Libran Librarian

I am really glad I participated in Learning 2.0@McMaster  – thanks Amanda, Kelly and all the ETG leaders for an interesting programme and great support.  I feel I gained at least a vague understanding of the latest tools and technologies that were covered in this programme.  I am amazed at how much is available on the web (a lot of it for free) and the amount of customization that is possible. 

Gaming was fun.  I found the introduction to online social networks very valuable as I now know more about one of the important ways our users are communicating.  I have a better understanding of the appeal of Firefox as you can really personalize your browser.  I now feel more comfortable with RSS as I never really knew how it worked - the biggest challenge is finding the time to regularly check the feeds.  Flickr is a great resource knowing how much users like things visual.  lastfm was a personal favourite as it provided the opportunity to discover new music. 

The biggest take-away for me was that I wanted to share my new found knowledge of some of these tools and technologies with non-library people, mostly my family.

 I really appreciated the drop-in sessions and having a designated leader for support.  The additional readings were also useful – they were there for those technologies you wanted to learn more about.

I found that the time required for some of the weekly assignments could have been expanded to two weeks.    Of course the catch-up weeks were much appreciated.

Yes, I would participate in a future discovery programme. 

As I didn’t have Firefox on my desktop, I downloaded it easily.  But when I initially attempted to install some add-ons, I wasn’t successful with any of the five I tried.   I retried and was able to install Adblock Plus, Click Weather (a favourite) and Colorful Tabs (another favorite as I can easily see how many sites I have opened).  I am amazed at the quantity and variety of add-ons  – so many options to customize your browser.  Being a novice to this, I don’t understand what many of them do and when you’d need them.   I have been comparing IE and Firefox for several searches over the last few days to see if I want to make Firefox my default browser.

I downloaded the  MORRIS ‘Journal Title’ bookmarklet and it worked.  This tool can certainly save a lot of clicks – just have to remember that it’s there. 

I’ve never been one to play electronic games so I wondered how I’d fare with this week’s assignment.  I started with the MSN games and tried a few (eg. Women in Films Trivia, Pop Culture Trivia, TextTwist) which were interesting but not rivetting.  I moved on to Web Sudoku and enjoyed the ease of changing numbers without wasting time erasing which I do a lot when I use a pencil.  I then tried Diner Dash, one of the recommended games and found it to be not only fun but addictive.  I kept saying to myself that surely I can do better than that!  That evening, I shared this game with my family.  I was intrigued to watch my eleven year old daughter play.  She caught on to the game faster than I and played it differently.  While I was trying to be very methodical, she let her eye-hand co-ordination take over.    I also tried Zuma and bejeweled which were also fun.   

I took a look at some of the MUSH games but wasn’t all that interested and certainly not enough to sign up.  The MMORPG sites such as FLYFF looked more interesting.  I was struck by the amount of collective creativity that must have been invested in developing these sites.

After all this playing and peaking, I wondered how gaming could be used in a meaningful way for library applications .  From my brief gaming experience, I found that games required me to:   1.  learn some rules, 2. test my knowledge, 3. consider the feedback, 4.  try to refine my newly learned skill or knowledge, and 5. increase the challenge once I felt that I had reached the required skill.  So it would seem to me that this series of events could be applied to teaching some library skills (eg. using the catalogue).

I believe that gaming has a variety of benefits:  keeps the mind active, improves memory, develops eye hand co-ordination, develops logical thinking, and enhances creativity.   But it can only go so far in terms of learning as defined in Wikipedia as follows:   Learning is the acquisition and development of memories and behaviors, including skills, knowledge, understanding, values, and wisdom