What else is there to think about on Saturday afternoon?

I was talking to a coworker today (Jim) about my favorite xkcd comic:


This was from Spring of 2007 - 2 years ago. It's still awesome, but I wonder what it would look like today? Twitter isn't even on there, and Facebook would have a much bigger space now. I wonder what other newer communities would make the map? And where would Cory Doctorow's balloon be now?!

Thing #18 - Web 2.0 tools

Two posts in one day?! Crazy.

For this exercise, we are supposed to pick a Web 2.0 tool from this list and discuss what we learned from it. The hardest part for me was finding a site I either didn't already have an account with, or finding something that didn't overlap with a service I already use!

For fun, I tried HairMixer. I uploaded a picture of myself and tried out different hairstyles. I have to be honest, they were all pretty awful. But I guess that's not the site's fault!

For something more serious (and that might have a library application), I tried out RevolutionHealth. I was surprised at how GREAT the site is! It has a clean, easy to navigate layout, and some awesome features like a symptom checker, BMI calculator, and the ability to create your own personal health record. The information on the site is from trusted sources (MayoClinic, Cleveland Clinic, Familydoctor.org) so I would definitely recommend this site to interested customers.

Lifelong Learning - Thing #2

As I mentioned in my previous post, I am participating in Learn & Play @ CML. As I go, I will be posting about each of the 23 "things" that we do, in hopes of getting cool prizes at the end. This is my first official post about one of the things - namely, Thing #2. Thing #1 was simply familiarizing myself with the program, so I didn't really need to post about that. (Hmm, this is starting to sound like a Dr. Seuss book - Thing #1 and Thing #2.) I hope even my non-library staff readers will find my posts about the "things" somewhat interesting, even if you already know all this stuff.

Anyhow, I just watched an online tutorial about lifelong learning. Ironically, I had already watched it before on my own when I first learned about the Learning 2.0 program. But I watched it again, and it got me thinking about people I help everyday at work. So many of them have just given up on learning, especially when it comes to computers. Most of the time it's people who need jobs, and employers expect them to be able to fill out a job application online even though they've never touched a computer before. Some of these people just want you to do everything for them, which can be really frustrating. How do you convince someone to learn when they don't want to? How do you make it exciting for them?

But not everyone is that way! We have so many customers that come to our technology training classes - they want to learn, and even if it's difficult for them, they are making progress. It's extremely rewarding to see people take charge of their lives and better themselves - and know that you played a small part in the process.

As for me, there are a lot of things I want to learn. Right now, I need to learn more about investing. Not only for my own financial gains, but because I deal with investment and business questions on a daily basis - I certainly don't want to be stumped when someone asks me to look up the price of a bond! Also, one of the 23 things is learning about wikis, and although I already know what a wiki IS, I am definitely curious about why and how libraries are using them.

Now for the assignment part of the project: what is easiest and hardest for me to do? Out of the 7 1/2 Habits of Highly Successful Lifelong Learners, I think it's easiest for me to teach and mentor others. I love sharing what I know with other people! On the other hand, it's hardest for me to have confidence in myself as an effective learner. I can get easily frustrated if I don't "get" something right away. That's definitely something I need to work on!

So, dear readers - what are you learning about right now, or what do you want to learn more about? Do you consider yourself a lifelong learner?

Work + Play makes Erica a happy girl

My library is finally starting Helene Blowers' Learning 2.0 program - only we're re-branding it (as we are so good at doing) to "Learn & Play @ CML" - woohoo! I've been hoping we'd do this program since before we even hired Helene, so I'm pretty excited. Of course, it won't really be hard for me to participate... I've pretty much done all of the 23 things already. But it will be really neat to see my coworkers use some of these services for the first time. I *heart* the interwebz.

Anyway, since everyone else at work is blogging about the program, I had to be sure to put in my 2 cents as well. The program starts tomorrow (with an kick off presentation by Michael Stephens, awesome), and I'll be adding this blog to the official blog roll. Hmm, I sure hope I haven't said anything on here that I'll regret... haha. :D