CoachCARBONI

Library Thing (Week 8)

2009-06-06T23:29:00.000-07:00

I became a member of Library Thing in 2007.

My profile can be found HERE

My Library can be found HERE

Online Image Generator (Week 5)

2009-05-27T23:16:00.000-07:00

More fluff that takes about 30 minutes to figure out. Sure I found it fun to look at all the different cartoon images they had... but when it came to search for that one special image that would best fit, I was forced to view all the images. I love the concept, I just don't have enough time to utilize a resource like this. Here is the image I generated for my library.

WIKI part deux (Week 8)

2009-05-27T00:27:00.000-07:00

I created my PBworks account and posted to the SandBox Wiki. Check it out HERE. My idea regarding using a wiki for positive class participation is Idea # 66.

Other information and insights into wikis can be read in my earlier post.

RSS revisited (Week 4)

2009-05-26T23:39:00.001-07:00

From an earlier post (nearly 2 years ago) I had mentioned that RSS posts might put news papers in jeopardy. Check out this article as my prediction has (unfortunately) come to fruition... Check out this article.

I set up my Bloglines newsreader account and could not break away from surfing articles... I was like a deer in the head lights.... I really need to get this post completed and it is difficult when there is soooo much stuff to see from Bloglines... I just learned about Dirk Nowitzki's tough situation with his exgirl friend being put into jail and now learning that she is pregnant.... blah...blah... blah. I really need to focus on my 23 Things!

Flickr and Picasa (Week 3)

2009-03-11T22:49:00.000-07:00

As far as image hosting goes, there are many different sites which all pretty much accomplish the same result. I had opened a Picasa account about a year ago and have figured out how to do basic uploads and link my web page back to the picture folder. I surfed Flickr for nearly an hour. You say ImAgE hOsTiNg... I say iMaGe HoStInG. It is all the same thing to a 38 year old male. Give me basic and don't change anything.

I guess I am showing my age when I say, "why do I need Flickr when I already know and understand Picasa". I am totally content with Picasa. I don't want to spend the time to learn Flickr. Not to mention remember a new e-mail address and password. Picasa is directly linked to my Google account along with this blog. It goes back to simple. Google has neatly wrapped everything together and offers everything linked to one user name and password. I doesn't get much easier than that.

I did make a "Trading Card" from Flickr.... I have 2 versions. Pick your favorite. I would have liked to have the entire photo on one card but I was limited in the application

Getting Back Up to Speed...

2009-02-22T22:21:00.000-08:00

Back in December I attended a meeting of LMTs and like minded professionals who needed hours to satisfy Sac City USD's 18/24 hours of professional development. As I left the meeting I figured I was ahead of the game. I had just completed my course work and earned my LMT Credential in June of 2008. As I read the assignment sheet I saw many things that I had practiced during my LMT courses....

Then my filing system took over... or should I say under. As that is where the hard copy of the requirements ended up... UNDER everything else on my desk. Until this raining Sunday evening. So as I sit clicking, copying, and pasting... I am also hoping that I will be able to complete the requirements prior to the due date... which for the life of me I can not remember. Hopefully it wasn't last Friday! LOL!

Creative Commons

2007-06-20T16:37:00.000-07:00

When I was in my own classroom teaching (before my library gig), I know that there were certain copyright laws which regulated printed materials and what I could reproduce and how much I could reproduce. Today was the first time I had ever heard of Creative Commons.

To the best of my understanding, Creative Commons (CC) was created in 2001. In late 2002 they completed their first project which was the release of a set of copyright licenses free for public use. CC created 6 different licences which allow people to control or protect their original works on line. The different licenses do different things. The 4 main areas are: 1) attribution, 2) noncommercial, 3) no derivative works, and 4) share alike.

1. Attribution: This allows anyone redistribute your work as long as they give you credit.

2. Noncommercial: This allows anyone to use and redistribute your work as long as they make no money in the venture.

3. No Derivative Works: This makes it so people can not change your work.

4. Share Alike: This makes anyone who builds on your work to make it available at the same level to the public as you currently have.

At any point people can contact the person who created the original work and ask their permission for one or all of the above restrictions be lifted. At the point it is the creators decision if they want to allow their original work be changed or if they can create a deal to make money based on the new use of their original work.

The last option CC give people is to donate they original work to the public domain. At this point anyone can do anything to your original work and you have no recourse or authority over what happen to your original work.

CALIBK12: The Ultimate Resource?

2007-06-20T13:22:00.000-07:00

Being able to contact a large number of people connected to libraries in a single e-mail.... that is what CALIBK12 is all about. If you have a question or are looking for a resource, all you need to do is post what you need on CALIBK12.

After being signed up for a day, I got my first e-mail from the listserv. It was a teacher from Aptos looking for a gentleman who used to work for Sagebrush. So far no one else has replied. So I am waiting on bated breath to see if CALIBK12 works for her.

