Relax? I will tonight when I watch Project Runway with a beer...Reflect? Okey dokey here goes...

Reflecting:

What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?
I loved the Flicker pages and just getting lost moving from one pic to the next.
I really liked the You Tube and I liked seeing how easy it is to make a blog and blog about it. Who knew?

How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?
Well, it has opened up a world to me that seemed very intimidating before, so i guess you taught this old girl a few new tricks and i feel more confident about technological changes, though I will never LOVE TECHNOLOGY like my hubby does!

Were there any take-aways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?
I guess I was surprised by my ability to do it! Also I was surprised by the websites and how un- userfriendly some of them were...you'd think they'd want to make it easier to attract more users. Takeaways? Well, a lot of it was just a whole lot of fun! My kids know I have an avatar now, ups my cool quotient...at least with a 7 and 9 year old!
What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?
I would suggest buddying people up before they even log on for the first time, techies with non-techies to make it more of an ensured positive start and lessen the frustration and fear for those who don't take to all this as easily...?
If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you again chose to participate?
It's hard to imagine right now to choose to take on an extended program, since we just now finished and I was late because I just couldn't fit it in with all the other projects and new reports we are doing and new CPI goals to meet, etc. But, well, yes...it is hard to pass up something that can be so transformative for an entire staff! Wow! Good Job to all those who created this for us...it was a lot of work I am sure, but you have really done a fantastic job.

Wiki

I can see that a wiki could be very cool for a book group or a group of family members to share or plan events. They look fairly easy to use and are truly a democratic endeavor-which makes me happy, liberal that I am!
(I have to admit that I am not sure I would use one unless pressed into it by Sno-Isle employing this tool in a way that would require me to participate...sorry!---i just already have enough on my plate!)
I think this is just great that we all know more about these though. We aren't the disconnected crowd of stereotypical library workers anymore! HOO HAH!

Gaming

Well, that was another new experience. I am always so busy at work it's just all work and no play makes Jackie a harried, dull branch manager...

I played a game where I had to click on matching dots to uncover the stone. i think my reflexes need some work!

Again, once i get that laptop or pc at home, watch out!
I liked looking at the educational games, too. it's nice to know there are some that can be fun but still have some "usefulness" that can be readily recognized by parents!

googly schmoogly doo! let's go flying

Well, that was another really cool adventure in this 20 for 2.0
It was easy to download and run the program and the tool bars are very easy to use.

I typed in the address of my house and did the flying thing. Very neat. Felt like i was in a land speeder like in Star Wars!
I was disapppointed that i couldn't see our swimming pool (it was in the shaded area of the backyard), but i did see our next door neighbor was home.
Google could be a great place to get my driving directions next time, too.

Avatars and doppel me

I made such a cute avatar complete with smile, glasses, dorky outfit, and cute new hairstyle and I saved it and everything. I emailed it to myself but i don't see it in the email! I guess that will be my excuse to make another one.

zoho ho ho and a bottle of rum

okay--you can do documents and this would be very useful for a lot of our patrons...i want to show some patrons google docs because we live in a somewhat rural area and i think this could be a very valuable thing for our residents who don't have a lot of resources or access to document systems at work and the ability to share those documents easily sounded like it really worked for a lot of different types of people with different needs/abilities

I still will use my office 2007 word and will try to explore telling patrons about google doc options!

zoho and google docs seemed pretty similar and pretty easy to use

search engines...meta-style

I still like my good old google because I am used to it and it usually gives me what i want quickly, but it was cool to see these meta engines too and see the ability to hone in on my own interests and have the results directed toward those. I don't really have a preference except maybe liking the red on Rollyo--not a very scientific reason!
I searched for my name because I read that someone else did this, too, and it gave me pretty much the same list on all 3 sites.

podcasts

I listened to a Steven Abrams link I learned about on someone's post. Very interesting info about trends in libraries. I tried a bit of the WSU Libraries podcasts, too. A lot of this could be useful to patrons, but very useful to staff. I loved the podcast alley directory of info...lots i might want to listen to about kids and families.

online image generators-wow!

