Karen's Thing 23

This is the end of one learning curve for me, but hopefully the beginning of more like it. Although it took some tweeking of time to get the blogs done, it was well worth it. I have gained a lot more knowledge of what is out there in regards social networking tools and although I wouldn't use all I have learnt, I have already got the hang of RSS feeds (which keeps me up to date quickly with current news withing the library) and blogging. I will even explore Twitter further as I can see a lot of colleagues communicating with it, and definitely join LinkedIn to see what like minded people are doing in the world of Libraries! Most of all I think the advantages of doing this course is to know what is out there for our students and know how to communicate with them. I now have that bit more knowledge to impart on to them if needed. One client came up to me this morning and asked about books on Prezi. On telling him that our "Prezi for Dummies" was withdrawn because of obsolete information, he asked if I knew about Prezi. He was impressed that I did and I then told him about "23 Things". I felt a little bit smug that I knew what to help him with!!!
This course will help me with my PDP's and also my Diploma course, as I have to do a PDP for it too. I would recommend this course to all library staff and I haven't found one person that wasn't happy to finish it!

Thanks Kate.

Karen's Thing 22

From doing my TAFE course and reading about LinkedIn, I realise that having a personal learning network is important to career advancement. The only networking I do is with my work colleagues and when I go to meetings and conferences. I had a look at ACU profile in LinkedIn and saw that it is  valuable tool for career marketing. You would be able to make new contacts in your industry and also gain more knowledge from like minded people as well as create your own professional profile online which could be built up over time. Future employers would be able to view your career profile and this could potentially lead to career advancement. It has potential to be as useful as job seeking websites such as jobseek.com. I will join LinkedIn as it would be a good way to network with people in my industry and also to get my profile out there!!!!

Karen's Thing 21

I was there when Sarah and John introduced our library to QR codes. The scavenger hunt was an ideal way for both staff and students to experience this. I personally haven't used them outside the library except I did hear Sarah say that she used it when she did a tour of an art exhibition at GOMA in Brisbane. I think it is a good way to experience exhibitions instead of waiting for the tour guide. I have seen them also in monthly publications like Women's Weekly. They give you added information that the readers don't get in the actual article, like links. The google glasses are very futuristic looking and will be the way of the future. I heard a discussion about them on the local radio and they were say that you have to sign an agreement with Google that you will not lend these to anybody or they will delete all the information on them and you will not be able to acess anything, rendering them useless. At a cost of 1500 dollars each, I think people will think twice before buying straight away.

Karen's Thing 20

I have done the traditional class based learning and online learning whilst doing my Diploma. I actually prefer going to the classroom for a number of reasons:
1. One on one contact with the educators
2. Class discussions
3. Social networking
4. Any problems you can sort them out directly with the teacher.

Online courses do have their benefits such as convenience, but it does take a bit of time to communicate with your teacher and you can socialize online wth your fellow students, but you don't get to really know them. I do like the personal touch. After reading about MOOCS, I do feel like it will be the education of the future. I do feel that the current university education is too expensive and our students are finishing their degrees with a huge debt to start off their working life. Depending on the quality of this future of online teaching, I think it will change education in the future and I think that universities should jump onboard.
I would personally look at what courses are available to me to further my career prospects

Karen's Thing 19

I have just become a new fan of Twitter. I watched a youtube video "Twitter for Dummies" which was very clear in instructions and explanations. I can see why everyone is into Twitter. It is such an easy way to communicate with family and friend and for people wanting to build up their businesses. I like the way that your conversation can be private or public. I went to my first ALIA conference in Brisbane recently and was amazed to see the number of people tweeting during the talks. I was unsure if they were uninterested in the talks and were tweeting their friends to pass time or it was a way of communicating amongst the audience. I hope it was the latter! I personally would join Twitter as a way of connecting with colleagues when they are out and about (in meetings, conferences etc) and keeping in touch with fellow students whilst doing my Diploma course. Also a good way to see what the kids are doing. They would be shocked to see me join Twitter!!!

Karen's Thing 18

Well, I am almost there at the end of this enlightening course. I am particularly glad that I am doing 23 Things as I have discovered numerous new tools that would benefit me, and although there is quite a few I won't use, I have discovered a few that would greatly benefit me in my day to day life such as blogging, RSS feeds and setting up my own gmail account.  I have subscribed to Library Biz to keep up to date easily and this saves me from going through the hoops looking for it. It is all there in Outlook. For home purposes, I loved Animoto and am currently sorting my photos ready to put on videos to share with friends and families.I showed my kids Animoto and they just looked at me and said that you could do the same thing on Windows Movie player. I thought I was showing off!!!! I thought I might have had a bit of an edge over them after doing 23 Things, but they are still ahead of me in technology. I also loved scoop it. To get all the most up-to-date information on a particular subject in one hit is a great time saver, and I also like the fact that you can put your expert advice out there as well.

I was interested to see the new tools you can use for presentations and how the new technology is making learning more interactive and collaborative. Although I would not use these new tools in my job as a library assistant, I can see the librarians at our campus using these and also social media tools all the time.

I would also like to thank my 1 follower,Kate B. Thanks for following me!!!!!!!!!!!!

Karen's Thing 17

I had fun scouring the curation tools and loved the idea behind Scoop It. If you are looking for content on a particular subject all the hard work is done for you, saving you time and money. I also love the idea that you can contibute to it as well, collaborating with experts in that particular field. I can see that it would make a great search engine. I haven't downloaded the app. yet but will in time. I had a quick look at the suggested sites and was amazed at the variety of sources and the wide range of collaboration available.

I then went on to the content creation tools. I loved Animoto and can see myself rushing home to make videos with our old photos. This would make a great present for friends and family. It seems to be an easy process and I see you can add videos. It is a lot like digital scrapbooking.