We've only just begun

Janus, in Roman mythology, was the god of doors, gateways, beginning and ends, and as Wikipedia defined this god, a patron of concrete and abstract beginnings. He was used as a symbol of transition from past to future, celebrated at marriages and births, a mediator between of all changing importances.

I find myself in the position of Janus. I am looking at an end of this course, the finish of this blog. I am looking to this coming school year and the beginning of a new blog. Being in the middle of this door way and peering out in reflection at both directions, I realize there is much to write about.

Can I honestly say that this entire class was one large highlight for me? Can I say that it was the highlight of my existence as a SLIS student? I know some of you reading this are wondering what in all the world I am talking about. I have no lowlights to my learning of Web 2.0 applications. If "lowlights" is defined by grades, well than I just might qualify, but that's just not a part of my learning policy. I don't measure learning by grades. So the highlight of this class for me was that I could see myself progressing in my blogging style. It was really encouraging to see the growth, but the biggest part of that growth was you. By reading your posts I was able to flesh out ideas that I could apply in my own writing. When it came to discussions, each of you had a unique perspective to present and added sides to an issue or topic I would have thought only two sided. Another highlight was the interaction. We are spaces apart, ranging in a few miles to across the country. But you and I learned to crinkle that physical space into a few bytes. I learned the importance of privacy and safety of self on the web (now, I'm just paranoid when an offer to sign up for something pops up). The thing about learning from each of you is that it won't stop. We are now a part of a blogging community.

Did I have any expectations of this class, of learning or garnering an understanding of Web 2.0 applications? None whatsoever. Were expectations created due to this class? Definitely. I now look at myself at the end of this journey, on the verge of a new one and have expectations of myself to continue the growth of learning. As I look at this school year, I realize that I have to search for my own learning tools now. How will I do this? I think by applying what I have learned to my upcoming classes will be one way of practicing. Doing so will help me to set a pattern, get into the habit of blogging. I realize to better my blogging, to add quality to possible quantity, I need guidelines for myself and for my future audience. Yes, I need a set of standard and a list of goals for what I want to accomplish with myself and this new blog. Maybe I should sign up for 43 Things after all. I need to also need to create a commenting policy as well. I'm going to keep with the blogs I've attained for the RSS feed experimenting. I'm going to slowly explore and apply the current apps I've learnt and along the way pick up what's hot and not through my readings. The biggest hype will be using all of this in my fall classes.

I've gone through this class, but I want to share this experience with those I come into contact with. Enter Learning 2.0 - 23 Things. This blog is a structured platform for those wanting to learn Web 2.0 outside of the classroom but in a structure manner. This project was originally set up for PLCMC staff and the purpose was to encourage experimenting and learning web 2.0. The project was created by Helene Blowers, PLCMC Technology Director, with help from supportive staff and is based loosely on Stephen Abram's article 43 Things I (or You) might want to do this year and 43 Things. When I began the EDES 501 Library 2.0 class, I was discussing the general aspects of the class to a high school art teacher, a good friend of mine. She showed interest in learning what I learned in the class, and now, I can refer her to this site and walk with her through the process.

I know this class is done, but I feel like I've only just begun. The foundation has been laid and now I'm ready to see where I can really go with this Web 2.0 learning.

Life is a highway, and so is Blogging

Learning of any kind is comparable to a road. As the saying goes, "each journey begins with a step," is entirely true of the education experience. Each new area of learning begins with an exposure of some sort. It can be within the classroom as a student in university, the first year as a librarian/teacher, or after years of work within an educational or library institute. Although we are teachers, we never stop being students. We are always finding ways in which to expand and enrich the learning experience of our students or patrons. Our road has no end, but it always has beginnings. One of the many roads of learning is Web 2.0 applications. The one particular path I want to explore with you today is blogs.

One Lane: You and I
Blogging is seen more as a highway. That highway always has opportunities to expand, but for now, it is a one lane highway. That lane is you. Before that highway can expand into multiple lanes, you must define and establish the first lane, because right now, it's nothing but a gravel road. So as you begin down this road to self-exploration of blogging, here are some things you will discover.

The tool you'll need to build this lane with is a blog. A blog in of itself is a tool. A teaching tool to be exact. You will learn that blogging is a form of communication. The purpose of blogging depends on the goal. Is the goal of blogging to relate your own personal teaching experience, professionally or personally OR to interact with students as you guide them in improving their writing in a showcase style to classmates and the unknown web-world? If you've chosen students as your goal in using the blogging environment, then there are few more things we need to touch base with.

The Standards
Setting standards is another important part of blogging. There's a list a possibilities that blogs can play in a students Web 2.0 learning. Which standard will you choose in their learning experience? Will Richardson provides a list:

Class Portals: to communicate information about the class and to archive course materials. Students may have an opportunity to critique or comment on this material as a class assignment Online Filing Cabinet: students post their work online for peer and teacher response. This effect creates a filing cabinet and archive for their work E-Porfolio: one small step from digital filing cabinet, this searches as a place to showcase their work to others Collaborative Space: students can collaborate with others online

If you use one or many of these examples, the next item that needs to be taken into consideration is context. Students will be writing in all these examples. Mariela Hristova writes that "students better understand their rhetorical purposes for writing when they envision their writing within a real context." Students realizing that they have an audience that will respond to their writing creates a purpose for writing. Another standard that must be taken into consideration is setting guidelines and objectives before putting students on blogs. Julie Sturgeon suggests code of conduct for blogging that addresses bullying, slander, and foul language. In her article, "Five Don'ts of Classroom Blogging," she refers to Anne Davis's classroom where if students abused the code they lost their internet privileges.

The Goals
So, what should the goal of blogs and blogging be? I like how the Department of Education and Training in Australia has defined blogs:

Blogs provide a communication space that teachers can utilise with students whenever there is a curriculum need to develop writing, share ideas and reflect on work being undertaken in the classroom.

Their point of view of blogging is seen as a "viable classroom activity" and "a means for teachers to communicate with other teachers." Accessing that space is perhaps the first and foremost in goals. But essentially, goals for blogging should be the same as the physical classroom goals. Students are very much present online as they are in class. The goals should remain the same. Beginning assignments promptly. Cooperating with one another. Always ask the teacher if you don't understand. Participating with comments. Posting assignments on time. What goals you set in the classroom applies also in the blogsphere.

If you're involving your students in setting the goals for their blog community, one place they as a class can list the goals is 43 Things. The basis of this website is to create a list of goals and follow others who have like goals. 43 Things have four different ways to use their site. One that stands out is tracking the progress of your goal by writing entries. Students may suggest goals but it doesn't have to end there. As a class evaluation, students could write entries to see if the class as a whole has accomplished the goal they started with. As Steven W. Anderson points out that it's a great conversation piece. Making goals can be a learning process for students as well.

The Blueprint
Blueprints are guiding lines in creating structure. There is not one set of guidelines for creating the structure for the development of content in blogging. But Patricia Deubel has a few guidelines that would help in the blogging process of students:

1. Provide posting guidelines: Suggest a minimum number of words or length for each posting based on your criteria for what constitutes a substantive post. Generally, one to two focused paragraphs per post is appropriate...
2. Provide HTML support, if needed: Depending on your blogging service, you might need to teach students some introductory HTML code to create new paragraphs or live links to any Web content they provide. New paragraphs are created very simply by adding <p> at the beginning and </p> at the end of each... A good place for learning basic HTML/XHTML in tutorial form would be W3Schools
3. Give priority to student commentary: Your reply to student postings can stimulate dialog. On the other hand, it might be perceived as the final word and cut off discussion...
4. Involve students in summarizing and moderating discussions:Let's do some math. You might have a class of 25 students, posed only one discussion question for the week, and asked students to not only post an initial reply, but to respond to two other learners. That translates to reading at least 75 posts, replying to many, and then composing your own initial contributions--and you have five classes. Did all learners participate fully? Were the replies of value? Summarizing content takes time, and you might wonder how useful it will be. The question is, "Who should summarize your blog discussions?"

The Tools
The tools available to the students would be computers and the chosen blog program. What's popular and allows for ease of use these days? Wordpress, LiveJournal and Blogger. But Julie Sturgeon gives a compelling argument about the right to be picky when picking a blog software program. Jeffrey Yan mentions in Sturgeons article, that blogs are "riddled with advertisement hat are outside educators' control." There is no way around these advertisement. No one can build a cyber fence around a particular classroom project. The entire blog must be accessed in order to work on a project, including the advertisements. Anne Davis, another teacher mentioned in Sturgeon's article talks about using Class Blogmeister. Although it only has seven templates, it allows teachers more control. Before publication, the entry is filtered through the teacher.

