Learning 2.0-- LOLcat mashup

I couldn't resist posting one more mashup. If you are a LOLcat fan, if you just like cats, or if you just want a good laugh, try the LOLinator. Too cute! :)

Learning 2.0-- Mashups...with one "wii-qwest"

As we approach the home stretch of our formal Learning 2.0 program journey, we take on the task of exploring Mashups. I confess that this has been one of the more confusing applications for me. I think I am making it more difficult than it really is, though. A mashup, as I can figure, is taking data from two or more different sites and putting onto one site turning it into something useful. I remember looking through the flickr mashups earlier in the semester and found several that I liked. I wanted to try to find some mashups unrelated to flickr this time, so I explored the web mashups directory and looked through the top picks. I found a great one related to shopping that I thought was especially appropriate as I think about good deals for Christmas. Secretprices.com has a great all in one site: it is a place you can find information on products, where the best deals are for those products, product reviews, and even price comparisons. It is truly one stop shopping! That is my kind of mashup. Now, if it could only help me find a deal on a Wii...

Learning 2.0-- Podcasting

This week's lesson required us to explore some podcast directories and find a podcast that interested us. I had already found a few library-related podcasts that I was subscribing to, so I wanted to look for some new ones. I found a children's book review podcast, Book Voyages, and an interesting Educational Technology podcast, The TechTeacher Podcast. I am hopeful that these two sites will not only help me with collection development but will also allow me to stay current with trends in children's literature and educational technology as it relates to teaching.

Learning 2.0--YouTube

I have been exploring YouTube for a while now. In fact, I recently uploaded a private video of my little boy singing at church so my sister and mom could see it since they couldn't be there. It was great! This is one of the things I love about YouTube (not related to libraries)--the ability to see events that you wouldn't normally get to see. I have noticed that people are using their cell phones and even their digital video cameras to videotape events and even segments of events, such as concerts, and upload them to YouTube. We can all now see concerts we couldn't afford to attend or didn't get to go to because the event was too far away. Also, YouTube has allowed us to be eyewitnesses to events. Some might feel this is an invasion of privacy; others feel this is just the kind of extra set of "eyes" that can help prosecute criminals who commit crimes while unknowingly being caught on a cellphone or videotape. Of course, YouTube can also catch us at a vulnerable moment, like the well-known Miss Teen USA incident involving Miss South Carolina. It is interesting how a technology like YouTube has changed history in many ways. The Miss Teen USA incident, while embarrassing for Miss South Carolina, would likely have been forgotten in a shorter amount of time without a tool like YouTube.

This technology can have great implications for education and libraries, too. Libraries have posted lots of videos promoting their services and even instruction sessions and tutorials on YouTube and other video sharing sites. These are great tools to use to reach library users with a form of media that is appealing and familiar to them. These video sites, along with many of the other Web 2.0 tools, also allow for users to create content, a more friendly approach for libraries. Libraries have even had contests open to their patrons encouraging them to make creative videos either promoting a particular library service or tied to a holiday. The best videos were then uploaded to YouTube. Maybe the best thing about events like this is that it helps the library not just feel like a fun place to be, but that the people who work inside are approachable and "real."

Here is a video from the Allen County Public Library video contest:


Here is a fun video I found related to databases:

What "accent" do you have?

OK, I just finished reading a friend's blog and saw her entry about accents. She had taken a quiz that showed where she was from based on her "accent." My results showed that I had "no accent." It said I was from the midland. Well, that part of the quiz didn't really "work." However, the other part of the description, "...for all we know you could be from Florida..." was spot on. :0) Take the quiz and see what accent you have.

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Midland   "You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.
The Inland North
The South
The West
The Northeast
Philadelphia
Boston
North Central
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Learning 2.0--Web-Based Applications

We were directed to check out the UCD Library 2 go's blog post that lists web-based applications that might be useful to students during their college careers. I decided to check out the library's site a little further. I was intrigued by the idea that this library was 1) creating a blog and 2) pointing students to web-based applications that would potentially take the place of products like Word and Powerpoint, software programs that librarians are seemingly always being asked to offer technical support on the use of. So, I went to the library's homepage to find out more. [On a side note--It was neat to see a meebome widget on the front of their homepage. :) ] I think most (all?) of the applications may be new to many of the students. I knew about Zotero, and was a little surprised that they mentioned it considering they have a license for EndNote on their campus. I think the most useful applications would be Zotero and Google docs.


Also, students who need to incorporate surveys into their studies will find Survey Monkey useful; a user can survey up to 100 particants with up to 10 questions with their basic version for free.

A recent addition to UCD's blog that I think students will also find helpful is the post on online photography and image tools. More and more students are connecting with each other through social networking sites. Part of the connection is personalizing their sites with images; the tools mentioned in this post offer advice on photo editing, photo sharing and even photography blogs. In fact, I think I am going to check this post out further for myself! :)

Learning 2.0--Processing Words on the Web

I have been working with Google docs and its presentation application and have really enjoyed them. Things I like: the ability to work on a document at the same time as my co-workers, no need to email a file back and forth between my co-workers, and a clean and simple interface. Things I don't like: dependence on an Internet connection. If you are at a conference and have your presentation in Google docs, you must have an Internet connection in order to present. This isn't always a problem, but with Bill G's product, your technology requirements seem easier to meet. For students, Google docs presents lots of advantages, not the least of which is the $0 price tag. It is exciting to think about the possibilities of collaboration if students could meet online at the same time to work on a project in Google docs. They could add content and edit and see those changes happening live. There would be no downtime as in traditional file swapping via email. Of course another benefit is the ability to access the document from any computer. The file resides on the web, making it accessible from any internet connection. With Google docs, you can also export the file as a Word file if you wanted to open it in Word later.

Web-based applications offer a great alternative to the high-priced office suite applications. They offer equitable functionality at a great price (free!) and can even provide more benefits than their software counterparts.