Week 9, Thing 23 The Final Chapter, but to be continued as a Lifelong Learner....

1. What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?
I discovered, first of all, that I can surf the web and not become intimidated by it and start to feel comfortable looking around at the immense amount of information there. I enjoyed the site seomoz.org and playing games such as "Guess-the-Google". LibraryThing and cataloging some of my favorite books was fun, Maryland Sandbox Wiki was enjoyable to read other people's favorite foods, vacation spots, etc. and creating an avatar was challenging.

2. How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?
Even though I didn't grow up with computers, nor had them in my classroom in my younger days, I feel that this program has opened my eyes to the extensive amount of information and sites that are available on the Internet. I don't hesitate to get on the web and try to navigate, and if I need assistance, I seek someone to help me.

3. Were there any take-aways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?
I guess I didn't realize the vast amount of sites on the internet. It's HUGE and I was just always looking at just a small fraction of it.

4. What could we do differently to improve upon this program's format or concept?
I really didn't care for setting up all the different accounts and putting in passwords, etc. Also, many of the exercises took some time and it was difficult to undertake the "Things" during work hours. Patrons, telephones, everyday duties at the Branch took top priority. It was not easy to complete at times.

5. If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you again choose to participate?
Yes, I would participate to acquire new knowledge and to try to keep informed on what is happening on the technology front.

6. How would you describe your learning experience in a few words or a few sentences, so we can share our successes and promote this program?

We all can be life-long learners and the great explorers of the technology frontier!

Week 9, Thing 22 Downloadable Audiobooks

Went to the site Gutenburg.org and found the audiobook of Nathaniel Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter. I am currently reading the paperback book. I then read through the site NetLibrary. This company launched the ebook category and they are growing! However, I would much rather get an actual book from the library or bookstore than sit for hours listening or reading a book on the computer. Maybe when I'm older and my sight or hearing is going would I consider using these sites.

Week 9, Thing 21 Podcasts

Yesterday and today, I went to the Podcast.net site and finally settled on a podcast found on YahooPodcasts called Children's Book Podcast and Children's book directory dedicated to sharing children's books. The host Sabrina Weissler introduces a new children's book each episode. Then I added this podcast to my Bloglines account.

My Avatar

This is me working diligently, but taking a short break to pose in front of the stacks.

Week 9, Thing 20 YouTube

Went to the YouTube site and downloaded the Sneaks' Summer Reading Club 2007 video. I then put in different tags and looked at the list of videos that matched them. It was interesting to see how many people use this site; however, this was not of interest to me. I remember a story on the Today Show of how these young people were going around to fast food restaurants, ordering drinks, and then taping themselves throwing the drinks at the employees when they were picked up at the window. This kind of behavior taped and put on YouTube is unacceptable and encourages bad behavior. Don't people have better things to do?

Week 8, Thing 19

Took a look at the site seomoz.org. The award category I chose was "Games". From there I chose "Guess-the-Google". This was actually a fun thing to do. They gave you 20 seconds to guess in a keyword what the common theme was of a group of pictures. You have to think very quickly looking at the group of images. After playing it for a while, you get better at guessing what the keyword should be. When the game is over, they list the scores of the best players.

Week 8, Thing 18

On to the next adventure.....looked at the Zoho Services site. They listed eight Zoho services that can be used to conduct your business online. I won't use this site because I have become comfortably accustomed to using Word processors and this site seems to be a little too complicated for me. I don't use spreadsheets on a regular basis, I never use instant messaging, chats, or web conferencing.