Two Lanes: You and the Students
You've navigated lane one. You've been up and down this part of the highway and you've become comfortable with the ease of travel. It's now time to begin work on lane two. We come to the most important part of why blogging. The students. There are lists of why students should blog (here and here), and Richardson also provides a rather extensive list as to why blogs improve student learning. To quickly sum them up:

Blogs are a constructive learning tool: teachers and students create content that is being added to the collective knowledge of the World Wide Web. People can search, find and use this knowledge. Blogs expand the walls of the classroom: Teachers and students can now connect across physical borders and boundaries. Blogs are a democratic tool that supports different learning styles: Students who were once quiet in class now have the chance to speak out. Blogs enhance the opportunity to become experts in a particular subject: Students who blog usually focus their reading and writing on one topic giving them topic-specific expertise. Blogs can teach students new literacy skills: In an ever expanding information society, student will need to know how to analyze and manage the information that they come into contact through their professional and personal life.

The pedagogy of blogging and the process of writing are important when writing a blog. A blog will continue with purpose and flourish if it is part of a constructive community of students, teachers and educators. In Rama Ramaswami's article, "The Prose (and a Few Cons, Too) of Blogging," focuses on Barry Bachenheimer's research of students and blogging. The statistics are intriguing:

It showed that students who blogged felt better about writing overall, and about writing research papers in particular. Of the 25 students in the English class, 74 percent believed that blog posts helped them articulate their ideas better, and 68 percent said blogs helped them determine what to say. Another 60 percent felt blogging helped them begin writing their papers, which is compelling because 84 percent of the students said that the hardest part of writing a research paper is starting it. The students commented that blogs helped them organize their thoughts, develop their ideas, synthesize their research, and benefit from their classmates' constructive comments.

So students improve in their writing, this is great but here's another thought to consider. They're involved and helping to evolve a new writing genre. At least, that's what Richardson calls it. Students no longer have to write the traditional essay format but can now expand in "personal reactions to topics covered in class, post links, write reflectively, and summarize or annotate reading." Richardson lists these possibilities but he calls this new genre of writing "connective writing." Students caught up in this writing method are "forced...to read carefully and critically, [a method] that demands clarity and cogency in its construction."

Lane Three: You and The World
You're on lane two. You glance over to the next lane, still a dirt road. Your highway is expanding considerably. Your students are now safely on their way of building the second lane with your help, but you see the potential of letting the third lane coming into existence now. It's time to let the world in and see what your students can really accomplish.

One reason for blogging, you will soon discover, is community; not only the classroom or school community but the world community. In the article, "The Joy of Blogging," by Anne P. Davis and Ewa McGrail, a group of 5th grade students experienced comments from people around the world. Their blogging experience first began with a class blog that their teacher, Anne, created to "instruct the class and share what they were learning throughout the project." Going by the links provided in the post, the students began their learning process of blogging by reading other student blogs, wikis on blogging, and a "book" (a book created on a blog) that the last year students created.

The teacher continued the learning process about blogs by introducing brainstorming about the things they learned concerning blogging and than they drew a representation of their learnings. Only after all of this, did the students create their own blogs. After creating their blogs, they began to write about different classroom activities in their blog. Students learned to comment on other students' blogs. To become part of the world community was preplanning on the teacher's part. The teacher recruited willing participants to read and comment on the 5th grade students blogs. Participants included "Ewa's university classes, students in other blogging classes, retired teachers, and readers of Anne's professional blog." Those that left comments knew "the goals and purposes of the project and set the stage for other readers who later found the student blogs and joined the conversations."

This is one example of collaboration, but where else can we learn about connecting to the world abroad (while sitting in our chairs)? Sheila Offman Gersh writes about teachers connecting their classrooms through blogs to others around the world. In her article, "Global Projects and Digital Tools," she speaks about the online services that allow teachers to connect. Through ePals, teachers have access to 180,000 classrooms in 80 countries. Gersh gives two examples of collaborating classes between Japan and Chile and Japan and India. Kathy Cassidy, in her article, "To Blog or not Blot," mentions YackPack, a walkie-talkie device that can be implanted into the blog.

Things that go bump in the night
Those you want to watch out for. A lot of times as you're traveling these highways, there are creatures hiding in the bushes by the shoulder of the road. If you aren't aware, there are dangers of blogging. Before jumping into the blogsphere with students, certain precautions should be taken. Communicating to the parents about what safety measures have been put in place is a first. Richardson suggests using only the first name of students or "even pseudonyms for students with unique names." No personal information of student should be disclosed. Nothing that will identify them should be present within posts or on the blog. They should know the process of reporting problem in the blogs, "whether technical or content related."

Four Lanes: The expressway
The ride has been smooth, and you and your students are gaining speed over the three lane highway. As you journey on you notice a fourth lane opening. What does this mean? Expansion. New possibilities. A faster lane. Greater movability. Blogs go beyond reading and writing. Blogs can contain podcasts. Blogs can can contain videos. Widgets can be imported to the side menu. Photographs can be shown. Slideshows are now the newest thing on the Blog block. All of these applications can be used to enhance the blog, create discussion, used as part of a theme. These other applications that would showcase in blogs can be explored in their own right. But reading and writing doesn't simply end. It evolves. If you want to go further in your read/write web experience in the blogsphere, it is possible. Richardson provides an extensive list in the evolution of blogging:

1. Post assignment. (Not blogging)
2. Journaling, i.e. "This is what I did today." ( Not blogging)
3. Posting links. (Not blogging)
4. Links with descriptive annotations i.e., "This site is about..." (Not really blogging either , but getting closer depending on the depth of the description)
5. Links with analysis that gets into the meaning of the content being linked. (A simple form of blogging)
6. Reflective, metacognitive writing on practice without links. (Complex writing, but simple blogging, I think. Commenting would probably fall in here somewhere)
7. Links with analysis and synthesis that articulate a deeper understanding or relationship to the content being linked and written with potential audience response in mind. (Real blogging)
8. Extended analysis and synthesis over a longer period of time that builds on previous posts, links, and comments. (Complex blogging)

Once you get to the level of complexing blogging, don't feel that you are confined to that level only. The wonderful thing about blogs is that it is flexible. Use the blog as you need it or use the blog as your goals dictate.

Still on the First Lane?
Relax. Take a deep breath. Exhale. If you don't get to writing from the get go, that is aokay. Sometimes a blog begins as a place to put up homework assignments or relevant class links. Don't fret about connecting with other bloggers or communicating with them from the outset. Getting use to the blog format might take some time before you progress to the next level. Blogging can be a slow process. That's perfectly fine. Blogs have a diverse use in the classroom. You might want to start with a personal blog before you begin a classroom blog. There are benefits galore in personal blogging. You can blog about your teaching experiences, write a description of a specific teaching unit (see example), or explore important teaching and learning issues. And once you've become comfortable with your baby-steps on this journey, you will be ready to start a class blog and from there expand into the horizon. This is your highway. You build at your own speed. But know this, the road never ends when it comes to learning; there's just new paths.

---

Sturgeon, Julie. "Five Don'ts of Classroom Blogging." THEJournal. 35.2 (2008):26-30. August 12 2009. Academic Search Complete. http://web.ebscohost.com.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/

Ramaswami, Rama. "The Prose (and a Few Cons, Too) of Blogging." THEJournal. 35.11 (2008):21-25. August 12 2009. Academic Search Complete. http://web.ebscohost.com.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/

Cassidy, Kathy. "To Blog or Not to Blog." Connect Magazine. 21.4 (2008):1-3. August 12 2009. Academic Search Complete. http://web.ebscohost.com.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/

Gersh, Sheila Offman. "Global Projects and Digital Tools." MultiMedia & Internet@Schools. 16.1 (2009):10-13. August 12 2009. Academic Search Complete. http://web.ebscohost.com.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca.

Davis, Anne P.,McGrail, Ewa. "The Joy of Blogging." Educational Leadership. 66.6 (2009):74-77. August 12 2009. Academic Search Complete. http://web.ebscohost.com.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/

Richardson, Will. "Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, And Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms." Thousand Oaks; Corwin Press; 2009.

on a reflective note

well, we're almost done and I can honestly say, I am sad that we'll be parting ways. Yes, I am talking to you:) Okay, we're not entirely parting ways if we continue to peek on one another's blogs, but the coming together in WebCT (aka eclass) will be missed. These last few days of class and the intense coverage of everything blog-related has brought to a self-realization that I love this. And by "this" I mean blogging. It's only now that I am getting into the swing of write/read web. I am finally exploring other edublogs (a gold mine of humor, by the way), beginning to comment on the bloggers I am adding to my RSS feed...well you know what I mean, we're in the same boat, for petes sake!

