learn about iFILM and viral video.
15. Get a PubSub account and start searching the future.
16. Make a map of all the countries or states you've been to at Visited Countries.
17. Experiment with some sound and picture search engines like Podscope.
18. Try some new Web search engines like Exalead, Wink, Gravee, Clusty, Mooter, Kartoo, etc., or others you can find at Search Engine Watch's list.
19. Learn more about visual display tools like Grokker.
20. Check out Google Base and see what the fuss is all about.
21. Register with NetFlix and rent a movie. Learn how to deal with streaming media.
23. Play with Blinkx and learn about searching TV shows, video and podcasts.
24. Try MovieFlix too. There are plenty of free movies here to learn to do this.
25. Set up a Google Picasa account. Post a picture and then edit it.
26. Download an MP3 file to your PC, laptop or phone. Try iTunes, LimeWire, Kazaa, or eDonkey. Look for something that's not music too.
31. Visit the Google Labs site regularly.
32. Set up a personalized Google or My Yahoo! page
33. Play with JibJab.
35. Play with Copernic and extend your searching.

#23 - Summarizing My Thoughts

What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?
Some of my favorite exercises were:

1) Browsing through the Web 2.0 Winners and discovering upcoming.org" (http://upcoming.yahoo.com).
2) RSS feeds including www.bloglines.com
3) Del.icio.us
4) www.librarything.com
5) www.podcastalley.com
6) News feeds including www.topix.net

How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?
I have kept a chart of all the things I have learned along with the associated website for each thing. I hope to use this in my job and in my life for planning get togethers, travel planning, looking for jobs, etc.

Were there any take-aways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?
I actually was not familiar with most of the sites so this entire experience has been new for me.

What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?
I think overall, the program is pretty good. It might be made more universal by not requiring individuals to be members of PLMC on certain exercises and the manager of the site should regularly check all suggested websites to ensure that all the links are working.

If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you again chose to participate?
As long as I see it as being immediately applicable to my work or business life, then yes I would participate again!

#17 - Sandbox Wiki

I am working with the PLC Wiki. I found this site somewhat difficult to use. It was difficult for me to figure out exactly how to log-in and also I could not find the edit button to add my blog to the list of favorites. I did add a post to the favorites page, however and added my blog that way.

Thanks!

Marcia

#16 - Wikis

Now I am looking at Wiki's. I think Wiki's in general are a good tool for finding out brief information on topics that they may not otherwise know about. I especially like Wikipedia. I agree with the downside, however, because you have to keep in mind that the information may or may not be true because it's subjective. The library wiki that at was the ALA New Orleans Wiki. It was a neat idea to create this for an event that all of them were attending. I don't know if I would have used this particular tool (only because it seems to lack privacy), but it's definitely good to know that the option exists!

#10 - Online Image Generators

Now I'm working on #10 of the 23 things about online image generators. I don't know if I fully understand the concept of online image generators. However, I did get this image from the www.letterjames.com site and I think I've figured out how to paste an image in my blog.

Enjoy!

#9 - News Feeds

The method of finding feeds that seemed easiest to me was www.topix.net. This site immediately recognized what city I was in and had the top highlights of news in the area.

#6 - Flicker Activity

Today I am working on #6 of the Flicker Activity (Flickr mashups). I've only done introductory things with Flicker but, reading over http://paulstamatiou.com/how-to-quickie-embedded-flickr-slideshows/ blogs on Flicker, there seems to be a simple way to post slideshows from Flicker into your webpage. I think once I get more advanced in Flicker and/or have a complete semester to work on a particular project, I think it would be worthwhile to investigate this site further and find out how to embed slideshows onto my webpage. If not overdone, I think this would make my webpage much more interesting.

Podcasts

Now I'm working on the Podcasts portion of the 23 Things. The directory that I was able to access was: Podcastalley.com.

The Podcast that I subscribed to was: http://www.bembridge.co.uk/podcast.rss

I also put this in my bloglines account.

I really love podcasts! The podcast I'm listening to is about travel - specifically San Francisco. I LOVE hearing about other's perspectives on travel.

