Library Thing

I went to LibraryThing and created an account. Books in my library can be found at: http://www.librarything.com/catalog/cybrariancyndi . These are books published in 2007 that I will be using for a Children's Literature class I am teaching. This is fantastic. When I put the books published in 2008 I will use the 2008 tag and I am thinking that I will be able to search for those books published in 2008 in my library. In a before school session with teachers to promote books and reading I have started another Library Thing of just the books in their library that I will be talking about at http://www.librarything.com/catalog/cwelsh

Online Applications & Tools

Zoho Writer and Google Docs (Formerly known as Writely) must be pretty much the same. I have heard positive praise about Google Docs but have not heard of Zoho Writer until now. There is so much here that can be profitable to use in the classroom.

First I made a free account in Zoho Writer .

Wikis

Wiki’s began as a wikiwiki in 1994 / 1995 by Ward Cunninghan --called it a wikiwikiweb for programmers. Wiki means quick or fast (Hawaiian) and is a collaborative on-line website / Internet tool, a simple on-line database, a content management system, a website that allows the users to visit, read, reorganize, brainstorm, add, edit, delete and update information and allows users to work collaboratively to create a website with no knowledge to html. Lists are made of changes including the time of changes and who changed. Wiki’s can have:
Course information
Course discussion
Subject Guides
Book Discussions
Reader Reviews
Collaboration
Knowledge Sharing
Creating Stories
Conferences
Professional Development
Technology Professional Development
Creative Writing about things learned in class / library
Links to relevant Web sites
Key events of the class
Comments and exchanges of writing --For the students and ESL learner jokes, riddles, questions Teachers can query then students post written responses allowing the students to read and respond to other student’s ideas evolving more into a discussion instead of teacher directed.
The best know wiki is Wikipedia. A wiki that I am working on is a literature wiki (mostly specific to recently published children's literature K-8 located at https://literarygreats2008.wikispaces.com/ at this point it is open to anyone, later I will probably be restricting it.

Top Tools for learning

What are the Top 100 Tools for learning? The Top 20? Here is a great download that will come in handy to learn more about these tools and play for awhile. I must check with Discovery Learning. They had taken a poll and I do not remember what the top 10 were.

I liked how the top ten most frequently mentioned on 2008 lists by other teachers, instructional designers and online learning specialists (many I am familiar with and have used) are listed here from the InfoBytes NewsletterJanuary 16, 2008Editor: Karen Franker. -- Sometimes it pays to go back through old emails and clean out my box.
Skype – host IM chat, conference and international calls
Del.icio.us - store, tag and share bookmarks online, valuable resource for finding others’ favorite sites
GoogleDocs - write documents to share, store, present and access from anywhere via the web (no more emailing drafts); import docs from MS Office and Open Office
Google Reader - aggregate and read all your news and blog feeds in this free web-based reader
Audacity - record podcasts and edit audio files
Google Search – research topics with this highly-regarded and powerful Web searching tool
Camtasia - record your computer screen to create training videos or screencasts
Articulate – create tutorials and quizzes with three tools – Presenter converts PowerPoints to Flash tutorials with narration, Engage adds interactivity, and Quizmaker creates Flash-based tests and surveys
Captivate - create flash cards and interactive simulations for self-paced online learning
SnagIt - capture, edit and print screen images and make a video of on-screen actions

It is also nice to have them listed here for me so that I can go back through the website address and check out more later.

International Edubloggers Directory

International Edubloggers Directory
is a directory of edubloggers from around the world, where I can check into and learn from what they (other edubloggers) are blogging about.
Cindy Welsh, USA, K-8, Adult,
LibraryTeacher/ Library Media Specialist
Cybrarian Cyndi's BlogMy musings about Web 2.o tools, Libraries, and Technology.
Theme: web 2.o tools, libraries, technology, gifted support teacher, adult education teacher
Labels: adult education, adult education teacher, gifted support teacher, k-8, libraries, technology, usa, web2.0

Also check out EduBloggerWorld. I am member #582. Check out the Frappr Map at: http://edubloggerworld.wikispaces.com/Our+Frappr+Map

I am also a member of Keystones Who's Who (Keystone Technology Integrator 2007)

What Do We Know About Our Kids’ Futures? Really.

I have admired and have great respect for Will Richardson (he spoke at PETE&C last year) and love to read Weblogg- ed.
Check out all the excellent discussion What Do We Know About Our Kids’ Futures? Really. at : http://weblogg-ed.com/2008/what-do-we-know-about-our-kids-futures-really/

Web 2.0.

Web 2.0

The image to the right, came from Wikipedia

-- September 30, 2005, Tim O'Reilly wrote a piece summarizing his view of Web 2.0. The mind-map (constructed by Markus Angermeier [1] on November 11, 2005) sums up some of the memes of Web 2.0, with example-sites and services attached.

This mind map is very similar to tag clouds.