Task 23: Summarise your thoughts - Feedback

Overall time
Some tasks took me a lot longer than I thought and others were quicker. It would be difficult in a work place to just put aside a set time for the tasks. I would have found it difficult to stop a task if I was having trouble getting my head around the instructions (or lack thereof) if I had to stop and then start again the next day. So what I did was to look at a task and then finish it. If it was a short one I would try a 2nd task but if it took me a while I would just do 1 at a time.

Relevance of the tools
In relation to the Library and students, I thought Podcasts, RSS feeds, Wiki, Blogs would be useful. On a personal note, I liked Lifelong learning (even though the southern accent was annoying), Flickr, LibriVox, GoogleMAPS, iGoogle, and YouTube (for fun). Like Rockchicklibrarian I ended up in FaceBook and spent some time there and will return.

Specific Difficulties
Some of the tasks had confusing instructions - or perhaps that's not fair because it was the web site for the task that was confusing.

Overall view
I thought the whole process was very worthwhile. I might not return to some areas covered in the tasks but at least I now know about them.

Task 22: More to life with Second Life

I have been to a session describing the use of SL by Rick Strelan and Helen Farley who won a $30 000 Strategic Teaching and Learning Grant to develop a presence for UQ Studies in Religion in the virtual world of Second Life.
They purchased an island to construct a variety of religious spaces. This would allow students to explore and understand other religions. Helen has a blog http://www.ruperturiza.blogspot.com/

It all looked interesting in the session and I could see that it would be useful for such a subject. However, I do agree with pollyblogger that it doesn't take much to visit some of these in the real world and actually speak to someone. And yes, I know that a real visit to some is not possible - hence the usefullness of the island.

My biggest complaint - I couldn't think a of first name to even create a login - how sad is that. Anything I thought of wasn't useful.

Personally I don't think I would really use SL without a compelling reason to be there.

Task 21 - Twittering

I have just started to investigate twittering and have found a nice short introduction on YouTube

Twitter in Plain English http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddO9idmax0o

.commoncraft.com A quick and plain English intro the micro ...2 min 25 sec -
I have just posted something on my Twitter account. Now all I have to do is find some friends.

Task 20: Podcasts, Smodcasts

I now understand why podcasts, smodcasts is such an appropriate title for this task. I have found so many podcasts - and I am starting to wonder, do I care? I would definitely find podcasts and view them if I was interested. But I think I would be very selective in my feeds. I did a search for Jamie Oliver podcasts and went to this site http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/ - but no mention of podcasts. I have been watching Jamie Oliver's Ministry of Food and apparently he has a podcast. However, when I went to the site I became very confused because it wasn't very clear. Maybe I am missing something :)

On the other hand, I am aware that I have to finish very soon and this is making me less willing to float around. I need to find out now not in a few hours time. Please tell me if I am missing something vital.

Task 19: You too can YouTube

Went to YouTube - found some funny videos.
Now I can add some. Have a look at The Jury Room - UQ Law Revue 2008
and one that I had seen before Please Ring For Assistance - UQ Law Revue 2005
and UQLS Suggestion Box - Law Revue 2008

In fact there are a lot of great videos from the Law students. Maybe acting is a requirement for the courtroom.

However, I don't think I would just be a random visitor of YouTube.

I have also visited Yahoo Videos and Google Videos. The whole thing reminds me of the home video shows on TV - and I am not a fan.

On another note, I have noticed that some TV shows are now announcing that you can visit the channel website and watch the show again - not a bad idea.

Task 18 - Create an iGoogle page

I had a lot of fun with this one - adding gadgets as requested and some for fun. They I was sidetracked to Facebook because I added that gadget. I then found out how much time could be used up by just finding friends etc.
I experimented with different themes but went back to the first one I chose.

Task 17: Play with Google around the world

I have used Google Maps quite a lot. When it first came out I found my house and looked at my neighbourhood. Just recently I was interested in a house that I saw advertised. I went to Google Maps to check out the house and just as importantly checked out the neighbouring houses and streets.

I have also used Google Maps to plan a journey many times.

I hadn't used Google Docs before. I like it very much.

Google just gets better and better.

Task 16 Collaborate to a wiki by adding an entry

I always have trouble thinking of something "deep and meaningful" to add. Anyway, I went ahead and added something very boring.

