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

1. How has your view of social software changed since starting the course?  I have a clearer understanding of how to implement in a library setting.  they buy-in you need to have, the importance of rules and policy, the commitment, not trying to do it all, the prototyping method.  Before, I just thought my library's management was just moving too slow (which they are) but I also see the need of having a plan and objective. 

 

2. What technology did you find most interesting for your personal use? lifestreaming, I have a personal desire to aggregate my thoughts and weblinks in a more dynamic way, than say facebook.  With lifestreaming I capture all established profiles and bring my postings together getting a good representation of my thoughtstream.

 

What technology did you think would be most useful professionally?  The wiki or a blog.  After this class, i plan to prototype one or the other for implementation in my library.  I want to help the Friends of the library create a blog and implement a wiki for the technology staff I supervise. 

 

 

4. What suggestions do you have for improving the learning activities (exercises, assignments, blog posts, readings, examples, etc.)?  I'm not sure i have any.  No other class I have taken so far integrated scholarly readings, weblinks, blog posts, commenting and lectures as well.  There were a few areas i didn't use much.  The Forums, for instance.  AND every time we had an elluminate session, I was lost as to where to find the meeting information.   

 

5. How did your experience using Drupal differ from your experience in Angel classrooms (or classes using other traditional course management systems)?  Well, Angel can be annoying, actually the way the professor creates the workspace in Angel can be terribly uninspiring, confusing and annoying (as the experience I had in another class this semester).  Participation can either be over or underwhelming in Angel.  Drupal was a better experience.  Tagging was useful to aggregate the weekly posts, but there naturally was a bit of variation. One feature of Angel I would change would be how links don't open in a new window, instead you become trapped inside the frame of the classroom.