The Learning 2.0 Experience

This was the final week of Learning 2.0!

Truth be told, at times it was a very “trying” experience…a couple of the exercises were difficult, others were just plain tedious, (and having several crucial sites blocked by Websense didn’t help the situation). However, not all of my experiences were negative. I gained valuable insight about various online resources, such as wikis, photo sharing sites, RSS feeds, podcasts, image generators, and social cataloging web applications (LibraryThing). This program has also given me ample opportunity to improve my blogging skills. Finally, I revised my views about certain websites I thought were completely unsavory and useless (that means you: My Space & You Tube), and most importantly, I learned not to be afraid of new technology.
Would I choose to participate in another discovery program if offered…most definitely!

The Learning 2.0 experience

This was a week of reflection about my Learning 2.0 experience. It’s hard to believe that I’m nearing the end of the program. There were times when I thought I’d never see the finish line. I really enjoyed visiting the blogs of some of the other participants. It was nice to see that I wasn’t the only one who occasionally struggled with some of the exercises. As instructed, I posted comments on the blogs of several co-workers. Personally speaking, I think out of all the Discovery Exercises, I enjoyed doing Thing 26 (the image generators) and Thing 27 (LibraryThing) the most.

http://www.GlitterMaker.com/ - Glitter Graphics - MySpace Layouts - Make Money Online

Rollyo

This week I had an opportunity to explore the website Rollyo. Rollyo is a tool that allows registered users to create their own customized search engines, thus making it possible for them to narrow search results to the sites they know and trust. These personalized search engines are called Searchrolls. To create a roll, users choose up to 20 websites, pick a category, and then tag the search. A searchroll can be designated either public or private, and users can share searches with others directly. They can also explore, save, and personalize searchrolls created by other users. While the Discovery Exercise gave us the option to establish an account and then create a searchroll on any topic, I chose to just explore the site. While I must admit, it was interesting to see some of the different rolls; overall, I was not that impressed. Although Rollyo might be helpful to some, I ‘m not sure I would feel a need to use it (I guess when all is said and done…I’m just a Google girl at heart).

LibraryThing

This week I had an opportunity to explore the website LibraryThing. It is an online tool that allows the user to catalog his or her own personal books. While you can pay for a subscription, ($10 for a yearly account or $25 for a lifetime account) the service does offer a free account, which allows you to catalog up to 200 books. In addition to cataloging your collection, you can also add tags, rate your titles or write book reviews. LibraryThing is also a social network…allowing you to connect to other users with similar reading tastes through group forums. After creating an account, I added a few books to my library. Below is the link to my LibraryThing catalog:
http://www.librarything.com/catalog.php?view=sammirenee&shelf=list