#CPD23 Thing 4: Thoughts on Twitter, RSS Feeds, and Pushnote

Thing 4 for the 23 Things for Professional Development program discusses Twitter, RSS feeds, and Pushnote in detail. Below is my narrative on each service and how I'm currently using them.

Twitter:

I have been using Twitter for a few years now and have come to truly love it as a full blown networking tool. Most, if not all of the people I follow are librarians or educators, making it a tool that I use daily and have learned so much from. As of this post, I have made 3,818 tweets, following 292 people and have 394 followers. That's a bunch of tweets being flown around!
When I first joined twitter, I solely used the twitter website for all of my twitter needs, but as I joined more social networks and became more active on each, I quickly learned that I would need to branch outside of twitter.com. Doing so would allow me to receive my notifications and update feeds across multiple platforms if needed. This has helped tremendously to bridge the gap between each networking tool. A few of my favorite cross platform applications over the years have been:

• Yoono
  This was the first application that I tried, in part because my place of employment blocked social networking at the time (Did I just admit that I found a work around?). For any current or future employers, I truly was trying to find a way to stay on the up-and-up with the library profession, gaining new ideas during the process. Yoono grabs all of your social networks into one browser extension (I'm an avid Firefox user), along with multiple chat clients. It was a bit clunky during the time I used it, so hopefully that has since been improved upon.
• TweetDeck
  I love TweetDeck's interface that allows you to see your twitter stream, your friends lists, your replies, DM's, and searches (both hashtag and friends) all in one simple columned view. For some it can be a bit of information overload, but it worked well for me to be able to see everything at a glance. Additionally, you can pull your Facebook newsfeed, Google Buzz, and Foursquare accounts into it giving each of them column views as well. There are computer desktop options for all platforms, Android (my favorite!) and iPhone apps, and a web version as well.
• Seesmic
  Seesmic is very similar to TweetDeck with a column view and multiple platform options. I have been using this one (the web version) for a good 6 months now while on my home computer! I like that I don't have to download anything and for the most part, it really does the job well. I may go back to my downloaded TweetDeck desktop application, but for now, it works.
• HootSuite
  This option allows for scheduling future posts, which really comes in handy for work. I am the social network coordinator for my campus and scheduling Facebook posts has been a Godsend! This will allow you to see your twitter stream as well, making it a very good option for multiple social networking applications.

As you can see, the possibilities are endless and hopefully readers of this post will be able to find something that will work for them.
To finish up the Twitter section of this post, I wanted to share a few of my favorite Twitter hashtags:

• #cpd23 - The official hashtag for the 23 Things for Professional Development program
• #geocaching - The hashtag for the fun high tech hide and go seek game
• #ala11 - This was ALA New Orlean's official hashtag for the annual conference
• #libday7 - Coming up, this hashtag will cover the library Day in the Life project

RSS Feeds:
RSS feeds (otherwise known as really simple syndication feeds) are part of the second portion of Thing 4. I have been using RSS feeds for many many years now, originally with Bloglines. Yet again, I had the same instance at work where I was trying to access library ideas and couldn't due to internet filters, so I made the switch to Google Reader and haven't looked back! Google Reader makes it so easy to stay connected with your feeds, whether via computer, or by mobile phone (in my case, the droid revolution). I have many different folders in my Google Reader account, and here are just a few highlights:

• Library
• Books
• Collection Development
• Information Literacy
• Tech
• Photography
• Knitting
• Food

There's more...but I'll spare you! I'll also give you a few of my favorite feeds that I try to read and keep up with (without using the handy dandy "mark all as read" function):

• David Lee King
  
• ILearn Technology
• Librarian By Day
  
• Points of Reference
• Swiss Army Librarian

And an honorable mention Lifehacker for good measure. To view more of my favorite reads, you can visit the Good Reads section of my site.

Pushnote:
I must be honest, I don't really see this tool as something I will use in the future. With Google Reader's "share" and "like" options, and my new-found love of diigo, I just don't see me using this much.

So that's it for now. I'll need to get going on Thing 5 for this week so stay tuned!