I am contemplating on whether to keep this blog for the coming school year. Do I start a new one and explore my academic year with a fresh interface and fresh blog? Or just keep this blog and fiddle around with it's structure. I am conflicted. Anybody have suggestions? I'd like to hear what you think.

I do realize that this may be a head start on the reflection we have to submit at the end...oh well:P

Blogging: A Loose Cannon

It's been on my mind for the last couple of days. Here I am trying to figure out the essential life force of blogging, of professional development and thrown in along with these Web 2.0 concepts, I have to write a post on the matter. I guess all this contemplating finally got to me. My approach to the topic didn't hit me until Saturday morning. Between the snooze button and my hazy dreams, the notion came out of no where. I rolled over, scribbled it on a piece of paper and fell back to sleep. But as I look at my scribble, I know it's true. Blogging is a loose cannon!

Look at the definition of the phrase:

An unpredictable person or thing, liable to cause damage if not kept in check by others.

Does that not sum up blogging within the academic world? Wandering down memory lane of previous links, I have to refer back to Anne Trubek when she said that "Critics bemoan blogging as the province of the amateurism. Journalists rue the loose ethics and shoddy fact-checking of citizen journalists." But there's always a flip-side to the Internet coin. You and I know that blogging was not originally intended for the professional arena. However, we both know that any Web 2.0 tool has quickly adapted from professing the inner workings of selves with little regard to audience to personal development and career advancement with an acute awareness of self (see slideshow).

Blogging and academic identity

View more presentations from mweller.

Blogs are loose cannons. The issues alone can make a person cringe. There's the identification of the blogger. Are they a ghost or for real? Then there's matters of privacy. What you're putting out there will it get anyone else in hot water? Are blogs accessible to visually and hearing impaired individuals out there? Comment spamming can be a problem when bloggers blogs are used within wikis as sources. Getting the picture? Okay, things may have changed concerning these issues, however its difficult to dissuade those from these particular points of views.

I think Eszter Hargittai's reflections that some individuals "dismissed the idea that blogging should be counted as rigorous scholarship although they seem supportive of the idea that it could be considered under one’s academic service," but argues that blogs cannot be comparable to journals. However, blogs in of themselves hold value in its peer review process. Eszter writes that blogs are, "much more conducive to intellectual exchange and the advancement of knowledge than publishing articles in journals that no one will ever read." I concur.

So how are we tying down this loose cannon? Comments. We are using comments as a means of establishing a form of credibility within the blogging world. Those that comment are the ones verifying what is written is true or false. We may not necessarily agree with what is being written, which also allows for argument (which is not a bad thing). But a pattern emerges. We start to follow a few blogs, than several than many. Here comes another rope to tie down that rolling piece of metal: RSS feeds. RSS feeds allow all of my information into one sphere of Internet space. Talk about convenient. I stuck with Google Reader, because first, it was highly suggested and secondly, I've found not problems with navigation since starting. Interacting with this web app has been slow business, since I've been changing the blogs I follow or adding onto the list. All of this saves me time when I am wanting to comment.

And don't give up blogging. It's an art. You're still developing your voice, your presence within the blogsphere. I'm learning that blogs comes in all lengths and sizes. Darren Rowse presents a few interesting tips on reasons you shouldn't quit blogging.

I don't think I will ever quit. Reading my classmates blogs, reading other teacher/librarian blogs, I am truly inspired. In other words, I am now interested in my own professional development. I suppose professional development can be summed in Wikipedia terms as "skills and knowledge attained for both personal development and career advancement," but I think the definition needs redefining in context to blogging. It's not just about my personal development but also the development of my students/patrons I also have in mind. Blogging is about community and it's about interacting with others. By writing, I contribute and I connect. Weblogg-ed refers to Karl Fisch's example of profesional development as staff development where he encouraged and challenged teachers to "reflect on their practice and create community around common goals" that focused on improving ""teacher and student use of technology, to achieve curricular goals, to help transform the school to a more student-centered,constructivist approach, and to prepare students to succeed in the 21st century.”"

I see blogging as a loose cannon only because the general view of it rolling about the Web 2.0 deck seems to be relevant. Am I correct in assuming this? Or is this changing? I am reading a lot of edublogs that are saying the loose cannon is slowly being put into place. But really, in the depths of us all, do we want this? What new controversy would we talk about? Oh wait, I forgot...there's twitter. Let the cannons roll!

Studying the characteristics of a Twitter

You hear it before you spot it. You recognize that distinct call. The male is warbling on some crazy tune. Another male rises to the challenge. A lone female answers, but you're not sure if she's replying. More voices rise. There's quite a few of them about. Sounds like an entire flock. You grab the binoculars to spot the body of voices. You catch a blur of blue fly by. Your eye settles on a collective group of females. They're females all right, chatting up a storm. You look down at the book in your hand. The markings match, the description of the call is correct, the way they crowd into individual groups. You take a quick look through the looking glass again. You smile. You settle down into your chosen spot. You get comfortable as you begin to observe the habitat of the twitter, a species of the social networking family.

However, some advise to you. I know you want to learn more about the twitter, but first put away that book. To become an expert twitter, you must study tweeting. Here are some suggestions...

Classification of a Twitter
If you think the Twitter is the only of its kind, I am here to inform you it is not. Twitter belongs to the genera of micro-blogging. We will explore together the different species within microblogging. I categorize the Twitter into a taxonomy structure because there are many species within the genera of microblogging. It's good to know, that a Twitter is a microblog and not a photo-sharing website or a blog or a podcast. However, there are some subspecies that need to be brought to light as well. Microsharing was one particular subspecies that was named by Laura Fitton. Micromessaging, microblogging, and microstreaming are also added to this subspecies list. The term "microstreaming" has been coined by Stowe Boyd and he has several choice words about what micromessaging and microblogging are really about. We wouldn't want to place certain species under the wrong families would we? Good!



Learning to Identify Microblogging
Now that we've established what exactly a Twitter is, let's move to learning how to identify a Twitter or any other microblog. We identify a microblog by first defining it. One microblog watcher, Microblink defines it as:

"A small-scale form of blogging, generally made up of short, succinct messages, used by both consumers and businesses to share news, post status updates and carry on conversations."

Apparently micro-blogs come in different sizes; there is variety in their length. A microblog is simple in appearance and has none of that extra baggage that bigger social networking sites have. Unlike other species, microblogging is still not entirely defined. Wikiepedia defines microblogging as:

"is a form of multimedia blogging that allows users to send brief text updates or micromedia such as photos or audio clips and publish them, either to be viewed by anyone or by a restricted group which can be chosen by the user."

Since microblogging is a new species, it only makes sense that the powers that be (anyone with Internet access) have not settled on a definite definition.

Variation in Appearance*
Like Twitter, micoblogs come in all shapes and sizes. Within this genera, microblogs serve different purposes. ReadWriteWeb give ten top microblogs, and they're not all totting the same shape, the same call or the same habits.

Beloved Twitter, the microblog that you have been faithfully following, observing habitat, mating rituals, recording songs and becoming familiar with it's bluish coat, is one rather diverse little species. It can tweet about through SMS, e-mail, or web browser. Also our dear twitter lives on an open platform, meaning its living space is rather flexible and others of the social networking family can come on by for a visit any time of the day.

Now, Tumblr is a microblog you might not be familiar with but the idea of the Tumblr is similar to the Twitter. It is very simplistic in plumage, but has the ability to tweet in text, photos, quotes, links, chats, or even videos.

Hictu is a performing species. Rather than hear or read what they say, they show their dance live. They speak in videopost rather than text, however to join the hictu flock you need an invitation from one of their own. An odd species, in my opinion.

The Moodmill species is a rather peculiar group. They tweet through text but their plumage changes colors depending on their moods. The markings of the Moodmill species is simple in appearance but make up for their colorful ever-changing plumage.

An even odder but humorous species is the I Rate My Day. This particular group, similar to the Moodmill species, also shows moods but rather with color, I Rate My Day species has rather flexible facial features as to show the world when it is happy, sad, nonchalant, or angry. Whatever the mood, you'll know it just by looking at its face.

A species that combines both color and facial expressions in its tweeting is the Emotionr. Its a fascinating species to say the least. Individuals within the species can show their emotions or as a collective, emotions of the flock are shown.

Observation of the Twitter
I know that you and I have some familiarity with the Twitter. If you haven't interacted with the species, you've at least heard the echoes of its tweeting through the grapevine. The Twitter is the most well known species in the micorblog genera. Is there controversy around the Twitter? Indeed! Are there arguments asking for eradication while others are praising its tweets? Indubitably! Gentle reader, as you ponder the very existence of the dear Twitter, we must explore this beloved species before making our own verdict. Let us begin...

