Lesson 2: Blogging

This lesson will cover blogging. At the end of this session you should be able to: create your own blog, personalize it and post to it.

So what is Blogging. Blogging is like creating an online diary. There are many blogs that are now being created and updated. You can use a blog to share information for many reasons. If you are on a trip, you can use a blog to share information and pictures from that trip. How about those Christmas letters you send out once a year, you can use a blog to keep people updated on family events and news more often than once a year. Or people in the same field can use a blog to network with other colleagues. We are using this blog to learn new information.

So why learn blogging. Well, our patrons are using blogs, our colleagues are using blogs, and the library is beginning to use blogs. It is a good way to share information not only with other colleagues, but also with those that use the library for news, collection development information, new books, events, and other items of interest such as the remodeling project. Here are a couple of websites that list library blogs: http://www.libdex.com/weblogs.html and http://blog-bib-liblogs.blogspot.com/.

To complete this lesson, do the following:

• Read the following article on a blog: http://www.davidleeking.com/2006/09/19/making-time-for-web-20/
  
• Go to blogger: https://www.blogger.com/start and follow the steps to create a blog. Although it seems that you have to have Google email to do this, you do not. Just use your ESU email account.
  
• Customize your blog by adding a picture (doesn't have to be of you) and selecting a template. You can customize by clicking on the Customize link or the Settings link.
  
• Invite me to view your blog by clicking on Settings and Permissions.
  
• Now create a post discussing your thoughts about the video you viewed in Lesson 1 including what you see as the biggest hurdle for you to learn something new and what your goals are for learning.
• Create a link to another web page from your blog.
  

Take time to explore what you can do with your blog, play with it, and have fun.

Lesson 1: 7 1/2 Habits of Highly Successful Learners

As librarians in an academic setting, we strive to help our students become Lifelong Learners. According to Wikipedia: "Lifelong learning is the concept that 'It's never too soon or too late for learning', a philosophy that has taken root in a whole host of different organizations. Lifelong learning is attitudinal; that one can and should be open to new ideas, decisions, skills or behaviors. Lifelong learning throws the axiom "You can't teach an old dog new tricks" out the door. Many libraries are turning themselves into Learning Organizations, where employees take responsibility for their own learning and professional development.

Lesson 1 will help us review habits that can be helpful in creating lifelong learners. The presentation for this lesson was created by the Public Library at Charlotte and Mecklenberg County, one of the leaders in Library 2.0 / Web 2.0 Staff Training.

Exercise:

1. Make sure you have headphones or speakers attached to your computer.
2. Open up the 7 1/2 Habits online tutorial and go through the tutorial.
3. As you watch and listen, write down the habit among those presented that is the easiest for you and which is the hardest.
4. At the end of the presentation, take a moment to fill out the learning contract.
   

Our next lesson will be creating your own personal blog. You will post the two habits and your thoughts about lifelong learning to your personal blog as your first posting. Have fun!

Next: Creating a personal blog to track your Library 2.0 / Web 2.0 learning journey.

Welcome

Welcome to the ESU Libraries and Archives Web 2.0 Learning Blog. I have set this up to help introduce the Web 2.0 tools or emerging technologies that are being used in libraries and by our students. This is important for those of us that work with students to learn about because as "digital natives" (those born in a digital world), our students utilize these tools every day. As immigrants of old that came to the US learned to assimilate with the current culture and learn the language, as "digital immigrants" (those that were not born in a digital world), we also need to become familiar with the tools of this information. The students that we are working with have been dubbed the "great communicators" because they are wired and connected all of the time whether through their cell phones or computers. One reason that kids are so good at using the tools is that they play with them without being afraid to break it. That is what this learning opportunity is for, is to play with the tools out there. This workshop is designed to be done at your own pace for a little bit of time each couple of weeks. Every two weeks, I plan to introduce a new lesson or topic.

This site is based upon the work of other libraries that have provided Web 2.0 / Library 2.0 training for their staff especially the 23 Things presented by the Public Library of Charlotte-Mecklenberg. I hope that we can have some fun with this learning opportunity and everyone employed fulltime in the ESU Libraries and Archives that completes the program will receive a prize. So on with the learning, AND THE FUN!!!!