Thursday, July 3, 2008

Skype




With Skype’s free software – working easily with your internet connection – you can connect with free Skype-to-Skype calls and never worry about cost, time or distance. Get your friends to download Skype so you can talk, chat or make video calls for nothing. But you can also make local, long distance and international calls to phones and mobiles at great rates too.

Connecting with friends

You can add friends and family who use Skype to your contact list by using the easy-to-use search function. Then you can make free Skype-to-Skype calls, chat away with instant messages or send text messages just for starters.

Discovery activity:

We don't want you to have to download Skype just to learn about it. Explore the site and comment on your blog about Skype: Do you have family and friends overseas? Would you use Skype? What about video calls? Do you know of any friends/family who already use Skype?

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

SecondLife

Since its launch in 2003, Second Life has been gathering momentum across the globe. Although not yet as popular in Australia as in other countries, it is a fascinating Web 2.0 application.

Developed by Linden Research, Second Life is a 3-D virtual world entirely built and owned by its Residents (users). Echoing the “real world”, in Second Life, you can own land (islands), trade goods and services, engage with the artistic community and participate in educational activities.

Residents are represented in Second Life by avatars which are human in appearance but may be of either sex and have a wide variety of humanoid of other forms. Avatars communicate through two main methods of text communication: local chat and “instant messaging” (IM).

Some interesting facts about Second Life:

  • There are 9,112,551 residents (as at 27/8/07).
  • 9,195 islands were added during July 2007.
  • The currency of Second Life, the Linden Dollar, can be converted to US dollars at several Linden Dollar exchanges (sparking the interest of various Taxation Departments and Internal Revenue Services across the globe).
  • The Maldives was the first country to open an embassy in Second Life.

Many international universities and libraries have bought islands in Second Life. The way these universities and libraries use the land is unique (check discovery resources below). Some use it as a marketing tool, others use it as a new way for people to attend university in the virtual world. Deakin University has bought an island on Second Life, but it is just that, an island. It is currently in an experimental stage. Only restricted users are allowed onto the island and there are no buildings, no classes taking place and no virtual campus life apparent.

For more information on Second Life, go to:

Discovery Resources

Videos

Other resources

Discovery Exercise:

View some of the videos and articles under the Discovery Resources link. Write on your blog page about them.

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Create a blog

Listen to audio






Now that you’ve done some exploring around this website and understand how the program will work, it’s time to setup your very own personal blog.


Your blog is where you will be recording your thoughts, discoveries and exercises for this learning program.


For this exercise we are using Blogger*, a popular free online blog hosting service that is extremely easy to use. There are other bogging sites such as Myspace, Livejournal, Facebook, Immortalspace and Wordpress.


Creating a blog using Blogger takes just three steps:


1. Go to the Blogger home page. Set up an email account if you don't already have one: you can use any existing email account you wish, your personal or staff one, or you can set up a Yahoo, or Gmail account.

2. Name your blog (view screenshot)

3. Select your template(view screenshot)

Once you’ve created your blog there are two important things to know:

  • The maintenance interface that you will use to add posts, edit or change the set-up of your blog is accessed online at http://www.blogger.com/
    Make sure you write down your login and password.


  • To view your blog:
    Your blog address is http://(xxxx).blogspot.com, (xxxx=is the unique identifier/name you entered in Step 2, i.e http://maryslearning.blogspot.com).
    Be sure to also write down your blog address.
A couple of useful Tips!
  • Again, you can use any email address to set up a Blog in Blogger.
    It is not necessary to set up a Gmail account to create a Blog.


Register your Blog


  • When registering your Blog:
    Cut and paste the url (address) of the blog YOU have created (this can be found in the address bar on the page from which you are viewing your blog) and send it, along with your name to connect@yprl.vic.gov.au



  • For more information -here is an excellent tutorial about creating a blog


Once you have registered your Blog it will be listed on the
Learning Participants' Blog.
The participants' blog is a good place to gain inspiration and support each other via the comments section in the individual blogs.

A great site of general interest is Blogger's Help page, with handy tips for new members.


Learning 2.0 - discovering web 2.0 technologies through PLAY!