I was a bit apprehensive to sign up because it sounds like a steady stream of e-mails come from this particular listserv. I suspect because of summer being here and most schools are out on vacation that the volume will be reduced.

Besides being apprehensive to join the listserv, the next emotion I had was intimidation. What if I mess up when I post or say the wrong thing. There isn't any practice posts... It will be interesting to follow the dialogue over the summer. If nothing better, I can always keep my Google account for CALIBK12 and other similar library related stuff. That way my main e-mail address will not be inundated with library e-mails.

Professionally, CALIBK12 will allow me stay connected to current events in the library world. As I get more versed on the scope of the site and the resources it possibly can provide, I can become a better librarian because I will be more informed with current situations in and around California libraries.

WIKI: Hawaiian for Quick (Week 7)

2007-06-20T12:24:00.000-07:00

Interesting how a day earlier I was giving examples of how a Blog could be used by an LMT... when I really needed to have more knowledge on a Blog compared to a Wiki. I had stated earlier that students could post their comments to the blog and have on line dialogue with a teacher or class. When in reality some of the activities I thought up for blogging should be done in a Wiki format.

After listening and viewing the different pieces for the Wiki assignment, I was amazed at the flexibility and ease a Wiki allows an online group to have when collaborating information.

Now, I am not going to jump right on to the Wiki bandwagon. The main reason for this is because I think as an LMT you have to approach Wikis a couple of different ways. The first thing to think about is your population. Rules and norms will need to be set up and enforced. These will need to be reinforced more when you are working with students rather that teachers. Students are less likely to have been exposed to an educational on line setting. Most of the students at my school have been exposed to chat rooms or myspace which is a completely different way to post to the web.

So after you set the norms, you need someone to 'police' the Wiki to make sure things are running smoothly. That takes time... Which is the second thing that needs to be looked at when creating a Wiki. As an LMT will I have enough time to monitor multiple Wikis if more than one teacher wants to explore the world of Wikis. Where do I as an LMT 'cut the cord'. Meaning, after I set up the Wiki and get teachers up to speed, is it my obligation as an LMT to make sure they are running smoothly.

But to imagine the power of a Wiki when run efficiently... Students are teaching students and collaboration is at the heart of the activity. Information is now coming from 36 sources (35 students in a class plus the instructor) rather than just the instructor (like on a blog). And if a teacher wants all their classes to post to the same Wiki now you are talking 180 brains collaborating.

To me, the most obvious way a teacher or LMT could use a Wiki would be for a Classroom Novel assignment. At my school teachers supplement the Language Arts material with different novels the students read (mostly outside of class). The teacher could set up a Wiki for each class or each book they plan on reading during the school year. Then, as the book is being read, students can post questions, comments, insights, vocabulary, history, or anything else relevant to the novel that is being read. These Wikis could be saved from year to year and added to each year or the teacher can start fresh each year and then compare the direction the Wikis went with different classes or years. The one snag I might see in this format is the kid who does not read the novel but reads the Wiki and is able to pass the tests because of others posting information on the Wiki. It is not a perfect situation but at least you can say collaboration is taking place.

RSSs: Environmental Friendly (Week 4)

2007-06-20T08:52:00.000-07:00

So I doin' my assignment for library class and the teacher has us check out RSSs. After setting my account I begin subscribing to 'bulk groups' of resources... such as News 100 and Sports 100. Then I sit and read articles for the next hour and finally decide to hit the sack.

So begins a new day and my daily routine of reading the paper... I open the front page, nothing new here... over to the sports section, again, nothing new here.... I make it to the comics and my newspaper reading experience is validated. Finally something I did not see the previous night in my RSS groups.

Wow.... just think how much money the news papers can save if they just need to print the comics. Because with the invention of RSSs, newspapers will no longer need to cut down trees to create newsprint.

I am torn with knowing about RSSs. Traditionally, (some) males are slow to change and they can only change so much at a time. For example, I was very happy when I went to my Yahoo Page and saw the top headlines for the day... and if I wanted to read more I could just click. There is usually 7-9 teasers and the headline usually tells enough not to have to click on the link. This way I was still able to read my newspaper... back to males not changing. I have read the news paper for the past 25 years. It is part of my daily routine.

In comes RSSs and me being ADD (more self diagnosed) I will spend hours skimming and clicking... that can be a bad thing. I will be very well informed and up to date but in theory, I might not get much of anything else done. At least with news papers, you have a finite amount of material to read or skim and the experience is completed. With RSSs and the WWW the possibilities are endless.

I truly think that RSSs are the wave of the future. I don't know if they will actually put newspapers out of business, but the overhead of RSSs is far less than printing a newspaper everyday. And as each new generation is more and more attached to computers and texting/cell phones (most now available with data connection), they will have to be shown what a news paper is (or was) because it will not be common knowledge as they have never been exposed to one (kind of like records... those big black pieces of vinyl that make noise... OR a watch).

