Thing 13 - RSS Feeds

For Thing 13, I was at first reluctant to dig too deep into RSS feeders. In the past I haven't really made use of them at all, although I did have some basic knowledge of what they were.  However, as I watched the video and read through the "How to Use RSS Feeders" article, my interest began to be piqued.

I decided to download the Feedly app on my Smartphone and created an account. I added the CoolTools blog to it, and then - while looking at some of the other sample libraries and how they use blogs, became inspired to start my own library blog! I set it up and posted one simple introductory posting to get started. I have a call in to my library automation tech support to add the blog/RSS feed to each of my school library's webpages as well. It is my goal to use my blog to let students know about new books, special events, book clubs, and more! You can see my initial blog at http://mcsdlibrary.blogspot.com/ and I hope to make it a dynamic site by the end of this school year.

Feedly seems super easy to use on my iPhone. I downloaded the free app and added the Cool Tools RSS as well as my own new blog mentioned above (to see how it works when new posts are added). I started exploring some other blogs and sites from the Thing 13 recommended lists, but want to be selective in what I start subscribing to, so I'm going to continue browsing for ones I really want to follow, rather than picking some randoms. My intent is to use Feedly, and not just set up the account to play with for this course. I think I am really becoming a believer in RSS :-)

Thing 12: Collaborating, Connecting, Sharing

For Thing 12, I browsed through the list and decided to look through a few that were new to me. Some I've used while others I've never heard of.  My school district has recently adopted Google Docs, so I have some basic knowledge of that and how to share content. However, I decided to take it a step further and have students in my classes create content using Google slides and share their projects with me. I had no prior experience doing this, and was thrilled to discover how easy it was to have students share projects and have them displayed through my account for projecting onto the SmartBoard. No need to switch laptops for each presentation like Keynote! Awesome! I didn't really find any "cons" of using the Google suite of apps yet. I will definitely continue to use it and have students share their projects with me for easier presentation experiences.

I had some prior knowledge of slideshare, but when I saw how Polly embedded on it so easily on a webpage, I decided that I will use it in April during National Library Week to feature a slideshow of special Library Week events. Last year I tried to create a video on my MacBook and post it to my webpage, and ended up requiring the assistance of my Technology director. Slideshare will hopefully make it much easier to share!

Also completely new to me was the "Today's Meet" app/website. I went to it and typed in a test message... although with nobody else to meet with at the time, I was unable to get a full picture of how it works and looks.  However, based on the description and the fact that I didn't need to create an account to use it, I plan to further explore this site in my personal life and see if it's a good platform to conduct Board meetings for a nonprofit I'm involved with. It could be the perfect solution for folks who can't physically be at the meeting. I'm not sure how I'd use it with students, other than introducing it to them to use for their own project collaborations.

My favorite "new to me" item on this list was the MakeUseOf.com site. What a great compilation of "Best of" apps, websites, and software. I started looking through it, and each general heading then has links organized by topic, type, or platform in a very graphically pleasing, easy to navigate manner. I liked it so much that I even shared it via my Twitter account (MCSDlibrary).

My second potential favorite might be the appear.in tool. I looked at it, but didn't use it yet. Instead, I forwarded it to my son and asked him to test it out with his friends and let me know how it works. I'll have to report back on it once I have his feedback :-)

I love the great ideas this course provides, and Thing 12 was full of great new ideas for me, many of which I plan to investigate further.

Thing 11: Coding

Time to get started on Track 2! Although I am just beginning now in January, I enjoyed browsing through the ideas and resources for Thing 11: Coding. I DID do the Hour of Code with my 6th grade classes, so I decided to reflect on how that went. I registered as a site coordinator and allowed my students in my 3 classes to work on the Hour of Code tutorials during our class time. They LOVED it! Something new I learned as the week was drawing to a close, was that I can actually have students create accounts and log in to complete much more in-depth tutorials (21 hour programs). I think that next year I will expand my Hour of Code activity to include that component, and possibly offer extra credit to students who choose to complete the extra tutorial outside of class time. I think many would do it just for fun! I initially had no idea that component existed!

I think it is important to include coding in schools, and not just as as elective or club. So many of my students commented on how much they enjoyed coding, but never thought they could do it. Without the exposure to coding (if even just as one unit in a computer course), several students may not realize how much they enjoy the process... or even realize it's something within their realm of possibilities.

I enjoyed browsing through the list of resources in the "50+ Tools to Learn to Code" article, and appreciated that many of them are free! I bookmarked the site and plan to look at some of the suggestions more closely in the future - and will share it with my school's code club advisor.

I also wanted to explore something new, so I completed the tutorial for the Mozilla Thimble. It was confusing at first, but quickly became intuitive and easy to manipulate. I did not sign in and create an account, so I was unable to publish the result of the tutorial, but I did see how easy it is to change color, font, font size, images, upper/lower case letters, and justification of content. I find it very interesting to gain this added understanding of what goes on "behind the scenes" in computer software.

Now on to Thing 12!