Twit the Tweet
Twitters are proficient tweeters. They have different ways of tweeting; through the Twitter lines, through Short Message Service (SMS) or external application. Right, what external applications? Even though nearly 50% of Twitters tweet from the mainline, there are other applications that allow you to tweet the tweet. Company and Industry News invited Israeli blogger, Orli Yakuel to share her expertise of finding other tweeting external applications - and an extensive list she does present! The list of external applications are Seesmic, People Browser, TwitHive, Splitweet, TweetTabs, Monitter, Tweenky. So why all the external applications? According to Yakuel, although 50% of Twitters use the mainline, heavy Twitters admit to a poor user experience compared to the "plethora of substitute web applications to access the service." Just by going to Orli's homepage, I discovered Storytlr. I haven't fully looked into it, but by the screenshots she shows in her blogs, my curiosity is being pulled in that direction. And here's where we go into the next aspect of Twitters, their plumage.

Plumage
Sure, a Twitter likes to tweet, but they also like to be presentable, hence the plumage. A Twitter's plumage might be beneficial in attracting attention to other Twitters, but the plumage has more importance to the Twitter themselves. The Closeted Entrepreneur suggests making your own Twitter template and takes the looking Twitter through the process. One added bonus is if the Twitter is not happy with the provided templates, and is still not satisfied with the the Google species provides, than there is always an exploration of the "Change Background Design" section of the Twitter mainline.

The Neighbors
Twitters are not loners, they congregate. A Twitter often moves into a group because someone is a friend. Sometime Twitters are attracted to the call of other Twitters and become followers of their tweets. Now, the downside of tweeting on the mainline Twitter is that you can't search through the your own tweetings, whereas other external applications allow you to do that like (aka, Storytlr). But what in the world do they tweet about?!?

Learning the Songs and Calls*
Those that are not twitters look down at all the tweeting with great disdain. When a twitter is spotted, a loathing individual will leave the room, a field, a forest or any vicinity that the twitter begins tweeting. The call of the micro-blogger varies from habitat to habitat, but one thing remains consistent with the call of the twitter and it's the non-stop irksome tweeting. There's a marked difference between the call patterns of adolescent twitter and adult twitter. The adolescent, unsure of itself and its habitat, does not tweet as often. However, once a twitter has established a territory, there is a noticeable increase in its tweeting.

It wasn't until I began researching what these Twitters were tweeting about that I began to see the hype. To be accurate, there are four distant types of tweeting. Anne Trudek, in her article, "Art of the Status Update," made this discovery through the Update Status on Facebook, but goes on in the article to also relate this to Twitter. The four categories are:

1. Prosaic, or “what I am doing now,” (Jill is baking bread).

2. Informative, or “stuff I found somewhere else” (Jack loves this article from GOOD, followed by URL)

3. Clever and funny (Johnny thinks Obama should be sworn in a few more times, just to be EXTRA safe. Janey discovered that Michelle Obama’s wardrobe is a divisive topic in water aerobics class.

4.) Poetic or nonsensical (Josh is watching a parakeet form itself out of ice on the telephone wire; If Jim were a cloud, he would rain Earl Grey tea).

I love Anne, I dearly do. The very fact that she delves into the psyche of twittering is fascinating especially when she puts forth the idea that the Status Update on Facebook is

Relentlessly first-person, the status update is akin to a lyric poem, dominated by the speaker, the “I.” Another defining formal quality is, of course, length. Several of my “Friends” remark that the Status Update is Haiku-like in its strictness about brevity. The poet (and Friend) Troy Jollimore compares the Status Update to an epitaph, and notes that “we might think of one’s epitaph as the very last status update.”

But Anne doesn't end there, in another article, "We Are All Writers Now," she takes on another issue that critics and academe have with social networking these days: self-publishing. I thoroughly enjoy how she balances the "bemoaning critics" with the fact that 20 or 30 years ago people worried that writing would go the way of the dinosaur because of television watching and people always on the telephone. Because of the self-publishing, people are reading and writing more today. She says with people writing more and more, with this practice they are getting better. Remember the "25 Random Things About Me," that raged about Facebook a few months back? I wasn't the only one groaning about it, apparently. But Anne makes very intriguing point. During her early years of teaching English Literature, she would get students to do a similar exercise to improve their creative writing. Well, now where does this get us with the Twitter?

Maria Puente in her article, "What would Shakespeare tweet," contemplates the excessive quantity and apparently lacking in quality tweeting. Tying into what Anne talked about writing in general, well, this also applies to those Twitters out there. Let's be candid. Most reasons you don't like Twitter or twitters is because the only thing you seem to be getting from those you follow is comments about what's for lunch, brief weekend plans, and well the usual everyday hala-balu. According to Puente, Twittering is evolving. Those that twitter tweet about the mundane everyday matters, and there are those who really don't care for it. This is changing, "slowly, style and etiquette rules for status updates are evolving, as people get more practice and as skillful updaters become more recognized." So what makes a good update? Personality. Following others that are "funny, clear and concise and mimicing them" helps in better twittering.

Being realistic
So what argument can Twitters place before the jury on behalf of their kind? They are evolving. They do get better with discovery of self. This became more evident as I was reading through the description of Twitter on Wikipedia. I think a Twitter's saving grace will be to tweet in emergencies. In the Usage section of Wikipedia's Twitter, it lists all the significant tweetings that led to some significant action. Long stories short, A Twitter being unfairly arrested tweeted his way out of jail, the situation on bush fires in Australia were updated through Twitter, Red Cross twittered information about minutely formation about local disasters including statistics and directions.

Teachers and Twitter
I know teachers are twittering like the rest of us. Some are beginning to show that Web 2.0 savviness by creating wikis of how to share twittering inspiration for the classroom, like Twitter for Teachers is doing (this is an e-book, actually). Kate Klingensmith, in her blog, Once A Teacher, talks about teachers and twitter. Kate talks about finding people to follow and gives a list of that link to teachers and other edubloggers and other possible places to look within the site. Here's another important matter she brings up, that until now, I never thought about. You want to tweet a URL, but goes over 140 characters, enter TinyURL. This feature shortens the url to fit within tweet. Bit.ly is also another important microblog application in that it also shortens a url but also allows you to specify part of the new URL. If you sign up for an account, you can track how many clicks your shortened URLs get.

Librarians and Twitter
I didn't think it was possible, but someone actually wrote an entering titled "Twittering Libraries," in Wikipedia. It is by LIS student, Lindy Brown, and she gives an extensive look at libraries that twitter (there are 90 of them). I think her "Prominent List of Uses" is rather interesting to note:

For library announcements
To post news such as special events, holiday hours, exhibits, new book arrivals
Updated resources or reminders of important resources, instruction sessions and new reference services
Using Twitter as another communication tool with patrons/clients
As a reference service
As a way to keep in touch with librarian friends and colleagues as well as a way to collaborate on projects
As a way to stay on top of the latest technologies
For customer service
To send alerts about requested materials
As a short newsletter
As a public relations/marketing tool
As a way to get and share information about conferences and other professional development opportunities (i.e., registration deadlines, speakers, accommodation information, webinars)
Cataloging and tagging
Internal updates
For networking with other librarians, libraries, and library-affiliated organizations

Twitter in the Classroom?
Shelly in his blog, TeachPaperless, is an awesome example of Twitter in the classroom. His blog begins with stating that his class has just finished their blogging session of the Twitter enhanced classroom. He assess Twitter as a place that he and students can commune as a community and a place where students can feel comfortable talking about the learning process. He also gives a short list of activities that can be used with Twitter for the classroom such as vocabulary/grammar building, source/resource collection and evaluation and collaborative assessment.

One highschool teacher was creative. A teacher assigned an assignment that had to be conducted through Twitter. The assignment? Called "Twitter in Hell," the students had to read Dante's "Inferno" and than twitter in 140 characters or less about each level of hell as if they were Dante writing to his beloved Beatrice. A definite challenge but, Kathleen Blake Yancey, whose idea it was to twitter Dante, recognizes that students are "actively engaged writers." It's just that these writers write for ever evolving digital area such as chatting, MySpace or SMS. As Yancey sees it, there needs to be a change in school systems and asks educators to consider three tasks to help the process in the right direction: "develop new models of writing, then design a new curriculum for students to support these models, and finally create ways for educators to actually teach this curriculum."

