Week Twelve

Final reflections. I guess all good things have a beginning and an end. Hopefully this will be just a pause before we can do something similar again and/or at least periodically try out what we've learned over these past 12 weeks. This was really fun, even if some parts were very challenging, other parts were really fun, and even more parts interesting and innovative.

The most important thing I learned is that there is so much out there that I haven't tried and that it is really important to make time for exploring and trying new things and reflecting upon how it can or can't be applied.

The most challenging exercise by far were Myspace and Flickr. I'll go back sometime and try Facebook and Photobucket to see if these are a bit easier. The other challenge was finding the time to do this but it was all very worthwhile.

My most favorite discoveries were Youtube, Rollyo and LibraryThing. Google Reader was also my most favorite useful thing...how nice to get everything with one sign-in and then they update my account! One almost becomes disappointed when one can't put a favorite website into Google Reader because they don't have an RSS feed or similar option.

There are definitely some possibilities for this technology within a library setting. Maybe the study guides, booklists, and book clubs will take on an expanded identity.

The "self-directed" learning model was useful though some things were hard to learn.

I can't think of too much to improve upon this program's format or concept. The drawings were definitely a motivator to meet the deadlines! Sometimes when I would miss a deadline, to know that I wasn't completely out of the running was very reassuring. Having deadlines was helpful too otherwise I am not sure I would have spent the time doing this. It is very awkward to "play" at work when there are so many other things that definitely need doing. Having "permission" to do this was great! I really hope you will offer another discovery program like this. I would definitely participate! How nice to have a "team" identify the "useful" items out there for Web 2.0, something I definitely don't have time for as there are so many things that may or may not be relevant. It is also nice to have, for the most part, two weeks to complete a task. One week just isn't quite enough time, especially if there is alot going on. This is nice also, compared to a formal workshop, that it can be fit in whenever one has a bit of time, either at work or at home. A very big thank you to all of the APL Challenge organizers for giving me a push in the tush to learn some new things!

When do we get to do this again? Perhaps after a long snooze, a bowl of something yummy and a roll in some catnip?