Flickr and photosharing

Listen to audio here

Photo sharing websites have been around since the 90s, but
it took a small startup site called Flickr to catapult the idea
of “sharing” into a full blown online community.

Within the past couple of years, Flickr has become the fastest growing
photo sharing site on the web and is known as one of the first websites to use keyword “tags” to create associations and connections between photos and users of the site.

For this discovery exercise, you are asked to take a good look at Flickr and discover what this site has to offer. Find out how tags work, what groups are, and all the things that people are using Flickr for.

Discovery Resources:

Discovery Exercise:

In this discovery exercise, you have two options…

  1. Take a good look around Flickr and discover an interesting image that you want to blog about. Be sure to include either a link to the image or, if you create a Flickr account, you can use Flickr’s blogging tool to add the image to your post.

2 . Take a photo and post it to your blog. To upload a photo, first save your photo to your computer (or USB).

  1. Go to the flickr website at http://www.flickr.com/
  2. Create and account and sign in (remember your account details).
  3. Click on upload photos.
  4. Click on browse and locate where you have saved your photo (you can upload more than one photo at once).
  5. You can add tags describing your photo at the bottom of the page.
  6. Click upload to complete the process.

Something else to look at:

You might also like to take a look at the National Library Picture Australia website

  1. Click on the flickr icon on the front page and you will be led to a display of images the National Library have used from flickr.
    This is part of the National Library’s vision of building a comprehensive pictorial record of Australian history. You may also like to view the media release from the National Library about this collaborative project.

  2. Other photosharing and photography websites include www.fotolia.com, www. slide.com, and www.dumpr.net.

  3. Bubbleshare is a great alternative. Give it a go!

Another fascinating photo sharing site is VoiceThread. This site allows you to upload photos and videos but also add an audio narration or commentary. It is a moderated safe forum for schools and children’s projects. Check it out!
PS: A quick word about photo posting etiquette - When posting identifiable photos of other people (especially minors) is it advisable to get the person’s permission before posting their photo in a publicly accessible place like Flickr.
Never upload pictures that weren’t taken by you (unless you have the photographer’s consent) and always give credit when you include photos taken by someone else in your blog.

Image Generators

Listen to audio here

Image Generators are websites that allow you to easily manipulate images.

For this discovery exercise, we want you to find a few fun image or text generators to play around with and write a post in your blog about one of your favorites and/or display the result. Often adding the image you mocked up to your blog is as simple as copying and pasting code that the page provides. If not, you may just need to right click on the image and then save it to your hard drive before using the 'insert image' icon (little picture button) to add it to your post. If you’re having difficulty getting your image added to a post in your blog please contact us.

Discovery Exercise:



1. Play around with some image generators and find one that you like.

2. Post the result of your discovery process in your blog.
Note: Be sure to include a link to the image generator itself, so other participants can discover it too. Take some time and have fun with this exercise. And remember to be tasteful too!

Discovery Resources:

-The Generator Blog FD Flickr Toys
-Also try searching for online generators, text generators or image generators such as Comic Strip Generator, Image Chef.
- Image Generator- large selection of categories to choose from.
- JellyMuffin Image Generator
- Cool Text
-Make images from text- Font Image Generator

LibraryThing

  • Are you a booklover or cataloguer at heart?
    Do you enjoy finding lost and forgotten gems on the shelf to read?
    Then LibraryThing may be just the tool for you. Developed for booklovers, this online tool not only allows you to easily create an online catalogue of your own, it also connects you to other people who have similar libraries and reading tastes. Add a book to your catalogue by just entering the title or connect with other users through your similar reading tastes. There are lots of ways to use LibraryThing. You can even view your books on a virtual shelf, add a widget to display titles that are in your catalogue, or install a LT Search box on your blog. Not just for personal collections, libraries have started using LibraryThing as well. “Small libraries are using LibraryThing to catalog their collections. Libraries are using the LibraryThing widget on their web pages to recomend books and list new titles.” (via http://wlaweb.blogspot.com/). With over 95,000 registered usersand 6.7 million books cataloged, you’re bound to discover something new.

