Week 9: Thing 20

Week 9: Thing 20 - Video

The Teacher Tube site is interesting in its similarity to you-tube. The video I chose is about "How Not to use a Powerpoint." The presenter uses visuals and voice and demeanor to demonstrate his less than subtle, humorous rationale for what not to do when 'composing and presenting' a powerpoint. I looked up some videos about hearing impairment, and there are several by a Mrs. Stacy.  I found her accent difficult to understand and so I opted not to select one of her videos to post on my blog, although her list of topics seemed very relevant to my students (and their parents). One topic, for example, is how hearing aids work. It's easy to spend a lot of time

clicking away on Teacher Tube, as on u-tube. Having the videos categorized into recent, favorites, and most discussed, was helpful and made for easier access.

Week 8: Thing 19.1

Week 8: Thing 19.1 (Alaska's digital pipeline)

I spent more time exploring the digital pipeline and EBSCO support sites and links.

This is the first time I've seen the EBSCO support site, and both it and the digital pipeline are

a bit mind boggling with all the information that can be accessed through these resources.

This 19.1 'addendum' could be a whole course in and of itself, I'm sure!

I viewed tutorials on the EBSCO support site on Dyna-med, Kid Support, multi-lingual options and others.

One of the notable differences between the Kids, Middle School and High School interfaces is that each higher level expands a little more and becomes a little more complex with more initial search topics. In reviewing 'articles' on each, the elementary level was written at a developmentally appropriate level, and the teen article was longer and written at a higher level. Illustrations under both categories were age appropriate. I saw a brief video from a father who wanted to teach his teenage daughter about abstinence; I believe that was under a teen category or 'for parents' category.

Under a kids health interface, I did a search for hearing loss, and came up with a few articles

(again, written at developmentally appropriate ages for elementary and high school students)

which I plan to print and read with a few of my students. I will also share these links with the

other teachers in my department. I could also e.mail or text the link to at least one of my high school students who is more tech savvy than I am!

Week 8: Thing 19.1

Week 8: Thing 19.1 Alaska Digital Pipeline

This will be a stream of consciousness partial blog post from a hotel lobby in Olympia, Washington. I've occasionally used the Alaska SLED library catalog from my community library while searching for a book for myself or my children. The current 'digital pipeline' is an awesome and comprehensive search tool. I spent a lot of time looking around the 'Kids Stuff' category, and located links and resources with recipes for kids to cook, info on health, illnesses, how the body works, hearing conservation, among a myriad of other topics.
I was able to look up the latest information about the status of the Mt. Redoubt volcanic eruptions in Alaska, and how that might affect my flight home. Still orange alert status, but it doesn't appear to be affecting the flights from Seattle to Anchorage today. I also cruised around an update about the status of federal stimulus funds for Alaska and looked at some federal grant possibilities for education and other state and local entitites (autism research funding will be available).
The ability to just click on a link for the sites listed makes them very easily accessible.

Link to My Library Thing collection

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

Week 8: Thing 19 - Library Thing

Week 8: Thing 19 - Libary Thing

Library Thing is certainly an exciting new discovery. Even before the recent economic downturn
this winter, I was trying desperately to follow a new mantra: "Laura, DO NOT buy any more
books; DO NOT buy anymore books....!" (rather unsuccessfully, I might add). I have probably enough books in my personal collection at home to populate a small library. Categories include art books (photography and painting how-to, biographies of artists, works of specific artists);
cook books; mysteries; contemporary fiction and romance; historical fiction.....the list goes on.


I had some difficulties sometimes in locating a book when a search would show 'no results,' even when I knew very well that the book exists. Not sure if that was just my unfamiliarity with the site navigation, operator error or what. I referred back to the 'add a book' instructions and that seemed to improve the situation.

In checking the popularity of a few of the books in my collection, it was interesting to note
how some authors were more popular than others (Nora Roberts vs. Susan Wiggs for example, possibly because Roberts has a more national and international renown, and I believe Susan Wiggs is a popular northwest author (more locally based). There were differences in whether a book was contemporary fiction or, for example, a book featuring paintings of one artist (a picture book!) with the latter having only a few other notations.

I am very pleased to make the acquaintance of the Library Thing web tool and have good intentions of following up and creating a catalog of my personal library collection.

Week 8: Thing 18

Week 8: Thing 18 - Online Productivity Tools

Per this week's discovery exercises, I signed up for a free account with Zoho Writer. This is a nice Web 2.0 application that enables online document creation in a fairly simple and straightforward manner. The editing tools are well placed, clear, and reasonably intuitive. I was easily able to upload my brief ZohoWriter.doc to my blog, using Zoho Writer's export tool to post to a blog. (See below.) In exploring the rest of the Zoho site, several other applications seemed particularly relevant to teachers and librarians. These include the spread sheet (such as for categorizing books), the notetaking application, and the templates. Overall, the hallmark of this site really does seem to be relative clarity and ease of use. I also accessed my Raven About Web 2.0 curriculum and my blog from a borrowed computer in another state since I am traveling this week. This, too, was a positive experience and drives home the point about the purpose of Web 2.0 apps.

ZohoWriter.doc

I am creating a document on Zoho Writer to see how it works.

I am currently in Washington state, using my daughter's computer.