I've used RSS feeds for 4 years now. I use them to stream line my web surfing and keep up with new items on my favorite websites. I've actually been disappointed in a website when they don't offer a feed that I can subscribe to. I've been using Newsgator for my personal use since 2004. I also use the RSS feed functions in Internet Explorer 7 and in FireFox browsers. I have feeds for my local sports teams (who are all doing poorly); I also have a feed for the Car Talk guys newspaper column, and I have feeds for several libraryland blogs, I even used my newsreader when I was apartment hunting last year using Craigslist.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Thing #7 Sharing my thoughts on Technology: my new gadget and Occupational Therapy
Last week I got some new tech gadgets. One of those gadgets helps me keep up with my work and home calendars - an absolute necessity since I'm on the reference desk at various hours, in committee meetings at various hours, planning meetings at various hours and then there is my personal life.... go figure. I OD'd on using and exploring these gadgets over the weekend, but I've since recovered from my gadget hangover.
Anyways, I can install mini-games on one of the new gadgets and I came across an addictive game called Everest: Hidden Expedition from Big Fish Games. I happen to like word search games so this game (finding hidden objects) has been like candy to me.... addictive. I showed it to a friend who is a school based occupational therapist. She too was intrigued...for herself but it also caught her professional interest. In her work with many students facing developmental and mobility challenges, she is often looking for games that might spark the interest of K-6 students but serve her ultimate agenda of increasing small motor skills (among other skills).
This is the second time that I've shown her a technology that she has been able to convert to a use with her students that need OT services in the schools. The first time, we discussed how instant messaging can help students practice fine motor skills like typing in a way that is not just repetitive and boring typing practice.
I like this intersection of leisure tech interests and work interests. I can always find a way to use tech in my job, but I also like figuring out how to encourage tech in the personal and work lives of other folks.
Anyways, I can install mini-games on one of the new gadgets and I came across an addictive game called Everest: Hidden Expedition from Big Fish Games. I happen to like word search games so this game (finding hidden objects) has been like candy to me.... addictive. I showed it to a friend who is a school based occupational therapist. She too was intrigued...for herself but it also caught her professional interest. In her work with many students facing developmental and mobility challenges, she is often looking for games that might spark the interest of K-6 students but serve her ultimate agenda of increasing small motor skills (among other skills).
This is the second time that I've shown her a technology that she has been able to convert to a use with her students that need OT services in the schools. The first time, we discussed how instant messaging can help students practice fine motor skills like typing in a way that is not just repetitive and boring typing practice.
I like this intersection of leisure tech interests and work interests. I can always find a way to use tech in my job, but I also like figuring out how to encourage tech in the personal and work lives of other folks.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Thing #6 Image Mashups!
Hey I like this... I made an incendiary poster using the poster maker from Big Huge Labs. I ended up saving and then uploading the picture myself. I might use this to spruce up my faculty webpage or create introductory images for my PowerPoint presentations.
This appears to be a good quality image. I wonder if I could blow this up for use in my office or maybe in a calendar. Hmmm.
Thing #5 Explored Flickr
Returning to my blogging. For CSM Learning 2.0 I often check the website for the program, but I keep forgetting to log back into my own blog and write. I guess it's not yet natural for me to document this... hopefully that will come.
I do like exploring different pictures in Flickr. I posted to the CSM Library Flickr account instead of making my own. I have a personal one that I share only with family. I find Flickr and other online image web services are helpful in sharing all those pictures that used to just stay on my digital camera. I've also used it to share rare family photos... those ones where only one part of the family still has a copy left.
Some of my favorite pictures are San Francisco Bay Area landscape photos. I think the Bay Area has some big scenery and I sometimes import the photos and use them as desktop pictures. I don't use them for other uses... usually don't have permission for that. I always consult the copyright or other permissions that people attach to their public pictures in flickr.
For one of the photos I uploaded for this THING I changed the permissions information to a Creative Common's license.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Registered my Blog Thing 4!
It was easy to register my blog. Just sent an email and my blog title was eventually added to the list of CSM Learning 2.0 participants. I've used the phrase "this that and the other" for naming all kinds of lists. Sometimes I just can't think of a properly descriptive name and I pull out that phrase. It seems to work fine. It will probably get to be confusing.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Welcome to my Blog
I'm initially blogging to register for CSM Learning 2.0 activity. I know of bloggers who can't stop blogging and have even tried to stop, but couldn't. We'll see.
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