It is interesting - lots of sites are banned at my school but not YouTube. I know that some teachers are using it in the classroom. There is so much to consider! After looking at the examples of library podcasts and reading about the library as being an outlet for creativity, I am really inspired. I can envision students using podcasts to make presentations and teachers using podcasts to provide access to their lectures for students who are absent or to expand on a topic. We could have done a podcast of the author visit we had last month. On the public library side, I thought the pr podcasts about upcoming programs were really well done. This all fits together nicely with the Semls workshop I just attended on making movies with Windows Movie Maker.

I'm having a bit of trouble actually listening to the You-Tube videos - it may be just that our library computer is slow. I'll have to try it from home - the videos and the podcasts are skipping and running very slowly. I was able to subscribe to a couple of podcasts with the Google reader. A question about that going back to the RSS lesson. I noticed that the RSS feed on this wiki that should be for my Google reader, seems to only link to one page of my blog? Or was the RSS feed supposed to be to my blog - if so, why is it only linked to the one page. I thought I was starting to get all this straight!

That said, I think that doing something with a podcast for summer reading with our teens might be fun. We have a group of teens who do a summer book club and would be, I'm sure, much more savvy than I am with all this!

Hi Kathy,

I have noticed on my home computer, which is eight years old, that videos tend to skip a lot. This happens even with video that is saved locally, so I don't think it has anything to do with the Internet connection. That may be the problem you found at work.

I looked at the link for your Google Reader account. It looks like the RSS feed for your blog is the only feed that you allowed to be shared. Did you add your other feeds to a Learning 2.0 folder? If so, you can make it available for sharing by clicking on Manage My Subscriptions, clicking Tags, placing a checkmark in the box for the Learning 2.0 folder, and then clicking on the "Change sharing" dropdown menu and selecting public. If you then click on "View Public Page," you will get the URL for the feeds in that folder. If you send that URL to me, I can repost it. I can help you out via e-mail or phone if you have any trouble doing it.

Hope this helps!
Kathy

I did not have trouble subscribing to the podcasts and embedding the YouTube video. The podcasts and videos are fun. Upon browsing You Tube, I found some interesting videos to use with my information literacy class. But, the sites are blocked at the school. Again, libraries need to take the lead and determine the appropriate use of these resources in a school library environment. A YouTube video of my ninth grade orientation session would be a helpful tool for absent students. Also, I liked the podcasts of booktalks. I think these technologies would entice reluctant readers to grab a book and participate in a podcast with a review or booktalk. Of course, my computers at school were very slow and this would be frustraing to the students. I would like to incorporate some of this technology in the library program.

Kim

It seems like Kathy, Tcoish and I agree on the usefulness of You Tube for teachers and students. Now, we just have to convince administration and IT on the usefulness for teachers and students.

Thanks Kathy - I think that worked. The URL is http://www.google.com/reader/shared/user/02395620342637325313/label/learning 2.0
Kathy K.

After all these weeks, the wiki is still telling me that my email hasn't been approved but it lets me in anyway. YouTube was a lot of fun and that's how I spent my evening. It was fairly simple to set the video up on my blog. I can see where podcasts can be put to many uses and have already. I almost feel like my library is late getting into the game when 6 weeks ago this was all new territory for me. A Podcast, like Norton Library's, would be perfect for promoting the summer reading program. Several musical performers and authors present programs at the Plymouth Library and many come back every year. If we were to record samplings of their music or talks, we could use the video the following year to advertise the event.

Hi Kathy! I didn't need to learn podcasts because I have a Mac, Itunes, and an Ipod! I added a couple of YouTubes, although one that I tried that my son had uploaded from his camera did not work. I'm not going to try to create my own podcast for now, but maybe at another date. If so, I'll let you know.....

Speaking of YouTube, there's been a lot of fun with Jimmy Kimmel, Sarah Silverman, Matt Damon, and Ben Affleck lately!

I enjoyed the articles. The teens I worked with at Bridgewater would certainly make use of this podcasting technology. I can envision doing our Poetry Night on it, and perhaps a video podcast of our annual summer reading karaoke party, but, alas, I'm not there any longer and there is no programming....

I've really enjoyed all this new learning, and hope to implement it both professionally and personally! Thanks! Jane

P.S. I guess the most useful tool for me has been Wordpress. Learning to blog is essential. I'm still not convinced that Delicious is that cool, unless you need to access bookmarks remotely.

Its interesting to read the comments of Kim, Kathy, and Tcoish and hear the frustrations of the school librarians. You have the students and teachers and the incentive to provide social software for educational purposes, but the adminstration blocks this software. The public library doesn't block the software but since our patrons are so varied in age and other demographics, we don't have the ready audience. We could create 'and they will come' but we would need to work harder to create the audience. I'm sure interested people are out there but not organized like a school environment. I hope you can get the blocks lifted.

Following up on comments from my classmates - if all types of libraries begin to use these tools more, it would set the stage for keeping the technology current. Slow computers, network connections, and so on would need to be replaced and that would be progress. I think the idea of using podcasts for sampling is great. Just the other day, I heard a broadcast on NPR during which a middle school teacher from LA was interviewed about his success in teaching Shakespeare to his students. He said that Shakespeare was originally intended to be heard and seen, not read so he uses that approach in his classroom. I could envision students presenting a short sample of Shakespeare in a podcast or a teacher making the presentation and then asking his/her students to analyze it. The podcast could be replayed as often as needed. As a pr tool, a podcast would also be a very genuine message of welcome or information for an upcoming open house. I could go on and on but I'll stop here by saying that I am very inspired - thanks so much!

Okay okay okay...yes, I'm quite late AGAIN, so I apologize Kathy. It has been difficult juggling this with a grad class I'm taking. But, I completed my exercises. I have used YouTube before to search for movie clips that I wanted to see (see my wordpress blog), and to watch music videos. I'm currently listening to an NPR podcast (Books: All things Considered, Memoirs of a Beautify Boy by Robert Leleux).

My school is not on the youtube/podcasting craze. We're still working on getting SmartBoards and improving access to technology. But I can see lots of ways to apply these to what we do. YouTube is blocked at my school, but the technology department will unblock it per request of a teacher for a designated time. I have used TeacherTube. I fiddled with it a little bit, and wanted to post tutorials of library services and resources online. I've only got one up so far. I couldn't post it to my wordpress blog without going through hoops and downloading stuff for some reason, but here is the linkhttp://web.duxbury.k12.ma.us/dhslibrary/2007/12/tutorials.html

I really enjoyed the articles for this week. They made podcasting seem less intimidating to me. For some reason, I've never really been onboard with podcasting, but I certainly am enjoying listening to NPR right now. I really can see my speech & debate teachers using this as part of their class.