You Tube

Today I'm looking at You Tube. I usually go to You Tube to listen to music. So I thought I'd put the video of one of my favorite songs on my blog: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKaNwo4R3cA.

I like pretty much everything on the site except for the fact that some of the things you could download could be harmful to your computer.

Applying You Tube to library websites could be done by using videos, etc. to make content more interesting.

www.librarything.com

I really like this site! I'm not a huge reader but I do like to read things on Positive Thinking, Travel, and the Bible. I like how you can see other people's lists and how you can see the book covers (visual aids always make things more interesting).

Here's the link to my site:

http://www.librarything.com/catalog/marcialparker

Thoughts on Library 2.0

I am working on #15 of the "23 Things." Here are my thoughts on Library 2.0:

First, I am not a library professional (I'm actually a Recruiter for a University). However, I did read the different perspectives on the Learning 2.0 site and do have some thoughts.

I think that any industry that does not embrace what the users wants is doomed to fail in this emerging economy. Ignoring consumer wants and needs will ultimately lead to you being replaced. Therefore, I think the "beginning with user wants" philosphy of the Library 2.0 is very good.

I also like the perspective that Library 2.0 does not implement technology just for the sake of implementing technology. Sometimes things can be just too much and it is more important to have a few quality options than several options that are not really understood or supported.

All of this being said, however, I agree with the perspective that we should not lose some of the "good things" from the past to just jump on the train of the next best thing.

Signing off,

Marcia P.

Del.icio.us

Hello All,

Now I am working on the part of the "23 Things" that covers the http://del.icio.us site. For this site, I can see it being used for a number of things.

1) I can see this site as a great tool for starting a home business. You can easily bookmark the tools you use most often under different subjects so that you can quickly and efficiently access the information you need to produce a product for the customer.

2) Delicious seems like a good candidate for "general" web searching. If you want to find the most popular or "best" info out there on a certain subject, you can just type it in the "search delicious" box. For example, I typed "California" and found all sorts of things on California from California Code to California High speed Rail. Therefore, it can almost be used as a general search engine for finding the most popular sites on certain subjects.

RSS Feeds

Hello All,

Now I am working on RSS Feeds using www.bloglines.com. At first I thought this would be information overload but now I'm starting to think that this could be really, really useful.

For example, if you're looking for a job in a certain city (example Washington DC), you can see what people are blogging about in that area. Or, if you want to travel to a certain city (example Monterey California or Berkley, California) you can see what types of travel blogs are out there for those particular cities. Also, you could catch up on the different "spin" that each of your favorite news stations are putting on a certain subject all in one quick glance.

Signing off!

Web 2.0 Award Winners

Now I am looking through winners of the Web 2.0 Award. The tool that I selected is called "upcoming.org" (http://upcoming.yahoo.com). It is a tool to keep track of your events and find new events to attend in your area and around the country. It allows you to join groups and find out what people who share your interests are attending.

1) Things I liked about it:
Upcoming.org exposes me to alot of events from other cultures that I might not know about.

2) Things I didn't like about it:
It doesn't seem to have alot of content for those interested in R&B music. For example, there is a major R&B festival coming up in Vinoy Park on May 1 (Funk Fest 2010 - http://funkfesttampabay.com/main.html) and it wasn't even listed.

3) What are some useful features?
One useful feature of upcoming.org is that it immediately took me to events in the Tampa Bay area (I suppose it recognized my computer's IP address?)

4) Are there any uses in libraries?
I don't work in a library so I'm probably not the expert, however, I can see community members wanting to work with Libraries and upcoming.org to promote their events, reserve space in libraries, etc.

Zoho.com (Zoho Sheet, Zoho Writer, etc)

Today I'm working in www.zoho.com. The things I noticed are as follows:

1) You can send the file to anyone by "sharing." They will get a link that they can click on and see the document. However, (unless they are a Zoho user), they cannot save the document unless they export it to an Excel, PDF, HTML, etc.
2) When working in Zoho Sheet, you can "Export" your file to an Excel, PDF, or HTML.
3) There are risks to "Publishing" your file. This is because you have to set the access to "Public" where anyone can view the spreadsheet and it may get "crawled" by search engines like Google, Yahoo, etc.
4) Overall, this tools is neat but it doesn't seem practical. It's just easier to create something in Excel and email it. Everyone has Excel, Word, etc. - it's a requirement to function in today's society.