Tech Tools For Teachers

I have been formulating ideas for incorporating a 23 Things program for my campus, and many of the tools outlined in the document below would fit right into what I've been brainstorming. My thoughts are still in the beginning stages, but I hope to have this info ready to go for the Fall Quarter. That means I have all summer to work on it with a wonderful colleague of mine!

I hope you find the info below to be as useful to you as it has been/will be for me!

Open publication - Free publishing - More education

Teaching and Learning Conference: Empowering Students With Necessary Tools

Today, I was able to attend a teaching and learning conference along with other instructors and librarians across the campuses of the community college where I am employed. Much of what I took away from the conference are concepts that I have already been toying with - the idea that educators need to be empowering students with necessary technology tools that will enhance learning outcomes and instill a sense of pride and success in the classroom and beyond. As a librarian, many of the technology tools discussed are tools that I'm already using daily, but there were definitely ideas that I have taken with me that I can implement very soon.

I must preface the list that I am about to give with the fact that I am not an advocate of using technology just for the sake of using technology. Working in the public library systems of my past, I saw technology adopted often that maybe wasn't the best technology for that particular community of people. In the education sector though, I do feel that students should be exposed to technology (and many different forms of technology), not because it's cool (it is!), but rather because it will enhance the curriculum. The challenge, therefore, is finding the right technology for those participatory classroom sessions.

The session I attended today that was most intriguing was conducted by Corinne Hoisington, a professor at Central Virginia Community College in Lynchburg, VA. Again, many of the technologies I am either currently using as a librarian, or I am teaching to my information literacy students - but you may find a few here that you didn't know about. So read on!

Actually, before I get into the list of technologies, I want to share a video with you. Corinne shared one that was similar, but this will get the point across even still:

She talked about the future of technology that is coming down the pike faster than we think. Much of the mobile technologies we're currently seeing are already headed in this direction - no keyboards, no mouse, finger swipes, etc... This video is indicative yet again of the fact that information is everywhere. How our students are accessing information is changing daily, and now more than ever, we as instructors need to continue finding ways to meet students where they are in the online social realm. But enough about that... on to the list:

Wolfram Alpha
This search engine is unique in the sense that it gives statistical information, as well as mathematical equations that can be beneficial to the research process. This is one search engine that I cover with my students when we look at online resources, but I now have a few more examples that I can use when searching for next quarter. Examples include:

• Algebra equations - Can be used when checking work
  
• Mortgage calculations - Determine monthly payments
  
• Nutrition information - Find restaurant nutrition information

There are so many more uses for this search engine, but these are a few that I may add to my own sch-peel.

Join.Me
If you haven't ever used join.me, it's one technology that you have to see to believe. Students are always amazed when I use this with them, mostly during chat or phone reference conversations when I need to see their computer screen to get a better idea of their problem. It really is the coolest thing since sliced bread!

Xtranormal.com
I was first exposed to this technology when a few librarian videos began circulating the twittersphere. I'm not sure that I will use this one often...but since I am the administrator for our campus Facebook page, I may dapple with a few videos to promote campus events. I can't see me using it much for the classroom setting...but it's still fun.

Docs.com
This is one that I really need to ponder more. Microsoft and Facebook have partnered together to provide word, excel, and powerpoint web capabilities - right in the Facebook platform. I've been thinking for a while now that Facebook could very well be the next LMS. With tools like join.me and docs.com, it's moving even quicker towards that possibility of creating a classroom setting right inside the walls of Facebook. This quarter, I created a class website with Google Sites. It was effective, but I'm going to now be researching docs.com further to decide whether Facebook could be a more useful avenue for sharing class documents, etc...

Qik.com
This is the last tool that I want to touch on, and it's one that I do think is a neat concept, but I'm not sure how I would use it in the classroom either. To me, it seems it's just an alternative to youtube - capture video and upload directly from your portable device to the qik server. There's a location feature that is kinda cool... but I'm just not sure it will work for my classes.

In addition to this session that I've referenced here, I also attended a session on Turnitin, the plagiarism checker widely used in academia. This session was presented by 2 of my librarian colleagues, and they did a fine job! Much of the information I knew and have used, but it is always nice to be able to support your fellow colleagues and friends in their professional development endeavors.

That's it for now. If you have found something here that you haven't used before, please let me know if and how you plan to use it. And if you have any other cool technology tools, pass those along as well!