Task #10 - Summary

Wow, I’m really done. And I’ve learned so much. In my first blog post way back when, I rated myself as a 5 on my knowledge of Web 2.0. I would say that I’m now a 9. With a little more practice using some of the tools, I might even get to a 10.

The Betty Blogger summer school met my expectations of learning what is Web 2.0 and what are the applications and tools associated with it. And it managed to do that by providing tasks that were informative but didn’t take up a great deal of time, which was perfect during a busy summer.

In her emails, the Library Lady was funny, informative, and seemed ready to help in any way. The only thing that would clarify the emails would be to remind people that the course is self-directed and that the task does not necessarily need to be completed during the week indicated in the email. It gives people the impression that the task must be completed during that week, even though the Library Lady had indicated previously that the course was self-directed.

The most challenging part of the course for me was trying to figure out why I couldn’t create a document in Google Docs. Eventually I realized it could have something to do with my browser. I had mistakenly opened up Internet Explorer instead of Firefox. I edited the Google Doc in Firefox and Google Chrome, and it worked perfectly with those browsers. Very interesting.

I loved that the summer school was self-directed. With vacations and activities and commitments during the summer, it was great that I could work on tasks according to my own schedule rather than to weekly timelines.

I would recommend this course to anyone with an interest in technology and a curiosity about Web tools and applications.

Task #9 - Cataloguing

LibraryThing rocks! I've kept lists of books I've read on and off over the years, but this is a really simple and fun way to keep track of books I've read, share my reading lists with other people, and find out what others are reading. I will definitely continue to use this tool.

Here's a link to a few of my recent favourite books:

My LibraryThing catalogue

Task #8 - RSS Feeds

Tonight I subscribed to the following RSS feeds:

Tea with Vera
Pancake Batter in my Hair

These wonderful blogs are written by two of my dearest friends. Google Reader is easy to use and saves me a lot of clicking time. And now that I've added these two blogs, I'll never miss a post!

Task #7 - Wikis

I can't wait for our Potluck Picnic! It looks like there will be plenty of food to go around! :) I'm bringing Strawberry Spinach Salad with extra-yummy dressing.

PBWorks is awesome! Although I've visited Wikipedia many times before, I've never edited a wiki. It was simple to use, and I can see how wikis would be great for coordinating meetings, parties, or any event.

I think this would be a great tool for my workplace, as we often need to share documents and information. I might just have to suggest this at our next team meeting.

Task #6 - Google Docs

Task #5 - Photo Sharing

What's cuter than a kitten in a basket? This public photo from Picasa was tagged as "cat" and "kitten". Picasa is the photo sharing website that I use to store my photos. I keep my account private - at least for now - because I don't want others downloading my photos. I love Picasa and will continue to use it because it's so simple, and it only costs me $5 per year for the extra storage that I need for my photos. I've been meaning to spend more time there because I have oodles of photos but no real organization or effective tagging system yet. Thanks for the nudge! I'm going to make visiting Picasa a priority!

Task #4 - Facebook

I'm a latecomer to Facebook - I've had my account only for a year or two. I resisted it for the longest time due to privacy reasons and because I just didn't feel like I needed it. But now I realize just how useful it is. It's so much easier to keep in touch with friends and family, and I can follow their status updates and check out their latest pics to see what they've been up to. As for the privacy issue, I check my settings regularly to ensure that only my friends can see my profile, pics, and updates. I do have concerns when it comes to my son using Facebook and other social networks. He's still too young now, but one day he will be active on these networks, and I know I'll have to monitor his activity for his own safety. As for myself, I will continue to use Facebook regularly after Betty Blogger as I find it a fun and very useful social networking tool.