This is the end...

My friend the end... as sang by The Doors.

A great song that I thought of when first asked to reflect on the culmination of my LIS629 class. A class that I hope the rest of my graduate school can live up to. For me the class was the a great discovery of so many tools. Learning them for me was easy, it was quick, and it was fun. It forced me to look at tools like Twitter and Blogger as methods for gathering up followers, finding new followers, and getting my own messages out to the masses. The reality of the final project and the class itself is that it really is in place more to teach us to learn all over again. So many of these tools will be gone in a matter of months, the real thing I took away from this class is that I need to be ready to learn the new tools and be ready for them.

Already I have used some tools in other classes, Prezi for one. And other tools have already shown their future worth, Twitter specifically. Prezi represents a great alternative to the all too common and ever so lame Microsoft Presentation. Twitter on the other hand is part of my now growing PLN. Providing constant non-stop links to new websites and resources to learn on my own.

Now its time for the endless learning, reading, reflecting, hunting, and catching of all the web has to offer!

Tweet Tweet Twitter

Really starting to realize the potential in PLNs as I already have found multiple sites that have proven to be both interesting and useful. Especially in regards to discovering different Web2.0 tools and some of their applications.

For me learning about the Web2.0 tools is new for me just like it is for a lot of my classmates. Over the years though I have to say growing up on the web and having personal interests in computers and gaming has really helped me in the class understand and have a foundation to work off. Almost all the programs are media based which are programs and elements that I haven't had as much experience as I would like, but I think I can apply these tools in all my work to a very high degree of effectiveness with my background knowledge. Especially tools like Aviary and the presentation tools, they provide such an easy way to create graphics that can step up online content in ways that I feel a lot of normal average web users can't even really recognize without really looking at the base components of a website. Building a website from scratch and using just MS Paint and a Text editor can really make you realize the finer things in life.

I am definitely am looking forward to the final project layouts. I hope I can help my fellow classmates with what they need help with. Today proved though that learning new Web 2.0 tools can be extra hard when the computers your trying to use are outdated by like 4 years...and have faulty system files...nonetheless obstacles even when unnecessary can help to appreciate the easy things in life.

On the Third Day...

a massive exploration of the NET today, the class was thrown some WEB2.0 tools and told to learn. It may seem harsh but the reality is, in the future, as more tools come out and become popular or old tools resurface from the depths of the WEB, learning the new and the old will be up to us as members in an evolving field. The only way to stay on top of the field will be to stay on top of the web, a job that in itself is more a test of discipline then an attempt to conquer.
If there is any advice I can give anyone it’s the fact that messing around with the basic tools and anything you come across will only help in the future. I have found that when you take a look at Aviary, Photoshop, or even Expressions the systems are the same, for they are relatively standard, and it’s that way for a lot of things, which makes becoming familiar with one come in handy when the next generation hits the internet.

Patience is definitely the other necessity, because even though a lot of the tools can be useless on their own, the combination of using a lot of tools can sometimes lend themselves to creations that could never be made on their own…I find this to be the most true with video and graphic manipulation. A lot of the systems are the same, but some have an edge over the other in one arena or another. Harnessing the power across platforms is something that can propel projects forward in leaps and bounds.

On a side note I just realized that Aviary has 70+ tutorials on photo manipulation for free, and so I have a late night ahead of me!

So Much Knowledge!

As I look around the room at the knowledge spill that has just occurred in my LIS629 classroom, my heart goes out to the poor trapped souls in the informational sludge that has consumed the surrounding landscape, but it is all AWESOME. Unlike those unfortunate marine creatures on the coast our own knowledge spill will inevitably make us stronger.

I can't help but liken it to the story my grandfather told me about his first experience in learning to swim, in which he was pushed off a dock and told to swim. Fortunately we have an exceptional guru to guide us through the muck and give us direction (directions: helpful in computers, swimming, and cooking). A lot of the information today can be overwhelming at first glance, but as users grow accustom to it they will without a doubt begin to play and explore and that is where the real learning will happen. Hopefully they will share their discoveries on blogs, twitter, or anything and more importantly I hope to be a part of their friend-list to learn about that innovation myself (“Must Grow PLN…”).

The helpfulness in Web2.0 and Library2.0 ideas and theories really become strong as the community becomes stronger. So many scientific ideas have stemmed from this idea of community knowledge on a whole. Just like a bee hives these PLNs of the internet grow in strength flexibility and determination as each person enters into them. Ultimately I find these networks to be an incredibly groundbreaking endeavor in expanding the abilities of everyone involved in them, with so much expert knowledge at hand it seems that each person can glean the best aspects of each member and become closer to the ideal librarian that we seek to be and that libraries seek to have.

Using Blogs in the Media Center

As the world becomes more and more connected the future is the web. As a future librarian, it seems that even as I write this post new technologies whether they be sites or programs are coming up and going down. Blogs are one of the oldest social networking tools that people have had available to them. They have without a doubt gotten shinier, faster, and all together cooler but their essence is the same and their basics have spawned the next generation of social networking sites(facebook; Myspace; etc.).

It has to be said that students in this day and age when it comes to new technology they probably have a head start on their educate. It's among terms like "crib-side-computers" that educators of this new generation are obligated to find new ways to show students this basic foundation in an interactive way might not be new and surprising product in itself, but the proper integration into the education system and the application of these tools can excite them in ways that educators have never had the power to do.

Now in a world of interconnectedness blogging becomes a necessary tool of becoming a part of the international membership that is the world wide web. With that in mind, preparing any student in today's world is a task in preparing them for both a physical world of business and universities but also a digital world of blogs and sites of all types; and the classroom needs to reflect that.