The Final Thing!

23 Things Cambridge has been an extremely interesting, informative and useful course to follow and one in which I have thoroughly enjoyed taking part in over the past twelve weeks in conjunction with my teacher study visit at Pembroke College. It has been particularly interesting to see the various blogs develop and the variety of thought and input from fellow participants. Web 2.0 and social media technology has grasped the imagination of many and has quickly become embedded in the structure of library and educational establishments alike. However, we need to be aware that these new skills are themselves potentially subject to becoming quickly outdated and in some instances rapidly so.

As time progresses talents gained will inevitably be subject to transformation especially as they meld with future advancement and development. It is not the mastering of this technology alone as a one off event that will sustain those who will be professionally involved with its future engagement but rather the grasping of the concept of how to live with the nature of change which is inevitably part of any technological evolution. As such, it is participating and engaging in courses such as 23 Things Cambridge that will support this undertaking.

I would like to take this opportunity to offer my appreciation to all those who arranged, developed and made the course possible. Many thanks.

Wikis

The versatility and accessibility of wikis has greatly contributed to their growth and popularity as a means of speedy access to information. From an educational perspective I have always found them to be a convenient source for quick reference purposes especially as details on a variety of subject material can be located within an easily accessible format.

However, the main concern with any such mechanism is the accuracy and reliability of the information held within its pages. It is feasible that particulars displayed within a professionally looking wiki might be seen to be absolutely accurate and correct although this might not always necessarily be the case. Hence, the input and editing by professionals, such as within the library service, greatly adds to the credibility of information located for this Internet resource.

Thanks to Ross Mayfield for the image.

Podcasting and YouTube

It seems as if we have had access to YouTube forever and yet it only came into existence in 2005. Such software has allowed us all to publish video sharing on the Internet be it humorous, serious, corporate, personal, educational or otherwise. It is yet a further example of the technology that has become part of our daily lives. It raises the question as to how far further we will go. Those of you that are interested in such developments may have seen the episode "Stream of Consciousness" from the Outer Limits. Just another piece of sensational science fiction or a potential scenario of where we might be going tomorrow? Certainly food for thought.

Google Docs

I like Google Docs. From an educational perspective it really is very useful for working with colleagues or students online. It certainly is more productive to use than sending a plethora of email attachments back and forward while amendments are gradually made towards the finished document.

Marketing with Social Media

Social media has opened up a wide array of opportunities for the possibility to interact with others with whom we may never have met without the intervention of this technology. I find that liaising with colleagues in India, America and Europe has been a common place activity for many years.

With regards to its marketing potential the evidence is all around us as commercial businesses, professional administrations, educational organisations etc all now use applications such as Youtube, Blogger and having a designated Web presence to promote and inform their existing or potentially future customer base. My own personal interests are in the implementation of Virtual Learning Environments and systems such as webfolios. However, this probably reflects my position of having a professional involvement in both Learning Resource Centres and within educational applications. I believe that the advancement of learning technologies has brought these two factions into a closer alliance for the benefit of students and other users alike.

Thanks to Laurel Papworth and Gary Hayes for the image.

Zotero

I have been using the Mozilla Firefox browser for many years as an alternative to Internet Explorer. As such, I have known about Zotero for some time but have never really looked into its function as a reference management tool. The next time I do some writing this could be an alternative and worth investigating further.

Linked in to LinkedIn

This professional networking site is a good way to connect with others who are working, researching or developing in the same areas of interest as yourself. Apart from individual membership it also has a useful group function. Great way to find colleagues and to catch up on the involvement of others within the world of academia.

Facebook

The phenomenon that is Facebook really has transformed how we interact and communicate with each other. There are very few people that I know, both professionally and socially, who do not have an account either with Facebook or some other similar social networking website. It seems to have been around forever and yet Facebook was only launched in 2004. Certainly one of the major developments within Internet based technology.

LibraryThing Account

I have now set up my LibraryThing account and will be adding books to it as I decide what to put in place. To make a start I have decided to display the LibraryThing widget below and look at the books contained within. So, which might be the one's I will choose? Keeping watching this space.

Exploring LibraryThing

One of the reasons for taking part in 23 Things Cambridge was that I knew that there would be something new to learn and here it is. I have never seen or heard of Library Thing before and my first impressions is that it looks like a very useful online device for the storage and sharing of catalogues and book lists. Will certainly be spending a bit of time exploring this further.

Reflection Week

I have found that undertaking the 23 Things Cambridge Web 2.0 programme has been both informative and a good updating refresher for those areas in which I was already familiar. It has also been a good way to interact with other colleagues in the education sector where, perhaps, our paths wouldn’t cross.