Confessions of a challenged Twitter
I'll admit, I had little love for anything and everything twitter related. Attempting to tweet everyday was like remembering to turn off the lights when I leave the house. I will say, I tweeted terribly. I am boring. A big yawn! However, I didn't see the big picture. I didn't explore. But, an issue begins to surface phoenix-like as I read deeper into what pertains to twittering and micro-blogs. I refer to microbloggers as birds, because really there is much tweeting about. I would rather call these individuals birds than "screaming morons" or "shrieking monkeys" as one commentor of Anne's "We Are All Writers Now" (I had to chuckle about his comment). I don't think I will go back to Twitter, at least not under the old context. I want to explore those external application. They, would prove more useful and definitely entertaining. I want to see who is funny out there. I want to see what emergencies are being tweeted. I now want to truly explore the sunnier side of microblogging.

You've been twittered
The study of the Twitter has definitely led you down some interesting roads. Who knew that an extensive study of the Twitter would be so fascinating and in your exploration of the habits, mannerisms, song and plumage of the Twitter, you come to realize that you've become Twitterized. Welcome to the habitat!

---

Puente, Maria. "What Would Shakespeare Tweet." USA Today. June 10 2009. Academic Search Complete. August 6 2009. http://web.ebscohost.com.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca

Trubek, Anne. "We are al writers now." More Intelligent Life. More Intelligent Life Mag., June 26 2009. August 5th 2009.

Trubek, Anne. "The Art of the Status Update." GOOD. GOOD Mag., January 26 2009. August 5th 2009.

Barack, Lauren. "Twittering Dante." School Library Journal. 55.4 (2009): 14-15. Academic Search Complete. August 6 2009. http://web.ebscohost.com.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca

*These headers were taken from page 9,11 and 12 of Sibley, David Allen. "The Sibley Guide to Birds." Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.; New York, 2000. All ideas of birding relate to this book.

*Taxonomy of Internet Graph was created the Author of this blog. The Latin names may not be as correct. If anyone has better names, please leave comment!

Five steps of accepting social networking

Ah, I see you've made it. Come in and lie down. Make yourself comforty. Now, (with spectacles on nose) I understand that you're dealing with the grief that social networking is causing you? Yes, aha, aha. And when did this happen? You can't quite recall. Was it sudden? No? Oh, it was a gradual. First it was your co-workers?

*scribble, scribble*

Hmmm, interesting. Is this where your grief manifested itself? No? Okay. Oh, then it was your friends? Intriguing. All right then, let's follow this line of thought further. Who else attributed to this grief? Family?! Ah, yes family is closest to the heart. This is when you noticed your grief?

*scribble scribble*

Well, the only thing I can do for you in this session is walk you through this grief. Help you understand it better and accept it as well. Would you be willing to do that? You would? Excellent. The first step in dealing with your grief is your willingness to deal with it.

Alright, let us begin.

Denial of your dead social life
The first thing we have to address is your denial. Yes, denial! You are denying the death of your social life. This is understandable. It's a tragic loss. However, life is about change and we can't change that. I understand that some of your co-workers aren't going out to lunch with you anymore and instead are spending time updating the company's Linkedin account? Also, your friends have become caught up in their busy lives and I understand that they've taken to Facebook to substitute for calling or emailing? Even your children have betrayed you? Oh, how so? They're always on MySpace when you enter the room? And your significant other is spending too much time on Jango? I can see that your social life isn't really dead. Maybe disconnected. This is more evident than ever. I can see how you see your social life is dead, and I want to assure you that denial is normal. Its okay to deny that your family has ditched quality time with you for virtual time with their friends or new acquaintances. Feeling rather isolated, right?

You're not alone. Denying the existence of social networking is easy to do. Denying is a way of rebelling against the system. Everybody is doing it, and you're asking yourself the question, like I've asked myself multiple of times, if everyone jumped off a bridge, would you? We also deny that our social life is dying and we don't want to join the bandwagon because everyone is doing it or pressuring us to do it. But perhaps socializing isn't dying but just wearing a different cover. We're not recognizing the new face of socializing.

Dealing with the "Rage"
So you're angry. You have every right to be. Angry that the once-old-fashion-way of socializing has kicked the bucket, angry that everybody is abandoning this way of socializing and angry that you have to change your ways in order to socialize with everyone again. But you're not the only one dealing with the rage. The various academic and professions are dealing with this social "rage." According to Marketing Pilgrim, in their article, Social Networking surpasses Email Popularity, it's interesting to note the stats from each country as each society becomes involved with social networking. Looking to the global audience, "only half of Switzerland’s and Germany’s residents are on social networks, while Brazil has 80% of its population social networking." When Facebook offered a German language version, there was a noticeable increase of social networking in Germany.

The lists of social networking sites are literally endless. They don't just encompass the good old fashion talking to friends anymore, but are a means of making new friends, finding a date, finding a significant other (trust me, it happens), an announcement board to everyone, a connection with co-workers....you're getting the picture . Someone on Wikipedia has been kind enough to provide an extensive list of social networking sites. Of course, they've compiled this list from other lists, but you and I get the gist as to the overall significance social networking has on the web. The sites we've come to recognize and love/loathe are Facebook and MySpace. Twitter is becoming the next big cheese on the block. Top Ten Reviews gives their own list as to why the most popular sites are going like hot cakes. I could give the list, but you're eyeballs would numb after a few minutes.

But let's get back to the more important issue. How does anyone deal with all of these sites? They bargain.

Bargaining Stage
You've gotten over your anger, and seem to be accepting that there is no way out of this social situation. You reason with yourself. If you're going to be a part of this social scene, well by Freud's fanny, you mind as well take the plunge in a big way. Okay, you might not be thinking that but your subconscious mind sure is, because before you know it you have five accounts in five different social networking sites. The idea is about getting yourself out there. Well, I can sympathize.

I know for myself, at one point, became heavily tangled in the lines of social networking. I am unabashed to say that I joined because my friends joined. I did not go out and explore what was out there, but when someone emailed me to join a site, I readily joined. First there was hi5, than Tagged, followed by MySpace and along with Jango and Facebook. Recently, I've joined twitter. Am I hopeless?

In your overloaded discovery of social networking you may have stumbled upon a pattern. If you say they all appear to have the same features, you get ice cream! Brian S. Mathews in his chapter, "Online Social Networking," gives a quick sum of the features that are shown in most social networking sites. The "Core Features" are:

User Profile: this be your homepage. It's the page that greets you with your face when you log-in. Most of the functions are found focused on this page.

Friending: this be the process where you make new friends! Very exciting until the person rejects your request. Friending requires two way authentication of the person asking to be a friend and the other person approving the friendship. What a straightforward way of making friends.

Groups: this be the space which groups of shared interest come together and interact with one another in cyber-time.

Individual Messaging: this be the similar function as emailing but takes place strictly within the site. It is private and is sent to one or a multiple of people. The character count is limited and some sites also limit how many messages can be stored in the "inbox."

Announcements: this be the place where you tell the world your business. Okay, not the "world" but your sphere of influence. This is the place where the site collects all the current updates from yourself and friends and dumps them in this space for everyone to see.

Individual Message Boards: this be the place where you message friends openly. It's similar to individual messaging except for the fact that everyone can read your business. So, if you don't want anybody snooping, you better send IM instead.

Photos: this be the place you share and show photographs of yourself, friends and anything of interest. Size and specifications vary from site. Friends can comment on photos and a marking system identifying friends in the picture is also set in place.

Blogs or Journals: this be the place where you write your thoughts. If you're looking for the word "blog" or "journal" in Facebook, look no more, but instead look for the word "note." A little unconventional, I suppose, but Facebook likes to be "unique." Anyways, moving on!

Icebreakers: this be the function that you use to get another friend's attention. In Facebook it's called a "poke." Honestly, who wants to be poked? But that's the word they use (again with the uniqueness!). I think someone needs to create an application that responds with "Stop poking me" or "I'm ticklish."

Searching: this be the place you to find others. I know according to Facebook there are two search functions: one to search within one's own friends and than the other main search for groups and possible friends.

Privacy Controls: this be the place to limit what others see. Privacy controls is really about protecting your privacy from those within the site or even out on the Internet. Since Google has come along, you don't necessarily need to be connected to Facebook to find a person anymore. Google helps. So set your privacy controls!

Depression: Dealing with the Overload
You now realize that dealing with the issue of social networking by using reverse psychology on yourself is just not working. You're depressed. You made the mistake of getting five unique usernames and you can't remember them. Or you made the mistake of creating one username for all five sites and think you're an uncreative sop whose given into the dark side of social demands. Whatever the case, you're left with a head full of unhappiness.

