While reading the blog, Free Technology for Teachers, I came across this website - Bloomin' Android by Kathy Schrock. Kathy Schrock's website for educators is well-respected, so I'm inclined to view this site with a great deal of respect, as well. Bloomin' Android links to Android apps that support Bloom's Revised Taxonomy. Last month, at a conference, I saw another graphical representation of Bloom's Taxonomy with different programs placed on the taxonomy for the areas that they programs could be used best. I find this very useful because it gives me ways to think of how I can use different programs (either these or similar ones) in ways that I might have thought of myself.

Cool Use of Web 2.0 and Social Media to Re-Tell Stories

I came across a blog called Stories From the Cloud yesterday. Stories From the Cloud uses social media and Web 2.0 tools to discuss books (young adult books) in their original (usually printed) form and then re-tell them in a new, online, and collaborative way. A lot of people seem to think that books and reading are dying, but as an academic librarian and sometimes public librarian, I can tell you that books and reading are definitely not dying! The formats are changing though. I love to read and I love movies and TV, and when I hear people lament the remake of a book because it doesn't stay true to the original, I like to tell people that I just think of the movie or TV adaptation as just that - an adaptation. I have seen plays where Shakespeare was set in 1940s Austria and Gilbert and Sullivan set in 1920s Hollywood. It's just someone else's (not the author) version of the story. What's really impressive about this web site though are the students' re-tellings through social media and Web 2.0 tools. This website organizes the material in date order, alphabetically by author, AND by the tool the students' used. Many of the tools we've learned about in this program are showcased here. It is a great source of ideas for how you might use these tools in your classroom. To me, what also is exciting about these students' re-tellings is the emphasis these creations place on the higher learning levels of Bloom's taxonomy. Check it out because the student projects are really cool!

I was reading a genealogy blog that I have been reading for quite a while, and I learned a new term that I've never seen before - splogging. Splogging is nothing new (it's been around for at least five or six years) and I've certainly ended up on websites that were splogs, but it's something to think about as we start writing and creating blogs. Splogs are easily set up blogs that pull in a high number of RSS feeds from other blogs on a given topic and those RSS feeds are surrounded by ads. The hope is that they will end up high in search results, people will go there in hopes of finding "real" content, and then - accidentally? purposefully? - click on the links, thus creating revenue for the splogger. What's interesting about splogs is not only that they are annoying and unethical, but they are also downright illegal because they very often steal the content from other blogs and post it as their own. I don't imagine anyone in class would do something like this! But it does emphasize that there is a fine line between creating a blog and linking to other people's content The goal of a blog seems to be that you should be reflecting on what you are reading (with credit given and links back to the original content) or creating your own original content. Here are a couple of blog posts that talk about splogging, how it is plagiarism, and how it violates copyright. Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2011/10/splogging.html Plagiarism Today http://www.plagiarismtoday.com/2005/11/08/behind-splogging-why-sploggers-splog/

Hello from the sky!

So here's a new experience...blogging from 30,000 feet! My daughter and I are on the airplane on our way to Disney World right now. This is one of the exciting things that I love with the new technologies and particularly the cloud-based technologies - the ability to take your "stuff" with you. Earlier this year, as we were driving down some country road in Ireland, I downloaded a new book on the Kindle for my daughter to read. I'm still amazed about the ability to don this - she was just impatient that it took about two minutes rather than being an instant download. :) I don't have to pack nearly like I used to and still have access to plenty to do and read as well as the ability to keep in touch. Now if there was only something like that for my clothes! I could really travel light!

Welcome to my new old blog!

So this is a blog that I originally created almost four years ago when I worked at a public library. We were all going through an exercise called "23 Things." This is where I learned a lot about Web 2.0....and we got a free mp3 player for completing it! So this is my resurrection of my old blog! (I did change the name though...turns out the old name is the new of a new play and it DEFINITELY didn't look like something I'd want to be confused with!)