WOW you could spend hours playing with these tools!!!!!!
This above text generator is from Custom Glitter Text
The following are from http://www.happyfacegenerator.com/
The above is from http://www.famousdefaces.com/famous.asp
This above is from www.imagechef.com
I selected a mobile phone image and entered words to do with recent Web 2.0 activities.
These images didn’t take long to create and the sites were simple to use.
Well this topic certainly raises a lot of mind boggling questions!!!!
I remember a while back at a SLAV conference in Melbourne watching a presentation from the ABC about virtual worlds and Second Life. At that time I didn’t really take a lot of notice about it as I couldn’t see how it related to me or my role in a Library. Looking at some of the suggested sites reminded my of the ABC so checked their website and sure enough they have a set up “ABC Island” on Second Life. Their reasoning can be found under FAQ on their Second Life site ……. “The ABC thinks it is important to explore this rapidly growing virtual space. Second Life - and other 3D virtual worlds -allow the ABC to present content to audiences in new and different ways, create social spaces for visitors to interact with each other and the content, and showcase Australian talent and creativity in an innovative way.”
After looking at some of the suggested links (Murdoch Uni one is quite interesting) I can see how virtual worlds could be useful for learning and would certainly engage students in this day and age but as mentioned in the Murdoch Uni clip it needs to be done in a very controlled way otherwise it can become out-of-control very quickly. How do you maintain control?
This whole area raises a lot of questions; Do we really need to teach our students in this way? Where do you draw the line as to what is educational and what is not? Where is the balance between what is real and what is not? Isn’t there the danger of isolating a student in an “unreal” world rather than teaching them to interact and learn with others in the real world? Do we want well-educated confident avatars in a virtual world or students who are confident collaborating and interacting with each other in the real world? I don’t know, it’s all a bit too much to comprehend and I am unsure of the long term benefits to the student!!
If anyone following this blog is interested, I have created a new theme. I love sunflowers and wanted to have some as my background – took quite some time searching to find a picture that would be suitable for downloading – anyway here it is and hope you like it!!
I now have an iGoogle page – wow so many choices with themes, gadgets etc which became quite time consuming but also fun to explore! It is probably something I could get used to – having things like time, date, weather, news items, rss feeds, quotes, gmail, bookmarks etc etc etc all there on one page. Not sure what improvements could be made as I don’t have anything to compare with.
Loved the YouTube clips of working at Google. Looks like a cool place to work, actually you could rest and play there as well! Has a real community feel to the organisation where employees seem to be well looked after in every sense; free food, exercise facilities, childcare, bring your pets, on the job training and ideas become reality! A very high energy, vibrant workplace filled with enthusiastic, fulfilled employees. It makes sense – these employees 
are more likely to produce their best rather than stressed out ones!!
And now we have our very own Googleplex here in Australia.
Maybe we should get hammocks in our Library (Discovery Centre)??
Or maybe one or two of these in the Workroom?
What do you think?
I use Firefox at home so thought I would try the Google add-on as suggested. However it really is unnecessary if you have iGoogle as your homepage – all your tools are there already.
Watched Google Chrome clip which really didn’t tell me much but I guess it was trying to say that your web browser can be organised yet simple by using Chrome?!? Not sure whether I would try it as I’m quite happy with Firefox.
A boardwalk through the mangroves near where I live.One of my favourite books as a child was Charlotte’s Web – I found it with ease.
After reading the suggested links for this activity I see Web 2.0 as an explanation of the Web going to a new level of services provided. It has gone beyond just retrieving information from the web to being able to share and contribute information on the web. It has made the web more of a social platform not just within your local environs or country but around the world.
This opens up lots of opportunities for Libraries to be more interactive with staff and students but of course needs to be done in a safe online environment. I liked the quote in the “A new approach to defining library 2.0” link that says “it is about what the technology is allowing us to do” and I think that is the key. How can we use these tools to enhance our students learning and enable them to share their learning with others.
Will all Libraries look like this in the future???
Check this link out for the full report
Just an aside for your information:
My son just told me about a great blog writing tool called Windows Live Writer. I downloaded the one for XP but there is a 2011 version for those of you with Windows 7.
Link to XP "Windows Live Writer"
Link to Windows Live Writer 2011
I have written this blog entry using the new program! I found it quite useful as I could save a draft and come back to it later. When ready to publish I just clicked a button and it automatically adds it to my blog. Easy to add all the cool gadgets etc too.