Welcome to social networking overload. You thought to deal with the grief by going in the opposite direction. Instead, going in the opposite direction at full steam really mucked things up. I remember my social networking overload moment. Remember that list of sites I listed off? I've discarded most of them. It's true what they say about popular sites. They're popular until the next new thing comes round. The main reason I discarded hi5 and Tagged was just for the fact that random people wanted to become my friends. And ironically enough, the friends I started with on hi5 migrated to MySpace and eventually ended up on Facebook. Go figure. I like how Leigh Duncan-Durst puts it, "first, most seem to have these cutesy 3-7 letter names like "Blyk" and "Fark". Second, none of the names really reflect what the apps do." In her article, Social Networking: Application Overload, Leigh describes social networking application saturation as APP REFLEX. She claims it "involves a facial tic, shoulder spasm and a gagging sinus noise. This came on gradually but was fully in force after one day of casual research."

Acceptance: moving forward
Acceptance of your grief, of the passing of in-person chats with a friend over coffee, the quality time with the kids, or going out to lunch with co-workers is one part of letting go. You've shook your fist at the virtual world by first ignoring it, then diving in head first thinking this would solve the grief only to become depressed when the social overload became evident. You've accepted social networking but your now ready to put aside the rest of the steps in realizing that social networking is here to stay. There is help. One blog talks about how to deal with social networking overload. It brings to the discussion table four important points: Ask yourself why, Consider your purpose, Create boundaries and Communicate your plan.

Asking yourself why leads to two actions: you either joined for friends or join just for the heck of it? Joining with and for friends at least serves its purpose. You have a mission; maintain contact and make new contact. Joining just to join will cause you to join many sites thus defeating the whole purpose.

Consider your purpose: are you spending more time in one particular social networking site than another? Having too many sites with duplicate information is just a waste of maintenance time.

Creating boundaries is a good thing. Perhaps you want to separate your personal life from your professional life so as to not mix them up and not worry that you will offend certain people or give the wrong message.

Communicate your plan: if you do choose to have more than one account on different social networking sites, you don't have to update news or status all the time. You don't have to be friends with everybody. Communicate to the people the purpose of your presence on that particular site. Being honest from the get go will save you from ackward situations down the road.

It can happen to You
Admit it, you've been in this stage at one point of your life. Perhaps not with social networking but with other Web 2.0 applications. Looking at my own experience, I didn't think much about the entire process of coming and leaving a particular social networking site. However, as I begin looking at my own career as a librarian, I am having to take into consideration other professionals who are wanting or needing to become a part of a social network because of work.

What about the Teachers?
Teachers are perhaps becoming one of the biggest users of social networking. Realizing the power of the web in their students lives, teachers are making the move to harness this learning tool. By becoming aware as well as active in using it in and outside the classroom, teachers are sometimes having to exceed themselves in learning unfamiliar technology. Besides new stomping grounds, teachers are also having to realize the current dangers that their students are facing unawares. Teachers are coming to social networking with the awareness of putting up too much personal information. With this knowledge, teachers are taking a look at what their students are putting up on the Internet. On top of this, teachers are having to deal with issues of how much they want to relate to their students through social networking sites. Do they add students to their "friends" list? Do they create a specific account that allows them to add students and teachers? To add another layer of icing to this cake, teachers who are coming into the social networking scene are coming under fire for what they're posting on their profile. Is it intentional? No. But teachers are beginning to realize that maybe, just maybe, their lives aren't so private. How do teachers deal with all of this?

Teachers are having to really dig about for the privacy restrictions on their profiles nowadays. Perhaps they haven't even invited students to be their friends, but as Kellie Hayden informs us, students are simply googling their teachers. Some teachers have dealt with some of these issues by creating their own social networking sites. There is Classroom 2.0, which claims is a place for teachers to network, share ideas and discuss current Web 2.0 issues in the classroom. But on the other spectrum, some teachers see the importance of social networking of enhancing teaching. As article, "Have you googled your teacher lately? Teachers' Use of Social Networking Sites." writes, for one teacher it was a way for the quiet students to come out of their shells in communicating with their teacher. These students found a voice that they could communicate with outside of the four walls of the school. Whatever the issues of social networking, teachers are having to face the issues on a daily basis. It only makes sense as they become familiar with this application and its challenges.

What about the Classroom?
So, after ranting and raving about the complications that teachers themselves are facing in the social networking arena, what can be spoken about for the student in the classroom. Quite a bit, actually. But the learning process for students about social networking might be more of an awareness of what is happening on these sites. As Privacycom.org writes in their article, Bullying over Social Networks, says the difference with bullying in cyber-time compared to real time is that you cannot defend yourself. Once a piece of negative information gets out there whether it is in text or picture, it's out there and there's no way of retrieving it. The site goes on to say that the only way to cope with this is for schools and teachers to educate students that bullying can happen in any place, including the Internet.

What about the Librarians?
Now speaks the librarians. What say they in this upheaval. Interestingly enough, when I went to google "social networking AND librar*" what appeared before my eyes weren't social networking sites available to librarians as there were for the teachers, but rather articles about library involvement in social networking. I find this quite intriguing. It seems that librarians aren't about creating the sites for their users but harnessing existing sites alongside with their patrons. Sure, sure, there's a Library 2.0 ning that popped up but it makes sense that librarians would create a social networking site for themselves. It's what they do - explore all web applications to unfound depths! So how is the local library getting on board with social networking. Take our dear friend, Facebook. A classic example I must say. Every library is taking advantage of this particular site to put out their voice in reaching their users. I like how Brian S. Mathews categorizes the library presence on social networking sites: Speak their language, show them the library, get them to assess, repackage the information, and word of mouth.

First off, "speaking their language" is really about meeting patrons where they are at. It's all about leaving behind the four wall stereotype. Secondly, "show them the library," is all about exploring how users see their hometown library. It's all about the user making the library their own. Thirdly, "get them to assess." This ones important. It's all about the opportunity to rant or rave about your library. Fourthly, "repackage the information," is all about showing the young ones the old way of researching in a new format. And lastly, "word of mouth," sometimes gets people moving in the direction of their local library. Sometimes it takes an enthusiastic friend to tell that the library is a cool place to hang.

The Patient speaks the last words
Okay, I think I know what you're talking about now. I've been mourning the lost of my "social life" when really it's just taken on another form. And, and I shouldn't go overboard when getting an account. I should shop around. Right? right! This makes much more sense. And...Doctor....Doctor? Ah, Doctor? Is that Facebook you're using on your iphone?

---

Carter, Heather L.; Foulger, Teresa S.; Ewbank, Ann Dutton. "Have You Googled Your Teacher Lately? Teachers' Use of Social Networking Sites." Phi Delta Kappan. 89.9 (2008):681-686.
Courtney, Nancy. "Library 2.0 and Beyond." Wesport, Connecticut; Libraries Unlimited, 2007.

mashing my brains

I am a babe at arms when it comes to the app that people call "mashups." I'll admit it. I know nothing. Nada. Zero. Zip. And you just might be another person who is also in the same boat as me. Welcome to the crew. Arg, we be web-pirates and we be sailing these high seas scouring for understanding. Arg, where be ye, understanding?!

Rule Number 1: Have Fun!
Never in a million flying monkey tails have I been more confused. But because I am explorer, a web 2.0 explorer to be exact, I will not give up. So here goes...mashups! Like any sane person, I googled mashups, and of course, was directed to Wikipedia for a finer definition of the word. Ironically enough, there are several definitions of mashups, two being:

Mashup (digital), a digital media file containing any or all of text, graphics, audio, video, and animation, which recombines and modifies existing digital works to create a derivative work.

Mashup (web application hybrid), a web application that combines data and/or functionality from more than one source

Going by a few links provided in Wikipedia, I decided to have a look at AlertMap, which to sum up is, a mashup of information that shows disasters around the world at a given time and place. I take a peek and am no less confused. Hence, my searching continues. I mosey around Wikipedia some more and discover the different mashup editors that are available. I figure I'll try Google Mashup Editor, but raise an eyebrow at the word "deprecated" that follows the link. I decide on Pipes Yahoo since I had a Yahoo account already.

I'm in. I look around. I find a place that looks like the place where I begin experimentation, but have no idea how to use the tools. Luckily there is a video. Play. Okay, I have something of an idea of what I have to do...I think. I basically copy what the video does and voila! my very own mashup. End of the line. Time to write. Wow, that was boring. No fun whatsoever. Time to go back to the drawing boards.