    Discovery Exercise:

    1. Take a look around LibraryThing and create an account.
    2. Add a least 5 books to your library.
    3. Blog about your findings and be sure to link to your LibraryThing catalog. How popular were your books? Did you find any discussions about your favorites?

    Discovery Resources:

    · About LibraryThing
    · Library Thing tour

  • Yarra Plenty Regional Library is using LibraryThing: click on search catalogue, search an item, click on detail, notice the tag cloud at the bottom of the page and the 'books like' link.

Google Maps

Discovery Resources:

  1. Go to Google Maps Australia and find the following:
    • your place of work
    • your home
  2. Find directions from your home to your work.
  3. Finally, create a post in your blog telling the world about google maps. What did you think of it?

Google Book Search

Explore the link below:

Discovery Exercise:

  1. Read about Google Book Search (see link above)
  2. Go to Google Book Search
  3. Search for your favourite book
  4. Create a post in your blog about this Google Book Search.

iGoogle

Listen to audio here

Google offers the ability to create a personalized iGoogle page that gives you an at-a-glance access to key information from Google and across the web. On this self-designed page, you can choose and organize content such as:

  • Your latest Gmail messages
  • Headlines from Google News and other top news sources
  • Your RSS feeds
  • Weather forecasts, stock quotes, and movie showtimes
  • Bookmarks for quick access to your favorite sites from any computer
  • Your own section with content you find from across the web
  • Google Book Search

Discovery Resources:


iGoogle

  1. Go to iGoogle and create an account
  2. Add the following gadgets (check out the discovery resources to show you how to do this):
    • Google Map Search gadget
    • Google Book Search gadget
    • Facebook gadget

And finally…

Check out the following youtube video about working at Google.

4. Create a post in your blog page about this exercise. Don’t know what to write about? Think about these questions: Do you like iGoogle? What improvements would you suggest to Google? Would you like to work at Google?

Podcasts


Listen to audio here


The word podcast is used to refer to a non-musical audio or video broadcast that is distributed over the Internet. What differentiates a podcast from regular streaming audio or video is that the delivery method for podcasts is often done automatically through RSS.

In 2005, “podcast” was named the “word of the year” by New Oxford American Dictionary and with the growth of podcasting over the last year and a half; it’s easy to see why. Podcasts take many forms, from short 1-10 minutes commentaries (like the ones used in this Learning 2.0 program) to much longer in person interviews or panel group discussions. There’s a podcast out there for just about every interest area and the best part about this technology is that you don’t have to have an iPod or a MP3 player to access them. Since podcasts use the MP3 file format, a popular compressed format for audio files, you really just need a PC (or portal device) with headphones or a speaker.

iTunes, the free downloadable application created by Apple is the directory finding service most associated with podcasts, but if you don’t have iTunes installed there are still plenty of options.

For this discovery exercise participants are asked to take a look at some popular podcast directory tools. Do some exploring on your own and locate a podcast that is of interest to you.

Discovery Exercises:

  1. Take a look at one or two of the podcast directories listed and see if you can find a podcast that interests you. See if you can find some interesting library related podcasts here like book review podcasts or library news. An excellent podcast site to get you started is the ABC- Radio National Podcasts
  • Create a blog post about your discovery process. Did you find anything useful here?
  • Discovery Resources:

    There are many, many podcast directory and finding tools out there. Here are just three of the more popular ones that don’t, like iTunes, require a software download:


    o Podcastalley.com
    o Yahoo Podcasts

    See also:


    Do you want to learn how to be a podcaster ? (Here are optional Resources for those who want to learn to create podcasts)

    Odeo’s Studio – online recording studio (although this site has been unable to record for a while now, it has been very popular in the past).
    Beginners guide to Podcasts & Creating Podcasts
    How to podcast tutorial

    E-Books Audio Books and Overdrive

    # 23 E-Books and Audiobooks

    For this task, you will explore where you can get free ebooks and get an idea of the types of titles you can find here. Take a look around and locate a few titles of interest. Many school and public libraries have audiobook and ebook collections, so check what they (you) have in their collections. Audiobooks are popular for ELL and Special Education students, as well as commuters who enjoy a good story during a long ride. There are a number of commercial audiobook and ebook sources, and many of these companies have exhibits at library conferences.

