Learning 2.0 - Tag Clouds (Thing 18)

Here is my Wordle that I created about Web 2.0 topics.  Too fun!

I also found a couple of articles about ways teachers can incorporate the use of Wordle in the classroom.  I think these would be great ideas for librarians to share during collaborative efforts with teachers.

Word Clouds: 125 Ways...And Counting...To Use Wordle in the Classroom

45 Interesting Ways to Use Wordle in the Classroom

Learning 2.0 - Podcasts (Thing 17)

After browsing around iTunes, I chose to listen to a sampling from the following podcasts...

Tech Chick Tips - This podcast was created by a professional development consultant (Helen) and technology specialist (Anna) from Texas.  In their podcasts, they introduce different technologies and share ideas about how to implement them in classrooms.  They also have a website at Tech Chick Tips with links to the different programs and websites they mention on their podcasts.  Since we're working on creating a wiki, I listened to their podcast on blogs, wikis, and podcasts (0001 Tech Chick Tips).

I've used a blog (through Blogger) in my classroom in the past but was never really comfortable with the idea of giving students access to post directly to it.  Instead, I would have them fill out a Google Doc, which I would then look over before posting to the blog.  This always felt a bit cumbersome, and I was interested to hear some new suggestions.  The Tech Chicks mentioned two blogging sites that I'm going to look into using in the future.  Edublogs was the first hosting site they mentioned.  At first glance, it looks to be a pretty well-laid out site, but their premium features (including teacher moderation of comments) come with a $40/year price tag.  Class Blogmeister was the second site they mentioned, and while it is free (along with all of its features including teacher moderation of comments), it doesn't look quite as professional.  Hmmm...I'll have to do more research, but I may be sticking with Blogger.

I also took a look at two student-produced podcasts from a middle school in Wisconsin, Coulee Kids, and an elementary school in Nebraska, Radio WillowWeb.  These podcasts showcase student projects from different grade levels and content areas, and I think they'd be a great place to go to look for ideas for using podcasts in the classroom.  I particularly liked the Coulee Kids podcast on poems for two voices and think it would be a great way to practice and develop reading fluency.

Learning 2.0 - Online Video (Thing 16)

I really liked how this video hit on the many aspects of being a school librarian.  From creating a welcoming environment to teaching digital literacy skills to students (and teachers) to fostering a love of reading, I thought this video presented a powerful picture of the important role librarians can play in schools.

Learning 2.0 - Twittter (Thing 15)

Hee, hee!  I have a Twitter account!  I found the process of setting up an account to be relatively painless, but it was a bit daunting to come up with people to follow as part of the set-up process.  Luckily, most of the blogs I looked at for my RSS Feed post are by people who have Twitter accounts, and I also found some people and organizations to follow from the UELMA article.  I also added a few authors to my personal feed.  Figuring out how to add a Twitter feed widget to my blog wasn't necessarily intuitive, but a quick Google search led me to some good tutorials.

I found the article "How Librarians Can Leverage Twitter" to be very helpful in suggesting easy ways to implement and use this new (to me!) form of social media into the library.  Here are a few ideas:

Report Library Happenings - This is probably the main way I was thinking of using Twitter.  I thought about sending tweets about new books, special program reminders, contest winners, and upcoming book club meeting dates.  I also liked Burkhardt's suggestion about letting patrons know about unusual occurrences such as early closures or machines being down.

Sharing Recommendations - I also liked the idea of having kids tweet book recommendations to the library and then embedding a widget on the library's website for the tweets.

Build Community - I hadn't thought using Twitter for building community ties, but I liked the ideas about retweeting information from students and other patrons about upcoming community events or interesting content.

Engaging Users - Burkhardt also talked about helping users with library questions.  In this article, he talks about setting up tweet alerts using the advanced search feature in Twitter in order to alert you to library related questions from users in your area.  You could also share articles about authors, the importance of school libraries, or the positive effects of reading with your followers.