Rule Number 2: If at first you don't succeed...
So I gave mashups a try, on my own power, but I wanted to see what the prof had to say about the matter. Decided it was time to walk the fire-trail. Become wise. Gain a different understanding. It was a short trail, but enlightenment was attained. I was introduced to Animoto, which seemed too good to be true! There's also Animoto Education, a section for teachers. Animoto discovered immediate success with teachers and decided to give these people added advantages to joining and using their site. I was rather impressed with Animoto. The steps laid down are easy to follow and the end product is great. However, you are limited to how long you can make the video.



Rule Number 3: Explore
So the web masters created Animoto and it was good. The multitude saw that it was good. All saw that it was good. But a small voice from nowhere said "got anything else?" There were gasps, and sharp intakes. The webmasters looked gravely at one another. One cracked a toothless grin and in a small, high silly voice said, "yes, there's VoiceThread, too!"

After an exploration of Animoto and having just way too much fun with it, I wanted to see what else was out there. Enter VoiceThread. This app is even more simplistic than Animoto. This basic application can be thrown up onto the web and used as a way of sharing photos from the latest trip, latest artwork, digital storytelling or a visual suggestion board for ideas within a group.



The only downside to both of these web apps is that they are not entirely free. The basic structure is free (how else are they going to hook you in?). However the upside is you can pay a minimal fee and everything is yours. If you are especially satisfied with the service than paying the money won't be such a bother. Or if you want to be nit-picky and creative you can just make a series of short 30 sec clips and somehow tie together. That's not only creative, that's being frugal as well.

Rule Number 4: Let the People speak
So these are great web applications. I think they're fantastic. But am I the only one? Apparently not. Joel Spolsky thinks it's an amazing app as well. What he points out is that this video you create on Animoto can be uploaded to five of the most popular online photo sharing sites (flickr, facebook, smugmug, picasa, and photobucket). In 2008, VoiceThread was listed as the 23rd most used web app out of a 100. I think the best thing about Top Tools For Learning, is that gives a plethora of comments from teachers using this web app. Check it out. You'll come away with a lot of ideas of how teachers are using this application in the classroom.

Rule Number 5: Connect
I'm exploring what Animoto and VoiceThread has to offer and a thought occurred to me as I was playing with these apps. Are there other people out there that want to connect using these apps? There are. Voicethread4Education is such a place to connect with other teachers who want to use Voicethread in their classrooms. Teachers have contributed to this wiki by adding their experiences of voicethreading. I like how Donna DesRoches calls it. Digital Storytelling. In her brief blog, Classroom Tech Tips, she briefly outlines a project where students created a storyboard with taking pictures and than presented those pictures in a story they created. This project was than uploaded onto Voice Thread so that other teachers and parents could leave comments.

Rule Number 6: Check under rocks
We've had a peek at Video Thread and Animoto, but are there any other photo sharing sites out there besides these two fine specimens? According to Seven Things You Should Know About VoiceThread, there are other apps such as Slide Show and Cooliris. I went to my trusty telescope (Google). I couldn't find anything specifically called "Slide Show" but I did find a web app called Slide. It also has a simplistic interface that one could navigate. I threw up my telescope again and went looking for Cooliris. What is this thing called "Coo-li-ris?" It appears that Cooliris is also another photosharing doo-dad, HOWEVEVER you have to install a plug-in. Pfff. A plug-in. Riiiiiight. How more handy can a plug-in get when you're trying to do some photo-sharing love from a computer that is not your own. Can we say foreseen complications?

Rule Number 7: Check in the Stacks
What could possibly be in the library that has to do with mashups. Well, not exactly in the stacks but some librarians are noticing mashups within academe. As Emily Welshe notes, "we call our mashups things like synergistic learning or symbiotic content." Books are starting to make their way into digitization and relegation and have been revitalized as students take advantage of the "abbreviated surrogates that basically do the trick." I think Welshe hits the nail on the head when she writes,

"As students--highly acculturated to wikis, blogs, and RSS feeds--struggle to comprehend the notions of intellectual property and attribution, database vendors race to market postmodern Promethean portals that mash up and map out ideas on their behalf. We offer myriad variations on the Frankensteinian theme of blended identities and then wonder why our students can't effectively develop and situate their ideas in an academic context. We look for trace hints of humanity in their papers and yet fail to provide the conceptual foundation for research and information literacy that they so desperately need."

This is the issue that modern educators are just beginning to realize. I believe that in the here and now, librarians and teachers can only address this issue by learning these web applications ourselves, synthesize and create our own mashups where students will find a balance between technology, analysis and comprehension.

Rule Number 8: Involve the Crew
Sure all this is fun to learn, but there's more of this that meets the barnacle. It's about classroom involvement. As teachers and librarians we're the ones who have to be the balancer, the finger that holds the middle of the tied ribbon, the middle kid who sits in the center of the teeter-totter. You get the picture. We're the ones who have to make it all educational fun. And it is fun! One word I am being seen thrown around a lot is digital storytelling. It's a great idea, actually. And here's a link to other links for some more great digital storytelling ideas. As the author of The Educational Uses of Digital Storytelling summed it up, "digital storytelling is the practice of using computer-based tools to tell stories." Since mashups like, Animoto and VideoThread are visual and audio, storytelling can definitely be explored. What other ways can mashups be explored in the classroom?

Rule Number 8: Be Inspired
So, we've sailed the seven seas, and we've found our treasure chest of gold. Photo-sharing gold to be exact. We've sweated tears of joy as we've yet discovered another wonderous treasure that we can toot around and explore with our students. Our swashbuckling days are not over, but have only just began.

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Sources: Welshe, Emily. "Mashups in the stacks". American Libraries. 39.11 (2008):37-37.

Further Exploration: Panoramio and Housing Map

Wikis: a journey of a sandbox

Wikis Defined
The word, wiki, as you may or may not know is the Hawaiian word for "quick," and the concept of the word has definitely been embodied in the web application as we know it. Fast it is. But what is a wikis? What is Wiki defines it as "the simplest online database that could possibly work." Wiki is a piece of server software that gives users the freedom to create and edit Web page content using any Web browser. "Wiki supports hyperlinks and has a simple text syntax for creating new pages and crosslinks between internal pages on the fly."

A 2006 clip on the online growth and tech support of Wikepedia in the last 4 years (55 min.)

In the Beginning
So who first used wikis? According to 7 Things You Should Know About Wikis, scientists and engineers in the mid 1990s used wikis as dynamic knowledge bases. Wikis were considered to be "on the fly," and could be seen by everyone online and commented on by anyone as well. Faculty and staff in academia have also taken advantage of this instructional application by using wikis as repositories of their meeting notes. At the time of this writing, institutions were experimenting wikis as e-portfolios.

What's Out There
The greatest thing about wikis is that it is for everyone. You have Wikipedia, which has gained recognition as the people's encyclopedia, but that doesn't necessarily mean that that's the end of the road when it comes to wikis. There's a rather extensive wikis' list that wikipedia provides to show you the extent to which wikis have taken online community by storm. To name one wiki that is not on the list is PBWiki, which has changed names to PBWorks. The reason for the change in name is because several new functions have been added on that have redefined the site and as a result have gone beyond traditional wiki function. The change in name seemed appropriate to them, and it does make more sense to do so when the reason is presented.

The Issues
Wikipedia
So are there any issues with wikis? Maybe not among them but perhaps with them there is. The big word that was thrown around back in the day was "credibility." I remember back to my undergraduate years when just about all my professors would raise their eyebrows in skeptical annoyance when any of their students even mentioned the word "Wikipedia." I remember one particular classmate, incessantly mentioning wikipedia (this one particular classmate had a habit of mentioning the new and latest web app). My professors weren't the only ones questioning the credibility of wikipedia. Stacy Schiff, a writer for the The New Yorker, also raises the question of whether Wikipedia will ever gain expertise. In her extensive article about everything wikipedia (from history to the finer detail of users), Know it All, talks about accuracy with a comparable note that for every 3 errors found in Britannica, 4 were found in Wikipedia. Schiff says the problem is provence. Most of the information that is provided in Wikipedia is not found in the stacks but from the Web, which she writes, "offers up everything from breaking news, spin, and gossip to proof that the moon landings never took place." Schiff goes into the greater detail about Wikipedia, but I want to pause for a moment and come back to the bigger picture. The image of Wikipedia has perhaps become the poster child for wikis back in 2006, and indirectly corrupted the view of wikis in the eyes of some professionals and academia, however, will this change? I think indirectly it might. Wikis, in of themselves, are gaining momentum in the professional world. Wikis, not Wikipedia. Big difference. Wikis serve whatever community size, be it big or small, and it is perhaps it is in size that the difference can be found.

So, will Wikipedia ever clean up its act? Perhaps in the long run, when more professional voices start participating in the creation of content on the site, perhaps than there will be an eventual status of credibility.

