The future. . .

I made it!

My nine weeks of Web 2.0 exploration are complete.

I have forwarded my recommendation to my colleague, Pam, for her upcoming blogging adventure with the Grade 9s. The winner of the hotly contested Edublogs vs. 21Classes blog platform debate can be found here.

Pam and I are meeting tomorrow to create the student blogs with the Pro Account I purchased. It will be interesting to see how Edublogs works around the usual requirement for an active email account. In my initial attempts to set up the additional student blogs I see that an email account is "required", yet a few lines further down it instructs, "If your users do not have email addresses you can use this Gmail method to add your users!"So far, clicking on this Gmail method hyperlink takes me in a circle. Hmm! I will have to investigate this further. The details of this dilemma will not be known before this post's publication deadline - further evidence that a Web 2.0 exploration project never really ends!

This is Jessica Levitt, mum, wife, reader, tl, and BLOGGER signing off!

Breathing room

While learning about and using the Web 2.0 tools Diigo, Jing, VoiceThread, and Podomatic, I mainly explored how I could use these tools as a Teacher-Librarian. My focus has been mostly professional. With my attention now directed toward Goodreads, a tool intended SOLELY for book lovers, which teacher-librarians undoubtably are, I have yet to explore it for anything other than personal use. How ironic! To be honest, it feels like I am getting a little break from the self-imposed professional restrictions of my Web 2.0 exploration.

My exploration into Goodreads began with a casual inquiry directed toward my friend and colleague, Pam. As you will learn from the sidebar, Pam tends to "jump in with both feet", to quote an obscure blogger. I had mentioned GoodReads to her late in the morning, and sure enough, true to form, Pam returned to the library that same afternoon raving about the site. Here's how it works:

Goodreads is a free website for book lovers. Imagine it as a large library that you can wander through and see everyone's bookshelves, their reviews, and their ratings. You can also post your own reviews and catalog what you have read, are currently reading, and plan to read in the future. Don’t stop there – join a discussion group, start a book club, contact an author, and even post your own writing (How it works, 2011, para 1).

Pam has this practice of recording every book she reads and writing her own reviews, for herself. Now she has discovered an online tool where she can publish her reviews for others to enjoy. And let me tell you, it is enjoyable! I've been stealing moments of time to check in with Goodreads: while my daughters are in the bath, while the perogies and sausages are cooking on the stovetop, while having lunch at school. It's addicting.

These are two of my favourite features:

1. "Most book recommendation websites work by listing random people’s reviews. On Goodreads, when a person adds a book to the site, all their friends can see what they thought of it. It’s common sense. People are more likely to get excited about a book their friend recommends than a suggestion from a stranger" (About Goodreads, 2011, para 3).
2. "We even created an amazing algorithm that looks at your books and ratings, and helps you find other books based on what fellow Goodreads members with similar tastes enjoyed" (About Goodreads, 2011, para 3).

The algorithm only works after you rate 20 books. I could hardly believe how quickly I rated more than 20 books. I chose to browse through the books Goodreads has categorized into lists, found via a hyperlink called Listopia. Two rows down is "Recommended Lists" and the sublist "Best for Book Clubs". Within seconds I had rated my required 20 books. I then clicked on "Recommendations" and was thrilled with the results of the "amazing algorithm". Several more clicks and I had an impressive "To Read" list. Bring on the Christmas and Hanukkah gifts!

Here is a look at my "Favourites Shelf":
There are different book covers available so you can specifically choose the edition you have read, which I really like. I do not like the new cover for Through Black Spruce at all, and was relieved to find the edition I had read. I preferred the uncle's narrative voice to the niece's, so this cover with the male figure appeals to me.

The series title comes up in parentheses after the book's title, and I learned that some books are part of multiple series! (These come up in separate parentheses.)

The number column represents the Goodreads readers' average rating out of  5. The orange stars are my rating, also out of 5.

I have discovered that I am not naturally social on Web 2.0 tools. I really have to force myself to seek "friends" out. I am not interested in actively following people in Diigo, and I am more of a lurker than a

contributor on Twitter.

I have one friend on Goodreads. . .

Here's my pathetic call for my bookloving friends to join me on Goodreads. . .

References
How it works. (2011). Goodreads Inc. Retrieved from http://www.goodreads.com/about/how_it_works
About Goodreads. (2011). Goodreads Inc. Retrieved from http://www.goodreads.com/about/us

Battle of the Books

I have to credit two colleagues for showing me the value in podcasts. Firstly, Steve, our Information Technology teacher and my "office" mate (you have to see this combination of library workspace/home to 40 laptops/computer repair/circulation desk/weekly school newsletter publication hub to understand the need for quotations) steered me toward CBC's Canada Reads contest. I mean really, I call myself a Teacher-Librarian and I have hardly paid any attention to this annual battle of the books! Well, that's about to change. For those readers who may not be as tuned in to Canadiana as we all should be, this year's theme is non-fiction:

"We want stories. Books that are page-turners with captivating narratives, memorable characters and vivid prose. Books so riveting you forget they are non-fiction. Books that introduce readers to a brand new world and bring them wholly into it. While we love the work that Canadian essayists, academics, chefs, decorators and self-help gurus do, those books aren't quite right. We want the final five to have stories that captivate the country.

They also have to be in English, in print and Canadian"(CBC Radio-Canada, 2011, para 7).

The conversation then included Pam, one of our senior English teachers (faithful reader of this blog and Canadian author expert), and within minutes a promising unit took shape.

• The Grade 11s will be introduced to the Canada Reads contest and learn of past finalists and winners here.
• The Grade 11s will gather on November 23rd to hear the live reveal of the Top 5 titles and the celebrity panel.
• In some format, to be determined, the Grade 11s will read at least one of the five titles.
• They will listen to previous Canada Reads events found in the archives from 2002-2008, 2009, and 2010. (Finding these archived podcasts required quite the journey through the CBC website!)
• They will choose a book from the Top 5 titles that they want to defend as the non-fiction book that Canada must read. 
• Each student will prepare a passionate speech defending their chosen title, to be recorded as a podcast and shared publicly on the Internet.

I will put my new skills to the test in guiding the Grade 11 students through the podcasting experience. I will advise the students to use Garage Band to create their podcasts, as we have MacBooks available at school. I will explain to them how they can then upload their podcast to iTunes, as many of them have an account. From iTunes, they can upload their podcast to Podomatic, the free site I used to host my first podcast. From Podomatic, they can share their podcast by emailing a link or capturing the embed code to place it somewhere yet to be established.

I am really excited about sharing the podcasting experience with the Grade 11 students. I hope to encourage them to subscribe to a few RSS feeds for podcasts I will recommend in our podcasting workshops. I am impressed with the introduction to podcasts provided in iTunes. I have already set myself up with subscriptions to "Q" with Jian Ghomeshi and I am downloading TED Talks like crazy. My favourite to date has to be "Learning From a Barefoot Movement" by Bunker Roy.

Perhaps some of these students will join me for a piece of humble pie?

References
CBC Radio-Canada. (2011, September 27). Introducing Canada Reads: True Stories [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://www.cbc.ca/books/canadareads/2011/09/introducing-canada-reads-true-stories.html