My Thoughts About 23 Things

"23 Things" has been an incredible journey. Sometimes the road was smooth and other times not so. I consider myself lucky to have had the opportunity to learn the new tools and technology available to us. After all, if there exists tools to make our lives easier, why not learn about them and use them. We will have more time for other things in life, plus we can offer others that gift as well by sharing different tools that work.

I have always, in the past, learned well by self-tutorials and, for the most part, that is still true.
However, there were certainly times during this process where I would have loved to work with a partner - one that was very experienced in some of this technology.

Here are a few of my favorite things:

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things

Cream colored ponies and crisp apple streudels
Doorbells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles
Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings
These are a few of my favorite things

Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes
Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes
Silver white winters that melt into springs
These are a few of my favorite things

OK, besides those. My "23 Things" favorites are:

RSS Feeds
Wikis
Google Docs
Web 2.0 Awards List sites

It feels great to complete the "23 Things", yet I understand that I have so much more to learn. I wish that I could say I was extremely proficient with all the things, yet that would be foolish. What I can say is that I now have an understanding of what these tools are and a desire to continue learning about what they can do for us.

Google Docs

Now this is an incredible tool!

I can envision Google Docs being very helpful in so many ways. In fact, I did a trial run - sending my family in Chicago a list of things I hoped to do while visiting at Thanksgiving. I asked them to add ideas and the list of "fun things to do" grew. It was a wonderful way to get everyone's input. Plus, the edits are color coded and timed so you can see who added what and when.

I also loved that you can edit the document wherever. I often get an idea when I am not at my work computer. If I don't write it down immediately, I sometimes forget it. This is no longer a problem as I can now edit the Google document from home or from another computer.

Again, I am glad to know that this tool exists. It will make things much easier.

Downloadable Audiobooks

Thank you for the MP3 player. Now I can use it to listen to audiobooks while walking after work (my "Active For Life" goal). I tried Overdrive to find audiobooks through the library's website, yet was disappointed that they have a checkout system. I was hoping that I could immediately download a title and not have to wait until someone else was finished with it. No such luck!

However, I think this is a very convenient way for people to request books - never having to leave the comfort of their own home.

"23 Things" Wiki

It was fun to play around with the "23 Things" Wiki. Though we were not to edit what someone else had written, it was fun to see that we could - if given the authorization.

I read a few of the wikis that other staff had created and posted for fun and even created one of my own. I am glad that I now know how to create a wiki. I imagine that a Wiki would be a very useful tool when a particular project could be accomplished easier because of having one in place.

Podcasts

I found two directories to locate podcasts : Yahoo! Podcasts and Podcast.net. Yahoo! Podcasts was easy to use and had some cool features: "What We Like This Week - New and Noteworthy" - podcasts that the Yahoo! staff members found interesting, "What Other People Like" and "Tags".

Podcast.net was even easier to use. I was able to listen to different podcasts using the Podcast.net Player in Mozilla Firefox.

Wikis

Why Wiki?

• Easy to use
  • Web-based
  • Simple syntax (don't need to know HTML)
• Anyone can make changes -- no more waiting for the Webmaster to get around to your requested changes.
• Many free and open source options
• Flexible and extensible

Why Not?

• Too open -- "I don't want someone changing my writing!"
• Disorganized
• Vandalism and spam
• 
  

I love the idea of being able to help develop a web page no matter how experienced a computer user I may or may not be.

However, I do not like the idea that someone could destroy all your hard work by vandalizing the page. (Yet, I suppose that is where log ins, passwords, etc... would be helpful).

Technorati

I do not have a lot of interest in Technorati & the world of blogs. When I searched for "Learning 2.0," there were so many posts. After looking at those on the first page, I was overwhelmed. Plus, I questioned the relevance of what was written in some cases.

Though I imagine some people may find Technorati helpful, I am not one of them. Since there are so many other more useful tools available, I do not believe I would have much use for this one.