Technorati

Hello!

Now I'm working with Technorati, the site that tracks blogs. We are supposed to do a search of Learning 2.0 using Blog posts, in tags and in the Blog Directory. Here are the results I found using all three methods:

Search for Learning 2.0 using Blog Posts - the results were all over the place with "Mary Hall's Fashion 2.0 being first"

Tags - the same results came up with "Mary Hall's Fashion 2.0 being first."

Blog Directory - no results were found

The "popular blog, searches, and tags" link was down.

Rollyo

Hello Everyone,

I created my own online search tool today called "Online TV." I also created one called "My Online TV." I think they are up and public but I have no idea how to use them. Let me know if anyone happens to find them.

Thanks!

Marcia

WiFi Access to Increase Business

Hello All!

Today I am sitting in Barnes and Noble on Dale Mabry (studying if anyone from LIS 6303 wants to join me)!! I am pondering over how technology has affected all of our lives. When this Barnes and Noble was first built, I'm sure it was not 100% necessary to have wifi access and accompanying power outlets to increase business. Now it's almost a necessity! Especially since the Borders down the street has wifi.

So, I would guess that anyone opening a brick and mortar business right now would wire it for wifi AND include enough power outlets (unlike this B&N - I love it but there's not enough power outlets). Who knows what will be a technology "requirement" ten years from now!

Gotta go - only have 1.16 hours left until my battery runs out=(.

#7 in the 23 Things - Blog about Technology

Hello All,

This week I am completing #7 in the 23 Things an am blogging about Technology. My thoughts about technology this week are:

1) How much is too much and
2) How do you balance those that do not prefer technology with those that are excited about it?

I am a Recruiter for the College that I work for and we are always trying to figure out ways to make the admissions information avaialable for those that can't come on campus to attend group information sessions, etc. Especially for our online students, it doesn't make sense to require them to come to campus to learn about ways to apply to the College when their entire life as a student will practically be spent away from the College. So....we created all sorts of ways "for more information." Now on our website http://health.usf.edu/nocms/nursing/AdmissionsPrograms/rnBSN-ms_Application.html, we have TONS of ways for people to find out more info. Now, what we're trying to figure out is: is this too much? are there smarter ways of listing the information? could we or should we even add more?

On the second topic, it seems that I am running into alot of people who want more and more technology in the ways that courses are delivered, the way we communicate, etc. Then, there are also those that feel that we are losing our personal touch and are de-valuing things we are communicating by "putting them all online." I tend to feel both ways, depending on the content and the context. What do you all think?

Signing out,

Marcia

#3 - Flicker Activity

http://www.flickr.com/photos/papalars/2575135046/

The picture that I am blogging about is a picture taken at night in Seattle. The picture was taken from Alki beach area in West Seattle. I'm blogging about this picture because I hope to go to Seattle for my birthday this summer. I've been to most places in the United States but Seattle happens to be one of the places that really interests me and that I would like to go. Interestingly enough, I had the opportunity to go to Seattle for free a few years ago when my grandmother was still alive. But...because I didn't know how great it was, I declined. Ah well...live and learn!

#2 of the 23 Things - Easiest and Hardest Habits for Me of Lifelong Learning

I am working on #2 in the 23 Things. #2 is about Lifelong Learning and states that there are 7 1/2 Habits of Lifelong Learning.

The Easiest Lifelong Learning habit for me is having confidence in myself as a learner.

The Hardest Lifelone Learning habit for me is viewing problems as challenges.

Can't tell if My action buttons are the right size or if they are aligned properly

I am working on my powerpoint presentation project and want to put a "Skip Intro" button and a Right Arrow on the same slide. I can't tell if they are in the same row (ie aligned at the top) or not. I also can't tell if I made the buttons too large or not.

Reflections on the Practice PowerPoint Project for LIS 6303

In working on the practice project, one of the things I had trouble with was having the sound be consistent. I tried to add a different sound on practically every page, but then when I went to replay the sound, some of the slides would work and some wouldn't.