My experience of working with librarians is that they are naturally inquisitive people who are fascinated with information and openly share what they know. This I have found to be certainly extended within the realms of 23 Things Cambridge.

Absolutely Del.icio.us

Del.icio.us is a great way for Internet users to share, search, organise and manage bookmarks for the wide array of web resources available. Coupled with the use of metadata these can be incorporated with added descriptions for the benefit of other users so that they may have prior knowledge of the content without having to download the site.

So it is also "absolutely fabulous" for quick scan location of material.

Slideshare

From a teacher/education perspective Slideshare is a very valuable resource. Not only does it provide access to a wide array of subject material but it also functions as an interactive mechanism where ideas and information can be shared by individuals and a wide array of institutions.

Of course it can also function as a depository system to store material on a more personal basis. Well worth signing up for what is a really useful and free resource.

Using Images

I found this part of Cam23 really useful in clarifying the issue of copyright and in how/where to identify images that can be located and used from Flickr. I particularly like this picture I found called “The Library” by Here’s Kate which I have included. Those who know me will be able to make a judgement whether this reflects my style or not.

Flickr

Flickr is a really useful resource for finding and locating an array of different images. The thing I personally like about Flickr is that it is mainly compiled by people who have decided to store/share their pictures with the world. I often find these type of images have a more interesting element than those that are professionally produced.

Tag Along

Making use of Tags reminds of the first time I discovered hyperlinks. Being able to find my way around by transferring from one web document to the next seemed revolutionary at the time (indeed it was). I then discovered that I could make these links myself and also that they could be used within other applications such as Word or Excel. From an information finding perspective they were great to use within teaching.

Tagging is very much in the same category. It definitely gives order to locating information. Without doubt part of the foreseeable future for Learning Resource Centres.

Tweet Tweet

Tweets here, tweets there, tweet tweets everywhere. It’s hard to believe that Twitter has only been around for a few years and yet here we all are microblogging. Whoever would have thought that this collection of peoples quips would become so popular.

According to Wikipedia “In the first quarter of 2010, 4 billion tweets per quarter were posted”. Astounding! I have set up a Twitter account for my 23 Things Cambridge at https://twitter.com/jjbarnes56

Google Calendar

I have used systems similar to Google Calendar before so am familiar with their application. They are even more useful now that they are incorporated into mobile apps. Gone are the days of having scraps of paper with bits and pieces written on them. Or are they? I suppose it depends on whether you are aware of the software/hardware and keep up-to-date with technological developments.

Doodle

Doodle seems to be straight forward to use. I can see how it would be very useful for liaising with colleagues who work in different departments or areas to organise meetings or other events.

Exploring Cam 23 blogs

After looking through all of the blogs I decided to follow a few which seemed to be representative of the wide variety of skill levels existing at this time, while also leaving a comment or two along the way. The situation is a bit strange for me as I am not directly involved with the library services within the University (brown-bag lunch?) and apart from the time in July when I will be at Pembroke College again I will be completing all of my input from Staffordshire. However, this is the very nature of implementing and engaging with the technology and I look forward to participating within 23 Things Cambridge over the following weeks.

Have a look here at what one 23 Cam blogger has compiled on our behalf.

RSS feed

I can remember when it was only at set times in the day that we could access up-to-date news stories. This was certainly true before I started to engage with Internet technology around the mid 1990’s. Even then it was rather sporadic and mainly American based. However, RSS feeds have contributed to changing this scenario with access to all sorts of information being fed through to wherever we set up retrieval points.

iGoogle

Google has vastly advanced since I started using it purely for search engine purposes many years ago. When it first emerged many users of the Internet were employing Yahoo as their first choice search engine. With advancements such as iGoogle one can only speculate where this technology is moving to. One advancement that I believe has increased its popularity is its user friendly functionality . Long gone are the days where only those skilled in HTML could really interact with layout or design. We are now participators and not just observers.

Cam 23 - Introduction

I am a former student of the University (Wolfson, 1992) and am presently involved in a Teacher Study visit at Pembroke College. Within this time I have been in liaison with Dr Patrick Carmichael at CARET through whom my CamTools account was generated. As such, when I received information regarding the 23 Things self-directed course and its focus on Web 2.0 technologies it immediately grabbed my attention. The theme of my own study is "An exploration of educational issues in relation to the onset of e-learning mechanisms within the pedagogical medium".

I see the opportunity to take part in Cam 23 as partly being a refresher to engage with Web 2.0 and social media from past experience and also the chance to participate in the gaining of new skills through a structured format. I am looking forward to engaging with the course over future weeks.