What's new in my tech world?

Google Document has been the high school librarians' newest achievement. We created two documents. Each person added and edited through their google account. It was a great way to save time working together on the same document rather than sending things back and forth through email. I'd like to see if teachers could think of a collabortive student group project using Google documents. Maybe our newspaper students could try it out, too.

Camino web browser is new and ready for exploration. They do have a warning about a serious disruption with your Firefox browser. So pay attention to their page: http://caminobrowser.org/documetation/firefox/
Important to read before diving in!

We have a serious virus that affects our students' Word documents. We are encouraging students and teachers to use iwork 08. It is a new publishing tool replacing Appleworks. The students can create amazing brochures with beautiful images. It is worth checking out. Those of you with new laptops can find it in your applications.

We tend to use the things we've been using in the past and are comfortable with. But if you take the time to look in your application folder on your new computers you'll find some new technology adventures. I can't believe I didn't even think to look in the file the minute I received the laptop! I continued using the same old, same old. I'm ashamed of my narrow mind and lack of adventure.....

Del.icio.us

Picasso Me
I just entered all the MILP blogs on del.icio.us which is part of my tool bar menu and I can easily access everyones blog from my custom google page. I think this will work for me much better than the blogline system.

I'm finding the MILP blogs inspirational and hope to add more depth to mine.

Here is my favorite blog: Dangerously Irrelevant by Dr. Scott McLeod.
http://www.dangerouslyirrelevant.org/

The Many Faces of Me

This was titled "Queen Ruth" in 2005.

Now I shall begin adding images to my blog because images are easier for me than words. . . .

As an elementary school librarian there were many more chances to use art in the computer classroom. I miss it very, very much. Now that I'm a high school librarian there is little time to play with all the possibilities in the computer labs. I understand Appleworks is no longer going to be on the new Mac computers. I will need a new drawing/painting source for computer art. Any suggestions?

Sign in, then sign out, then enter username & password, this is the key, who would have thought!

I have discovered the secret to getting into my blog and creating a post. I know, I've got to get past this..... But I must click sign in, then sign out to sign in! Who would have thought!!! I have always believed that programmers think differently than the rest of us. I promise I'll think of something else to talk about soon.

Signing in, Could it be Easier???

Signing onto my blog seems very clunky. I signed out yesterday and to sign-in this morning I had to play around with the dashboard (signing in and out again). The sign-in boxes are never just there.... Oh well, I have not given up.
Now, what are we reporting on in these blogs? How the technology is rolling out in our building?
We have a wonderful amount of technology in the building here at Arlington. The biggest problem is printers and Microsoft Word. Our Word program is seriously corrupted so students lose projects they've been working on for days. Our printers never work consistently. Every other printout is jammed or not coming out (reason unknown). We have 5 printers in the library & computer labs, all of which are extremely touchy. This becomes a huge headache when students have limited time to work.
I believe the key to technology integration in our building is more research projects. I would like to see more assignments that involve students gathering information to communicate to their peers and instructor their findings. How do we inspire teachers to do this when it involves more work than covering a textbook and the questions at the end of a chapter with a text here and there?

I think I need to sign out when I leave my blog.....

It seems like I have to sign out multiple times before I can sign in. So today I will sign out before I leave my blog (which I have not done) and then come back to the blog later and see if signing in is less complicated. Once I can make easy entries into my blog I need to think of things more profound to talk about......

Still Frustrated

I have once again spent an hour just trying to log in to post a blog entry. This is getting ridiculous. Why can't I simply sign in without going through a million attempts! I want to go to my blog, sign in and post a blog. Instead, I am signing in and getting the page to enter new blogs, I sign out and get prompts for google accounts. I go to bloglines and there is nothing after spending an hour entering junk in there..... I will not use this with students until it is streamlined and postings are not soooooooooooooo difficult. What's the freaking deal???????