hoooold on, there, web 3.0

I received this message from mediabistro.com (which I'd signed up for to stay hip to the upcoming trends in my publishing days):

"We'll be celebrating Web 3.0, our upcoming conference in New York on May 19-20. Web 3.0 is all about new technologies that are driving businesses forward today. Some of the conference speakers will be at the party, so if you have questions about what's next on the web, you can ask the experts including our hosts, conference co-chairs Dan Grigorovici and Hank Williams."

It has me thinking of how similar libraries' needs are to those of business, particularly as far as web use is concerned.

podcast pumped

I'm thrilled that we're exploring podcasts because, at present, I'm intrigued and intimidated by them. The experience I do have with podcasts has me realizing that my intimidation is caused more by a lack of time and updated equipment (my computer, 5 years old but beautiful, is sooooooo slooooowwwwwww) than it does from the medium itself.

I'm about to jump onto a train, and I'll be listening to a podcast on it from my iPhone (with which, if I haven't mentioned it already, I'm having a love affair, by the way), and I'll be considering why I've yet to incorporate podcasting into my every day life. See you on the other side of the cast.

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Podcasts have the power to transport, if given enough space and just the right conditions for transport.

That's what I determined en route yesterday, This American Life podcast streaming into my ears. Enough space on my iPhone, just the right volume, just long enough a commute, and I was elsewhere, mentally, in the best way: entertained, comforted, and thinking critically.

Podcasts and blogs and email all allow such immediate, potentially rich communication (takes the right ingredients and timing, like cooking)... by anyone. The opportunity to express is so freeing. But. The responsibility to monitor, to assess, to respond can be so incredibly daunting. Case in point:

I offered a student the option to email me over the break regarding a research project book recommendation. She did:

"Hi Ms. Daehler,It's me... I think I know what I would like to include in my paper, but I'm not sure if it's "modern enough." .... Since the paper is due in such a short amount of time I think that these books would do. I would also throw in some quotes from the Bible, but I've never really read it. I know some stories but I've never read it from cover to cover. Are these books okay to include. If they are I think I know which direction I can write my paper in.Thank You in advance. Happy Easter!"

My taxes are not yet done. I have homework and projects and reading and student teaching to do... But my eagerness to connect with a student and help them see me as a resource, combined with the mighty powers of the internet, and an expectation for quick response, adds a to-do to my list. I'm marveling at what kinds of communication technology is facilitating... and what kinds of stress it's capable of inducing. What am I doing with the concern? Blogging about it.

whoa whoa WHOA! organizing the organizers

I've just had a really interesting, informative meeting with Ms. Chemistry Teacher, and I'm excited and OVERWHELMED.

Ning is great, and I think it'll work really well with the 20-student Science Club to start with. Chem Teach and I plan to introduce the tool to them on April 23rd. We're also planning to survey the teachers to determine how they use technology in the classroom. Chem Teach is actually studying the topic for an action research project, but I'm happy to be involved. We plan to present the survey at our next weekly staff meeting.

Check out these crazy Web 2.0 resources / resource lists!!

Back to School with the Class of Web 2.0: http://www.solutionwatch.com/512/back-to-school-with-the-class-of-web-20-part-1/

GradeFix: http://www.gradefix.com/index.php

NoteMesh: http://notemesh.com/?a=home

All these resources intend to make life more organized and informed, but there's so much to explore! Not enough time... to save time.

miss, you trippin'

I keep thinking about Nicholas Carr's description of his Web foraging as "tripping from link to link," and the notion of hyperlinks propelling us toward related works. Are we less and less susceptible to inadvertent link propelling (as we are, I think, to advertising), or are our brains increasingly operating as Net-provided information demands that it be?

Here, Jim Kapoun writes (in 1998), "If you are an instructional librarian, you know that the Web, in its ever-changing formats, is seemingly here to stay." I don't remember ever questioning (or doubting) that the Web was here to stay, let alone in recent years. No way, no how, no question. I am questioning whether my attention span is here to stay, or whether it's a goner. :/

let's ning this thing!