Communicating to the Masses: Gutenberg to the WWW

2007-06-20T00:04:00.001-07:00

The year is 1450 and Gutenberg succeeds in creating a means to get print material to the masses. This has been deemed one of the most important inventions in history. And with any mouse trap... someone is going to build a better one. Well, that might just be the Internet. Speaking on strictly an educational level; technology, communication, and dissemination of information is just a couple of key strokes away. The most common example of this would be the millions of web pages created by educators (Example: http://www.mrsscotten.com/) to communicate to their students, parents of their students, colleges, or just the general public.

But web pages are high maintenance and time consuming.... enter the BLOG.

I believe that blogging does hold a place (like Gutenberg's press) in communicating and bringing information to the masses. Most families in 2007 have at least one computer in their house connected to the Internet. Most parents are concerned about their child's education and grades. Most teenagers do not communicate well with their parents when it comes to classwork, projects, and homework. Parents need straight forward and accurate information in regards to their child's assignments. SOLUTION: Teachers can create a blog and highlight classwork, homework and upcoming projects.

Blogging is an easy way for a teacher to communicate to all the families of their students (that could be 20 or 35 for K-6 or 180 for 7-12). Blogging also allows parents to comment and have teachers reply. The reply could be a simple statement or an invitation that they correspond by e-mail, phone or face to face. This way a teacher can filter out 90-95% of questions and really only worry about the 5-10% of the class that need extra assistance. This will not only increase student performance, because parents are getting first hand information which allows them to hold their child accountable for the work that has been assigned. But blogging can also make a teachers life easier by offering a way to communicate with parents without actually talking with them.

LMTs can have some fun with Blogging and increase a students interest in learning at the same time. Last time I checked, kids love surfing the web and using the computer. LMTs can use this to their advantage and 'trick' students into learning.... but it really isn't learning because the students will be having fun.

1. LMTs can have a question of the day on their blog which students can find and post the answer on the blog.

2. LMTs can have some fun by posting a weekly situation (like in the game Scruples) and have the students reply with what they would do in the situation. (this has higher level thinking skills written all over it !!Blooms!!)... and they would have to support their answer and give one negative result of their action.

3. LMTs can post a brain teaser or word problem (not mathematical) and see if a student can post a solution.

4. LMTs can put an opinion on the blog and have student agree or disagree AND support their answer with 3 facts. They could work with the speech and debate teacher and make it part of their grade.

5. LMTs can use the blog as an online book chat and review with student's supplying all the resources and information. LMT could work with a classroom teacher and it could count toward their grade.

Though blogging might not be as important as the invention of the printing press, it is a viable form of communication. When used correctly (or at least in an educational format), a blog can help a teacher communicate with parents or help an LMT spark interest in subjects students might not explore. So in conclusion, I think that blogging can enhance the educational experience and is medium I will explore this summer and hope to implement during the 2007-08 school year.

Blogging: Communication Tool or TMI (too much info)

2007-06-19T22:26:00.000-07:00

With any new technology there are four stages which happen. The first is the BUZZ. This is when computer or software companies 'tease' you about the next best thing since sliced bread and how could you have ever lived (insert number of years you have lived) with out this newest new (current example: the iPhone). Then comes the pioneers. These are the people who are the first people to use the new technology. They usually are dealing with bugs and less than good short cuts and at best a very rough copy of what the technology will eventually evolve into. Example: the cell phone of the early 1990's (the word brick comes to mind). Third, is the general public moving ahead of the curve. This means the technology has trickled down and has been refined and modified so the regular folks are able to (without too many problems or headaches) be proficient in using the technology. (I believe that Blogging is in this stage). Finally, you get saturation and extinction. This is when the fad or craze just fades into the horizon. (Store bought CDs are teetering on this line currently... soon store bought CDs will go the way of the Dodo or at least cassette tapes and 8 track tapes).

Blogging... how did the world manage for nearly 3.3 billion years prior to this amazing new technology?!?!

Don't get me wrong... I think there are several levels and applications in the overall grand scheme of Blogging.

For example, some blogs can be informational regarding a certain interest or hobby you might enjoy. For example, I am an ultra marathoner, and there is a very popular Blog created and maintained by Scott Dunlap: http://runtrails.blogspot.com/ Though I do not visit all that often, maybe once every 2 weeks, I find myself reading or skimming posts for more than an hour each time I visit the page. Some Blogs can be educational... and I will revisit this type to concluded my assignment. The last type of Blogging (which makes me ask... What are people thinking?....) are Blogs that detail people's personal lives and private thoughts and beliefs. More or less people don't have anything better to do than tell the world about their lives. I thought that was what a diary was for??!! So, in my eyes Blogging does have some redeeming qualities (which I will touch on later), I just don't understand this new 'need' to make our private lives so public using the world wide web as or vessel and blogging or my space being the instrument.