    Discovery Exercises:

    1. Explore World EBook Fair site for FREE downloads from Project Gutenberg. Also just explore the site - there’s much to check out.

    2. Check out YPRL's Overdrive Downloadable Media

    2. Create a blog post about your findings.

    Discovery Resources:

    1. LibriVox, audiobook versions of copyright-free books from the Gutenberg Project. Read by volunteers. Started in August 2005 by Hugh McGuire. Check it out!
    2. Check out this “Best Places to Get Free Books” site, too.

    YouTube

    Listen to audio here

    Within the past year online video hosting sites have exploded allowing users to easily upload and share videos on the web. YouTube is currently at the top serving up over 1 million video views a day and allowing users not only to upload their own video content easily, but also embed clips into their own sites easily.

    Do some searching around YouTube yourself and see what the site has to offer. You’ll find everything from 1970s TV commercials to library dominos. There’s also the cult classic Conan the Librarian. See also:

    Of course, like any free site you’ll also find a lot stuff not worth watching too. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t explore and see for yourself what the site has too offer.

    Discovery Exercise:

    1. Explore YouTube & find a video worth adding as an entry in your blog.
    2. Create a blog post about your experience. What did you like or dislike about the site and why did you choose the video that you did?


    Discovery Resources:

    Other popular video hosting sites:

    NOTE: Videos, like music downloads, are bandwidth hogs. It is recommended that you complete this exercise during light Internet usage times.

    MySpace

    Listen to audio here

    I’m sure you have heard of MySpace, and not necessarily in a positive light.

    MySpace is an organised space that allows you to personalise your interests and activities on the Web. You can browse, search, invite friends to connect and interact, share film reviews, make comments, post mail and blog entries, view videos, post classified ads and much more. It has also gone mobile.

    MySpace is an incredibly popular communication tool amongst teenagers, and libraries have begun using MySpace to market to their teenaged patrons. Despite controversy over the issue, the use of creating Library spaces in MySpace is really taking off. Read through the Discovery Resources links below to get an idea of what different libraries are doing in MySpace and what librarians are saying about MySpace!

    MySpace is busier than Google, with reports showing that it gets between two and three times Google’s daily traffic. Over 150,000 new MySpace accounts are created daily, so its capacity to each a wide audience is mind-boggling.

    Discovery Resources

    Activity alternative:

    • Other social networking forums- Drupal is a very interesting content management platform that allows you to create a My Space or Facebook type social network and has been used successfully in educational environments. A good slideshare presentation can be found here .


    Facebook

    Facebook is a social networking web site that connects people with others. People use Facebook to keep up with friends, upload an unlimited number of photos, share links and videos, and learn more about the people they meet.

    Originally, the membership was restricted to students of Harvard University but since 2006 it has been open to all email addresses. Users can select to join one or more participating networks, such as a school, place of employment, or geographic region.

    In June 2007, Facebook was ranked in the top 10–20 web sites and was the number one site for photos in the United States, ahead of public sites such as Flickr, with over 8.5 million photos uploaded daily. It is also the seventh most visited site in the United States. Time magazine reported in its 3 September 2007 issue that Facebook’s fastest growing demographic consists of people 35 years or over. In 2008 it has become the social networking forum of choice for the youth of today, out performing MySpace.

    The name, Facebook, refers to the paper facebooks depicting members of the campus community that US colleges and preparatory schools give to incoming students, faculty, and staff.

    Discovery Resources

    Check out the Yarra Plenty Regional Library’s facebook page and search catalogue application (remember, to view many Facebook pages you must be a registered user).

    Tasks

    1. Go to Facebook and register. Check out this tutorial for assistance on how to join.
    2. Edit your Profile
    3. Search for a person you know or work with. See if you can find them and add them as your friend.

    Alternative activity:

    • Another social networking site of interest is Ning. Many people find it more engaging and informative than MySpace and Facebook for professional development uses.
    • LinkedIn is a popular social network that has a strong professional development basis.