Once in a while--more than, actually--I wake up and recognize that I'm the luckiest librarian out there. I'll not deny that the thought has crossed my mind an abnormally high percentage of the time on generous school system vacation days, but work days definitely have me thinking it, too.

[A student just now returned an SAT review book and checked another out, and that's the kind of thing that gets me all choked up. Ahhh.]

Last week, in the midst of Science Fair Preparation Madness*, our 11th grade Chemistry teacher approached me (presumably in response to a memo I'd sent out recently advertising our newly purchased databases, asking for book requests--hooray REACH grant money!--and offering to collaborate on lessons) and asked if I was interested in collaborating on a lesson using Ning. Um, yes! The teacher had just returned from a conference featuring a session that apparently stressed the potential benefits of utilizing technology in the classroom, and she was clearly inspired. Her interest has me giddy.

We'll meet today to plan the lesson, and I've just signed up for Ning in preparation. I also joined the Library 2.0 social network. This involved providing additional (and repeat) general information, plus a statement about why I am interested in joining the network. I wrote, "I'm very interested in user-centered change and participation in the creation of content and community!" Who, I wonder, was reading my 'application'?! I received an email that said, "Welcome to Ning, where you can create and discover new social networks for the most important people and interests in your life." Wow now! Said that way, I almost feel as though I've won some sort of gift.

The gift is apparently conditional, though. My current status? "Your membership to Library 2.0 is pending approval. Hello, Ms. Daehler, Your profile details must be approved by the Administrator before you can become a member of Library 2.0. You will receive an email once your profile is approved."

Well, then!

Oooh, update [22 minutes or so later]! This just in: "Congratulations! Your Library 2.0 membership has been approved."

I'm basking in the approval (could there have been a wrong answer? Might someone actually be rejected?), and I'm excited to see what my colleague and I are able to set up for the students this afternoon. SNS use in the classroom, here we come.

*In order to prepare students for their Science Fair project presentations, Joe, our ESL teacher, and I made mock presentations to every section of the 11th grade. We demonstrated, very effectively (if student feedback is any indication), all the things NOT to do: awful posture, over-generalizations, lack of focus, no eye contact, reading off of the slide (while blocking it, back to the audience) in monotone, slang ("These molecules are O.D. running into each other, yo!"), poor team work, etc. etc. We caused a lot of giggles, and students were wonderful about pointing out exactly what we'd done wrong. Following the presentations and feedback sharing, when everyone was calm and attentive, I also "got" to make a big speech about how to take care of the library (they'd left the place a MESS the night before, and I was flustered and insulted). I'll spare you the speech, but judging by the current state of the library, it was effective. Timing and mood has so much to do with it, I think!

anonymity, please. oh, and sometimes fame.

It struck me as I read "BBC: Google Pulls Some Street Images" that while some were making noise about being pictured (and demanding that their now public sightings be removed), others were SUBMITTING PHOTOS of their found selves to be publicized. Different people want different things. And, sometimes, the same people want different things... in juuuuuuust the right proportion.

Sure, Carrie wants her photo in the paper. But would she rather be seen the city over looking a wreck than not be in the paper at all?

Aaaaaand I'm back to the control issue. At what point does technology's power (to expose, to misrepresent) extend beyond our immediate control? What do we sacrifice, technologically, for 'complete' control? Or is control, at this point, an illusion? What kinds of privacy to we exchange for connectivity?

tweet from a non

For someone who is totally removed from the whole twitter phenomenon, I'm paying way too much attention to what others are saying about it. Maybe I'm offering myself to be convinced?

Twitter: Incredibly Valuable Or Utterly Useless As A Link Building Tool?

http://searchengineland.com/twitter-and-link-building-behind-the-scenes-17133