LIBR 246-04/13 Web 2.0 (Fall 2010)

Printer-friendly version

I was familiar with social software to a reasonable extent at the beginning of the semester, but this class really focused my understanding of how social software can benefit libraries. I loved that each week I was able to learn about a particular social software and see examples of how libraries were using the tool.

The weeks spent learning about blogging and mico-blogging were amongst my favorite because I felt that I learned how these tools can apply to my personal and professional lives. I've been toying with the idea of starting a personal blog for some time and this class gave me the motivation to finally start it. I've also been pretty apprehensive about using Twitter and I love that I was able to try tweeting for the first time with other classmates who were also trying something completely new! I really loved seeing how libraries can use Twitter to answer reference questions. While I'm not sure if I would use Twitter professionally -- it will depend on the needs of the patrons of my future library -- I do think that using WordPress to create library websites could be something I would be really excited to experiment with. Screencasting was also an excellent skill to learn and I can definitely see myself creating tutorials in a future position.

I was surprised with how different the class felt using Drupal versus Angel. I felt like I knew my classmates 100% more than in other classes. It's amazing how much a picture can help in connecting with the human behind the computer, but it really did. I liked the way that it seemed that people were more willing to show their personality and write in a way that was both casual and insightful. While the discussion forums in Angel are supposed to replace in-classroom discussions, too often they feel stuffy, formal, and even forced. I was surprised that the quality of our discussions felt more like what I imagine traditional classroom conversations are like. I don't know if it was the way the class was organized, the pictures, or the assignments, but taking this class off-Angel was a breath of fresh air. Thank you for trying something different, Meredith, and incorporating social software right into the class.

I think online classes work well when there is a consistent routine to class assignments, and I appreciate that we knew that each week we had a blog post due on Sundays and replies due on Tuesdays. It helps create a semblance of the routine that in-persons students feel when they are "going to class." As a suggestion for future classes, I definitely encourage keeping the same regularity of assignments. I also would love more narrated lectures. I really liked the ones that we had in the beginning and it helped me feel more connected with the instructor. I noticed that I missed those towards the end. So much of distance learning is about reading (not only the reading, but often text lectures or your classmates' posts) that any human voice seems to break that up and is a welcome change. I would have liked an example and a grading rubric for the research paper. Those would have been helpful to gauge the expectations for this assignment. I loved all the Exercises because they were great ways to learn more about a social software tool by having us go through specific steps. I would say more of those!

Overall, this was a really exciting, fun, educational, and engaging class. It is clear how passionate you are about the topic, Meredith, and I think that is one of the best parts of the class. I would highly recommend this class to my peers who want to learn about how they can implement social software into their internal and external library operations. I'm very pleased to have taken this class. Thank you, classmates, for making this a really fun process.