#23 At Last!

Well, the end is in sight, finally. It is a cliche to say that it has been a wonderful journey, with ups and downs. But would I do it all over again? Perhaps, on some good days, I will give a resounding "yes" to that question, but on other bleak days, "maybe not, "maybe not so sure", "definitely not". But for today, I'll say "yes". A structured program can be beneficial; it compels a person to do what is seemingly not possible in terms of time, capacity and effort.

What have I gleaned from this experience? First of all, I'm still in awe at what's out there in cyberspace. I'm in awe (and I guess I'll never get over it) at the brains, creativity, tenacity, fortitude, and .... that have gone into harnessing this so-called technological invention. But again, with everything else in life, moderation and caution should rule.

Another smilar program? Do count me in.

#21 Podcasts

Again, there is such an "explosion" of podcasts out there. Personally, I don't think I'll feel comfortable sending my 11-year old child out there to explore this jungle all by himself -- podcasts, YouTube, etc. Many of these podcast materials need to be checked for audience appropriateness. Some of the language learning ones may come in useful, but again, I would need more time to identify those. I'll definitely want to see if there're book or other library material related ones, but for now, it's back to normal business for the day, or on to the last assignment ...

#19 Web 2.0 Tools

Wow, this is so overwhelming indeed! I may just do this all day long at the expense of what I am paid to do! Anyway, restraint is the order of the day. I explored "Ma.gnolia" in Bookmarking, and I think I find it useful personally. These tools will definitely have potential in libraries, but again, care and caution must be practised.

#20 YouTube

Breezing along really smoothly, and getting closer to the end ... This time with Lorraine's expert help, I managed to link the following: (Thanks, Lorraine)

phua chu kang incredulous tales

Phua Chu Kang, or PCK for short, is a popular local sitcom in Singapore, incorporating local humor, eccentricities, and a language with a mix of English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil vocabularies.

Choosing a video to include on my blog wasn't easy, given the choices I was confronted with. But PCK is homegrown, hence the choice. The potential of YouTube for library websites is phenonemal, but we must proceed with caution.

#17 Success!

Thanks to Diana, I managed to add my blog to the Favorite Blogs of the OU Libraries Learn Wiki. Now, the end is almost in sight -- 4 more assignments to go.

#18 Web-based Applications

I depend so much on word-processing and spreadsheets tools, and was deligted to know that these applications are now available online! I tried Zoho, and Google Docs & Spreadsheets, and will certainly use them.

Week 7: Wikis

I'm amazed at myself, at the progress I've made with the exercises thus far, and in a day at that!

I can see that wikis will be relevant in the library, in my department, as a working document, and hopefully also as a "standards manual".

#15 Whither libraries, librarians?

Libraries ... Librarians ... Most of us recognize these words, these "fixtures", at least for now, at least, hopefully for the next generation or more. But what after that? The dreaded truth may be that the profession itself may be working itself out of a job, out of its once prime location in the information world. But there's hope still, because don't things always come full circle? Doesn't the water always find its own level?

#14 Technorati

A search tool for tracking blogs? So anticipated. Well, I tried as directed, to search "Learning 2.0" in the "exact phrase" box, and my recent blog entries with that phrase showed up -- for the record, I did not use that phrase intentionally so that I can be "captured" by Technorati. However, for the next two searches (Tag Search and Blog Directory Search), my entries were nowhere in sight. Sigh! Can't win them all ...

#13 Del.icio.us

Finally, an answer to accessing my bookmarks from every corner of the world -- work, home #1, home #2 ...

#12 Rollyo

Rollyo is definitely something that may come in useful, both for work and for the home. Will explore this further.

#11 Library Thing

Does this mean that "cataloging" as we librarians know it will be a thing of the past? I like how easy it is though -- I "cataloged" six books in no time at all. Here they are:

http://www.librarything.com/catalog/peminatbuku

(Hope it can work; perhaps not, since it was too easy to be true)

Image Generators

The above was created with the Chalkboard Message Generator. Some weeks back, I experimented with Scissor Sisters Generator, with the help of J -- it was fun, and odd at the same time (doing that at work), but of course this is all part of Learning 2.0 ... And recently, my son had the whole family "simpsonized".

Feeds

I'm on a roll. I'm progressing quite well, I should say, in navigating Learning 2.0. The question is: why did I procrastinate? Rhetorical ...

I explored Blogline's Search Tool first, keying in "overseas Chinese." Clicked on one, shouldn't have, but I did, and wasn't a desirable site, unfortunately. Then I tried Feedster -- better than the last one luckily. Will try to squeeze in more time to explore this further. But for now, this is it for this exercise.

RSS

I'm slowly but surely going through the 23 required items. Thank you for your patience, Diana!

RSS may yet be the answer to another dilemma -- keeping up with websites that are multiplying expotentially, which we think (and therefore) are relevant to our professional and personal well-being. Needless to say I added Thingology and Shifted Librarian, and Unshelved to my professional list. Personal list .... I'm still looking.

Technology

Imagine going back in time to 1907, and telling a physicist that in the next millennium, he would be able to communicate seamlessly on a machine the size of a notebook, and hold conversations with his counterparts in real-time with a gadget that weighs only a few ounces ... he would have probably labelled you insane! But the human need for all things better, faster has pushed the potential of the human brain to scale heights beyond one's wildest imagination, even a physicist. So watch out ... imagine life a hundred years from now.

Week 3; Exercise 6

It worked! I experimented with FD Toys' Trading Card Maker, and the result is shown above. Will try out more ...

Back from a long break, and into social networking

I've been away for quite a while ... from blogging, that is. Or should I rephrase that? ... because that sounds so not true, that I am into blogging. Anyway, my main task now is to try to complete all the requirements of Learning 2.0 by the deadline. Quite a challenge indeed because that means getting back into the blogging frame of mind.

To catch up, I'll start with No. 22 -- Social networking (I hope that's okay) Friendster, Facebook ... names not alien to me, but the concept a little evasive perhaps. I have seen both these tools at work, and how useful they are to track down friends far and near -- who's doing what, who's where, etc. etc. For thousands, it's a staple they live on to stay connected, or should I say, to be "kept informed". Join one such network? Maybe in the future. For now I am happy being incognito.

This is a test -- thanks to Diana.

Learning for Life

Did my homework last week -- read the 7 1/2 habits. Although the ideas are not new, they nevertheless serve as good reminders.

A mother's blog

When my girls heard that I was creating a blog, their reactions were mixed. To them, I am their mother, and mothers do not have blogs. Well, maybe some do, but certainly not theirs! But as of today, I officially own a blog, but guess what? I am still their mother.