Week 13 Blog

The high point of the training was that I found out new technologies that I have not ever used before though I have heard of some of them and now have learned about them.
At least now I am familiar with them when people talk about them. Also I can use some of them for my own personal use. It gave me the opportunity to confer with my colleagues about them and learned from them. The low point was finding the time doing them without feeling stressed. In a way I am glad that I had the opportunity to learn about the 23 things.

I think the 23 things are not all going to be used in the future but some of them are here to stay. We just don't know which ones at this early stage. I know some librarians have used del.icio.us to create links to resources on the internet for students and grouped them according to subject. Talking to a Librarian, the idea came up that Flikr could be be used to display images of some resources like the CRC materials for the Rockingham students because a catalogue record doesn't really tell what an object looks like.

I think the technologies which are used for collaboration are going to be useful in the future as people get more and more email they can use the other technologies like twitter, google documents, wikis to collaborate withh a selected group of people and share ideas.

Technologies for disseminating information like podcasts, youtubes and secondlife will be used but I don't know if it will change the basic way libraries organize themselves. I think they will be extra tools we can use rather than replacing what we do now.

We have seen that our learning common has brought more students into the library rather than less because our internet is faster. This is a plus for our library.
The exciting thing is that we have a bigger choice in the way we do things now and I expect that we will always use some of these technologies but I don't think that they will replace our core services.

Reviewing my goals

So far, I feel that I have achieved most of the goals I have set up at the early stage of the training. I maintained my positive and enthusiastic attitude most of the time and even enjoyed the fun of discovering and exploring all the various activities in each session. However, I still have a lot to learn to build up my confidence in using the various technological tools.

Thing 23 Learning 2.1

http://www.mrpicassohead.com/


This is about creating a piece of art done in MrPicasso Head. This was real fun and a night to remember with Picasso.

Thing 22 Slideshare

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Thing 21 YouTube

Thing 20 Info Game

My token code is TK33PB and I answered 9 out of 10 questions correctly for a grade of 90%. Hurray!

Thing 14 Image Generator

Which of the tools covered so far seems the most useful to libraries

Personally, I think Twitter is so far the best I have learned that is applicable in the work environment. Being a cross between microblogging and instant messaging, the concept is simple. It is extremely powerful social tool. It is easy to connect with anyone and talking to each other at any time and any place and therefore you can send and receive messages, e.g. website. It is a useful tool in communicating with colleagues with regard to work and is fast and easy.

Facebook

Facebook is an amazing idea that has appeared on the internet with increasing popularity lately including in workplaces. It is a very social environment in connecting with selected friends. It is customized and offer a diverse applications to choose from. You can do a social research of people whom you never would think may reminisce with again and causes such as charity, etc. It is a little bit more exciting and fun than normal email because you can chat with friends on line in real time, dedicate songs to them, view their photo albums and see who they are friends with - chances are you know them too. It is great to use if you have plenty of time to spare.

Twitter

How do people blog and what sort of things they write about.
Especially like having just learned about Twitter, golly I will be more chatting up with people of course in my own time. Hey Deb, we might just be able twitter instead of using email.
Don't take this too seriously and be stressed out.

My Image Generator

Baker's Hill Famous Horse

My Wiki

With the help of amazing Amanda, I have made myself a Wiki. I have to do something to make the picture smaller, you may recognize from the previous celebration in the tea room.

Thanks for a great assistance.

New Norcia

A very interesting place northeast of Perth about 1 1/2hr drive away. You go through the Swan Valley and pick up nice and fresh fruits and veges along the way. New Norcia is famous for their monastery and bakery especially their olive bread and nut cake. It is the only Franciscan monastic town in Australia and a great place for a day trip. It is highly recommended.

Tagging and Social Bookmarking

Today I had my training with Kathryn about Tagging and Social bookmarking. These tools are going to benefit academics and post graduate students in keeping their research organized and sharing their information to others with similar interest. For practical application of those who are passionate with their hobbies, they can refer to other people's tags.

RSSS Feeds

I am still finding out what this technology is all about as I don't use it in my work at present and also in my personal life. However, it is very interesting that as I am going along, I am coming across things here and there to make me aware of what the technology is all about and what is involved and it is very interesting. I find the huge amount of information I receive is just overwhelming. If I have more time, confidence and enthusiasm in knowing more of the technology, I would enjoy using it.

Learning is never too late for a baby boomer like me. So I just keep on persevering with boldness and with my confidence building up little by little, I hope to be able to enjoy the technology I am learning now and put it to good use in the future both at work and in my personal life.

My Goals Towards The Completion of The Project

To maintain a positive and cheerful attitude in doing all the task required to do.
To explore the different ways of doing the task using the different tools of technology.
To be focused on the weekly things to do and set aside time each week to do them to finish on time.
To become more confident in the use of the knowledge and skills learned.

There's Always A First Time

Have you ever been in a situation where you are told to do something that you are not really interested in? In this day and age of high technology in the academic environment, it is daunting and overwhelming to have to learn all sorts of learning tools whether you are going to use it or not.
It is compelling to do so.

At first when we were told to do this training on 23 Things To Do, I hesitated to be a participant being a bit of a computer illiterate. However, since I started with the first thing to do and that is creating my gmail account, I found it quite exciting and interesting even though it is only a simple process. My confidence started to grow. What a great feeling!

I hope that I will be able to continue the enthusiasm to progress to the next level with the encouragement and assistance of great colleagues and mentors around me.

So after creating my first blog, will see what happens next.