Task 15 - So what's in a Wiki?

There was a lot of reading in this one. The most important concept about wikis is that you need to have a targeted group who will respond to your efforts. The Discovery Resources were very good and gave good tips for setting up wikis and what to look for in a wiki platform.

I thought the conference was a good idea, particularly where people could add their own social ideas about the location. I think wikis could also work at conferences if they are set up as a place to ask questions about sessions e.g. clarification of issues or something similar.

Book clubs would also be good areas for wikis. You could run a club for people in remote places. I am sure I could think of other ideas.

Task 14: Getting not-so-technical with Technorati

As requested, I searched for Learning 2.0 in Blog posts, tags and directory. The results were certainly different and really emphasised that to get the most out of the technology, you have to think about where and what you are searching.

In the popular sites, I have never seen so much "stuff". Everyone has an opinion and really wants to share it. I think I am a bigger fan for RSS feeds.

Task 13: Tagging, folksomonies & social bookmarking in Del.icio.us

A very interesting concept. I wouldn't want to just share my bookmarks with the world, but I could see that it would be very useful as a collaborative tool. I registered and imported some bookmarks. I also had a look around using the search function - a lot of people with a lot to say :)

Task 12 Listen to LibriVox

I didn't know this existed and am very impressed. What a wonderful service :) I had a good look around the site and listened to some chapters. I also looked at the volunteer pages - really felt that I should be doing something. I will keep it in mind as a future interest.

Task 11

Google Books is interesting but a bit frustrating - find an interesting book but only get a snippet. I created my library and will add more to it.

Task 10

I have joined LibraryThing - had a lovely wander around. Here is the link to my library http://www.librarything.com/catalog/noela34

It is hard to choose favourite books - changes with the season and my mood.

Task 9

I have just had to tell google that my blog isn't a spam blog. I think this was activated by the button at the top left "Flag blog" or something. I hope all will be ok. Anyway, onward with the 23 things.... Have just added a feed from digg.com. What an amazing amount of "stuff" available.

Went to look at Syndic8.com - not available - backing up
then went on to Feedster which had the following information: Feedster Quietly Dies... So Which Blog Search Engine Do You Use? Written by Richard MacManus / November 21, 2007

Not doing too well, but still I can get the RSS feeds I am interested in.

Task 8

Have just added some RSS feeds. I am sure there is a way to do this without having long lists down the page. Will have to investigate.

Task 7

Have just added a Blogroll to my blogger - getting there slowly. I got the information from google.

UQ Library 23 things - Task 6

Hi
I have just found Trip Planner by Yahoo! Travel - part of Flickr Services
This is the explanation from the website:

"Trip Planner is a website that lets you build a travel itinerary with your hotel, nearby restaurants, attractions, maps, driving directions and more! When you return home, create a photo set of your trip on Flickr then show them off as part of your trip plan."

My sister and her husband had a 3 month trip to England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. They sent regular long emails about their travels, but this would have been great for them and would have been a great momento afterwards.

I also found the colour picker and enjoyed playing with the colour combinations.

UQ Library 23 things task 5

Hi, I have created a Flickr account and changed some of the preferences. It's an interesting concept, but if I wanted to share my photos I would definitely create a group and make it private.
I found a really great photo on Flickr

Task 2: 7 1/2 Habits of Highly Successful Lifelong Learners

I listened to the 7 1/2 Habits of Highly Successful Lifelong Learners and came to some conclusions. It is important to have a script, as it did. It is also important to choose someone with an appropriate voice. The voice used was OK but it could have been a more neutral accent. I liked that I could read the script rather than listen to the voiceover. I wanted to check some information in a later slide and being able to scan the script of each slide and press the "next" slide button to go through quickly was good.

5. Create your own learning toolbox - this may be one of my challenges. You have to give yourself time to do it and have the confidence that you are choosing the correct tools. I also think that this ties in with 7.5 - Play.

Anyway, here I am at work, playing around with blogs and linking myself to other blogs and not feeling that I should "really" be doing something else.

First Post - Tasks 3 and 4 of UQ Library 23 things

I have just created my first blog. The blog is to report my progress through the UQ Library's "23 Things" online learning course.

I decided that I would send my blog to David and Fiona to register it.