Wikis
Using wikis is fine and good, but the thing is that eventually, people in their collaboration want to use an identifier and often times, Wikipedia comes to mind. Eric Oatman in his article, Make Way for Wikis, talks about wikis in the classroom and the good it serves students and teachers, yet he brings to light the pros and cons with wikis in that if wikis are to present in the school, proper sourcing is needed when establishing wikis. Librarians have noticed holes in the information presented on Wikipedia, and Oatman wants to raise awareness that teachers should perhaps use Wikipedia as an example of what not to do when writing and sourcing information. It is better to use Wikipedia in such a way since students will be accessing Wikipedia at home in their own time. It is better to make them aware of the quality of information they are accessing and allow them to get involved in the critiquing.

Implications for Teaching and Learning
But Wikipedia aside, what are the implications of the wiki in the education system? Numerous. Endless. Countless. Oatman recognizes that wikis are starting to become an consistent presence in the classroom. One example he mentions, Olde Columbine High School in Longmont, CO, used a wiki to teach writing. The teacher acknowledge that the improvement in students' writing was noticeable and credits it to students now having an audience to write to. The teacher wanted to empower the students by giving them the flexibility the explore themselves.

Will Richardson in his book, Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for the Classrooms, presents a chapter on wikis in the classroom. Richardson mentions that wikis work best when a teacher "loosens the reins a bit" and let the students be the manager of content on the site. It is in this sense that Richardson writes that the teacher needs to examine their role in the wiki process. By giving power into the students hands, the teacher also has to recognize that students will begin to teach themselves. By placing a right or wrong on the processing it could actually undermine the entire situation. But wikis are also good places for equality. It allows the students to be on equal footing with teachers since both parties are contributing to the overall success of a wiki. The use of the wiki in the classroom can be teacher/teacher focused, teacher/student or student/student focused. It really depends on the goal that the teacher wants to accomplish with each wiki project. Teachers might want to create online text for their curriculum where students and teacher can add to. Teachers might want to create online content for other teachers where one source might be lacking.

But wikis don't have to end in the classroom. They are also found in libraries. Chad F. Boeninger writes a chapter in Library 2.0 and Beyond and talks about wikis as research guides. When libraries do not have specialized web-authoring software or HTML coding skills, wikis serve in place nicely. Another problem arises often times with library websites is that the need to update information often takes time. A web manager is the intermediary to the web content, and this can cause a serious lag in how often information gets update especially if a library is constantly making changes. With wiki format, the librarian can make the changes themselves.

Boeninger talks about three best practices for library wikis. The first being to question "whether or not a wiki is really needed." Is a wiki going to really serve the needs of the library? Is a library using a wiki because its the "cool" thing to do. Secondly, if there is a need for a wiki, its good to shop around to see how other wikis work. What are some of the ideas out there for library wikis? How are they organized? What is the structure like? Thirdly, investigation of software. What software is out there? Which software would be easy to navigate and publish content on? One must also take into consideration that self-hosted wikis require some knowledge of MySQL and PHP and some experience in web administration would be a good thing as well. Having one's own wiki does allow for more flexibility in structure and look but you have to take into consideration the other side of the coin such as resources and finances in establishing and maintaining an in-house wiki.

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Sources: Richardson, Will. "Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, And Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms." Thousand Oaks; Corwin Press; 2009.
Courtney, Nancy. "Library 2.0 and Beyond." Wesport, Connecticut; Libraries Unlimited, 2007.

MediaWiki: a personal experience

My experience with wikis has not been in choosing the software, creating the account, selecting the account settings and than instructing students to create usernames and passwords. Rather as a LIS student, I have been on the receiving end of the wiki experience with creation of content rather than structure.

The Setup
The Wiki project in LIS 506 was the final project for the class. After weeks of learning about the various areas of information technology, the goal of the wiki project was to demonstrate that new found knowledge. We were given 3-4 weeks to get into groups, choose a topic and begin and finish the project. Each group consisted of three students. We were not assigned to groups but given the option to form our own groups. The topic had to be related to information technology in the library science field. We chose topics by searching through the Wikipedia database to find any library information technology that had little or no information on the subject. After some searching, my group decided on the topic of e-resource management systmes (ERMS), which was not mentioned in Wikipedia at the time.

The Software
The software that our professor decided to use was MediaWiki. The definition given by Wikimatrix, MediaWiki is a software used by Wikipedia and is a software that supports large and small sites. Our professor wanted us to get a feel for how Wikipedia functions work by using this particular software. We were not connected to Wikipedia, but by using the software, she created a website that had the wikipedia feel to it. If I could, I would post the url to the blog here, however the assignment that was done for this class is not for public viewing. To get an idea of the structure and extent that my classmates and I did our project, Library success is a great example to check out instead. Other than that, I will be going through my project with screenshots and explaining how most of the components of the wiki works.

Class Mainpage
This page served as the class mainpage. Each group was represented by a link to their topic. This page was represented in the left hand corner menu by a link called Main Page. If I needed to go to go and comment or edit another group's topic, I would click on Main Page to come back to the list of topics.


ERMS Mainpage: Content
The main page served as a compilation of the major topics that would be discussed in ERMS. Similar to the Main Page, the ERMS mainpage also has links to ERMS related topics, but contains far more information. Rather than just links, each subtopic has a paragraph briefly explaining what each topic entails and for further exploration, a link to more content.


ERMS Mainpage: Structure
As you become familiar with wikis, there is content and than there is structure. For each page of the article there is a structural outline that allows you to publish, edit, manage and leave comments about content you've created. Looking at the screenshot above you will see in the picture, six tabs that can be found at the top of the article. They are: article, discussion, edit, history, move, and watch. We will be discussing the first four tabs since these were the only tabs that my classmates and I used consistently during the making of the project.

Article
The subtopic that I will use as an example will be History and Development of ERMS under the Driving Forces of Development on the main ERMS page. The article tab is perhaps the most important page since it is the first page that users will find when searching for their topic. For those who have no need to edit the article, this page is the only page that users will need access to.


Discussion
This second tab is the behind the scenes part of the article tab. Although it is behind the scenes, anyone can still have a look and see what is being written here. The discussion tab is the place where online conversations between the various editors is posted. Any comments or talk that needs to take place all happens here. If someone has a reason as to why they deleted certain information in the article, it will be found here. If one editor added another wikipedia stub (an short article in need of expansion) to the article it can be found here. This is a good place to explore ideas as well. It's an online discussion board. Depending how detailed the content is in the article, the discussion board can be full of discussion, or minimal at best. As for the example shown below, not much was being discussed since this subtopic was mostly written by one person.


Edit
The edit tab can be a little confusing. Depending on which tab you are on, the edit tab will lead you in a few different directions. If I am on the article tab (figure 1), the edit tab will lead me to content within the article. If I am on the discussion tab (figure 2), the edit tab will lead me to content within the discussion. This may sound fine in writing, but in action, its a different story. When you see the picture, you will notice there is no clear definition that says "edit article" or "edit discussion." I didn't even think about this or discover this until I was doing this assignment. A slight difference that can be found is a little tab that has a "+" sign beside the edit tab for the discussion tab. Whatever the case, edit area contains a box called the sandbox. It is here that the drafts for whatever section you are in, takes place. The buttons above the sandbox may be familiar to some people since they are similar in appearance to some blog tabs that are found above their sandboxes. This is the place you draft your conversations or content of the article.

figure 1

figure 2
History
The history tab is basically an area that contains all the time-stamp information about the article, discussion or any other of the tabs. It is here that information about the time, date and editor is kept. This is also the area that people can come to to revert back to a previous version of the article. If someone has vandalized the article by deleting everything and leaving an crude message behind, it can be easily fixed, by clicking on a previous time-stamped date. Wonder what that random addition information is besides the time, date and editor is? This is a summary. This can only be found under the edit tab. Below the sandbox are several radio buttons, and a small text area that says "summary." This is where you put the addition information. This sample that is provided is from the edit (talk) tab and not the article tab.


Conclusion
I am still a student when it comes to learning this information. The difference this time round is that I am on the teacher/librarian side of the information learning process. Rather than creating the content this time, I am learning how to create the structure and make the settings within an account. I realize that teachers and librarians will tinker with different wiki software for their own comfort sake, but I have a suggestion to make when it comes to using wiki software for the first time. Being a student and exploring the wiki process was fairly painless due to the fact that our professor chose a format that all of us students were already familiar with. I've used wikipedia countless of times, and although I haven't done any editing on any articles, yet I am familiar with the structure. This familiarity carried over onto the project. Perhaps starting with MediaWiki when creating a wiki for students might be a good idea if students are already familiar with the Wikipedia format. Just a thought.