Okay--now that was cool!!! I had no idea how much trouble Icould get into if I had my own pc at home...would I ever see daylight again?

overdrive is a great thing for our patrons and for staff to enjoy too

Overdrive is awesome! I think patrons just need a little help in getting started and downloading the media console and such. It is a little overwhelming (but what a great problem) to see so many options of how to use these audio books. People get confused about how long they actually have to download the book and listen to it, I find, so I try to emphasize the only short time limits are on putting things in your cart and checking them out and then also when you get notified of your hold and making sure to check it out before 48 hours. Otherwise it's pretty straightforward.

Social Bookmarks

I guess these could be really useful for research. It would be a great way to connect with others interested in the same subjects and if someone used a computer at work, at home, at school, out at friends' houses, you could get at all your favorite sites easily. I guess I am just not enough of a techie to have this really grab me. I only have one pc I use: at work. It would be great to explore this more when I get my pc for home in the next few months!

You Tube is too fun

Here is my embedded You Tube video--it's my neighbor rocking out as he and his computer software engineer coworkers test out a multi-cam used in making things such as rock videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsYM0NHQMxM

friend networks...kind of interesting but not my style

I think that this is the future of social interaction for a lot of youth, but it's not my style. It is very worthwhile to know more about how these sites work, though since we handle a lot of patron questions from people using pc's. I don't care for the way the sites are set up, but it's cool to connect with people you haven't seen since your school years. I don't really see an application in the library system for this however.

friend networks

created a facebook account and that was easy. I explored the site a bit and i have to say this seems like a pleasant diversion, but i have kids, family, etc. and i can't see this being that useful for myself personally or professionally because i have more demanding things of my time.
i think it's great that other people enjoy it and i am glad to know more about these, too. It is valuable for me to have a reference point to help patrons when they are trying to use these or when teens make reference to them. I am glad I tried it!

you tube hulu fancast--wow and i get paid to do this?

A great exposure this week to popular culture that I have not taken the time to explore before.
I looked thru a few library videos but found them pretty borring. It was cool to see The Office, though I didn't take time to actually watch very long. (I'm too busy---I get the point that I could watch if I were at home or at a library on my own time! Cool! No wonder people want those headphones in the library!)
I can see that these would really be cool to explore--lots of great movies I have never seen and if I ever buy that laptop that i have been swearing i am going to buy...
Useful for the library? Heck yeah! If people are watching these, Sno-Isle has a great new tool to explore for marketing!

Interesting photo I found by searching for geotagged photos on Flickr.com

"Booze and Bokeh" was the only photo geotagged for Sultan Washington on flickr. See link in my post immediately below this one. It led me to do a google search on the word bokeh and I discovered that is a relatively new photography term (circa 2000) basically referring to a fuzzy part of an image...do the google search yourself to learn lots more. This photo was probably of most interest to me since it is tagged as Sultan and because I had no idea if bokeh was a drug term I just was clueless enough to not know. An interesting little journey into the world of flickr. I can see how this website would get kind of addicting to explore and to use for my own photos, too.

Booze And Bokeh on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Booze And Bokeh on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

music online

It's quite interesting to see how much music is freely available to online users and how you can tailor it to your specific favortites. I find the sites a bit clunky to use, but I wasn't reared with the younger generation was, a toddler using a mouse was not me!
I will now understand better what people are doing when they are using our public pc's and listening to music, too.

RSS Feeds demystified (well, somewhat...)

I went to bloglines today and my rss feeds were actually there...it worked! There was interesting content tailored to my interest all pulled out for me. I can see why RSS Feeds are very useful.

Trying to I.M.

I read and viewed everything about I.M.'ing--now I just have to coordinate with someone to actually do it. I am going to move on to the next Web 2.0 task, though, because I have gotten too far behind trying to wait to I.M. when I have time to get someone else to do it with me.

It's been a good week

I have not been able to devote much time to the 20 for 2.0 this week, but in trying to post another blog item, I see it's pretty easy (except for having nothing clever to say).
I guess I am just glad I am getting experience with all of these new ways of communicating and using technology.

Idunno....

Hmm...I guess I did this right(???)...It didn't ask me for any sign in name or password, though...hmmm???

blogging is easy

Who knew blogs were so easy? No blog snob will ever intimidate me again! Hmph!
I approached this 20 for 2.0 with hope and fear. It has had its kinks along the way, but it is accomplishing what I hoped it would:
I feel more comfortable with all these new-fangled edumacated doohickeys.