Overview

Photo credit - Sand dunes by Em Mires



I took the above photo whilst on my holidays recently, depicted is me amongst the impressive natural sand dunes of Maspalomas in the Canary Islands. This picture illustrates how I feel about my journey through 23 things (I have travelled up and down some things have have been frustrating and difficult to conquer but definitely worth the feeling of achievement no matter how small, I have come some way but there is still more to explore and develop).

I have found the experience really useful and although it has been difficult at times to keep up and find the time to dedicate to the new tasks I am glad that I have perceivered, especially as sometimes I have found it is more the process than the end product that has proven the learning opportunity. Working your way through a task and solving difficulties along the way has helped improve my confidence in creating and using Web 2.0 applications.

The highs were achieving tasks and understanding what contexts they could be useful in - much of this picked up from reading colleagues blogs, lows were on the whole technology fails in particular the pod cast was very challenging but at the same time, I think it could be a really useful tool to use.

Favourite things: I really liked a lot of the visual tools such as the image generators and also wordle, I have used these devices to liven up blog posts and personalise messages rather than using generic images.

Least favourite things: The Rollyo search engine I felt was not that effective and didn't add a great deal enhancement to the blog, I don't think I would tempt people away from Google. I think the RSS feeds linking to relevant information for the subjects were much more effective and widely recognised.

The things that I think I will use the most are the iGoogle page and LibraryThing. I have set my hompage at work to my iGoogle page and it is really useful to have everything on one screen, tasks, weblinks, favourites, RSS feeds etc. so practically it helps me to access information from one point (within reason). LibraryThing I had already set up previously before I did the 23 thing task, I do think it is worth mentioning though as it has made a difference to how I can publicise new acquisitions.

Social media

Photo credit: signposting by Em Mires

I already like a lot of people use social media for a variety of reasons from social in the sense of personal life and also social in terms of finding out information for related subjects for work purposes.

Facebook - I was persuaded to join facebook a number of years ago by a colleague, at first I was not that convinced that it would be useful or something that I would use all that often - this of course was prior to it going global and being the number one choice for the majority. I still use it (although not as much) mainly to keep in contact with friends who have departed to far flung countries so that I can see all their photos and growing families. I also find it incredibly useful for keeping up to date with events and things that I am interested in, I seldom now have to buy listings like TimeOut etc.

LinkedIn - I haven't ever signed up to it although I have seen it, so I created an account to see what it had to offer. I think it may be a useful way to professionally keep in contact with colleagues as opposed to adding on facebook if this is used as a more personal tool. The jury is still out on this for me.

Twitter - I do have a generic twitter account that I set up a while ago, I rarely tweet but use it to follow organisations or people linked to the types of subject areas that I support i.e RIBA ad other library people. I have to say this is a real benefit and a great way to find out information quickly, I don't think I am using it to its potential at all and really need to spend some time thinking about how I can publicise the subject blogs I keep and to make better contacts with any academics within the school who may be enthusiasts. I do follow the University of Westminster.

In my mind there is no question that social media will continue to play a key role (advent of Google +) in communications, although of course there is always a need and desire for face to face contact but with limited time and money social media can bridge the divides between distances and helps to disperse and share knowledge quickly helping to build new professional and soacial networks at the same time. A concern for me within education is digital literacy and whether this is addressed?