Thing 20 - MySpace/Facebook

As I thought about libraries incorporating social networking sites such as MySpace or Facebook, I couldn't help but think of the old adage "You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink." There is no doubt that a library MySpace page might seem cool to some kids, but the fact is, they would still have to be interested enough in the library itself in order to even visit the page. The fact is, kids/people participate in these networks in order to communicate with friends. Even if the school I worked for allowed me to set up a MySpace page and allowed students to visit it, I am not sure it would be worth the risk of time that would be wasted on "other" endeavors.

That is not to say that there are NO positives in libraries using such technologies. In browsing through some of the library-based sites I found on Myspace, probably one of the coolest things I saw was how many authors have their own MySpace pages and link up and interact on some of the library sites. This is a cool connectivity aspect that would be great for a library and its patrons. MySpace obviously also would allow for simple and up-to-the-minute announcements and such - but those things can be just as easily accomplished on other tools such as blogs and wikis.

In the end, social networking sites such as these carry a lot of baggage with them and until those issues are safely addressed (if that is possible), I don't see them playing a huge role in public schools. But, hey, I never thought this Internet thing would catch on either! :)

Thing 19 - Podcasts

As a talk-radio junkie, I hear the word podcast hundreds of times a day (every show I listen to offers its program in podcast form). However, I do not own an iPod so I have never really looked into podcasting. I see the point - it is kind of like a walkman for those of us who prefer the spoken word to music. Aside from radio programming, I also know that audio books and the like are also being made available for an mp3 player. If you own the necessary equipment - great. I listened to a brief interview from the latest MEMO conference and can see the benefits of this tool in that one can keep up with things and hear about events/conferences/etc. strait from the horses mouth.

As far as incorporating this into my library - I again have to go back to the administrative restrictions excuse. iPods and such are not allowed in the school I work in, so I doubt I will spend too much time worrying about providing podcasts for my student patrons. I will not rule them out completely - it may be something fun down the road that I might have some students work on, but for right now I will probably just stick to finding some that I can use for professional development purposes.

Thing 18 - YouTube

I am very familiar with YouTube and have been for quite a while. There is no doubt you can find just about anything under the sun at this site. My one complaint is what I would call "reckless tagging" of many videos. For whatever reason, it seems that one can search for something and will be directed to things that actually have nothing to do with what they were looking for. This can be very dangerous, especially when you consider how it could be young people who are searching and a seemingly innocent search term can dig some some "dangerous" things. This is probably the main reason why many schools do block YouTube. It would be nice if they could "monitor" tagging a little better. I know there are other video sites out there, including one called TeacherTube which is appropriate for the classroom.

The above video is a clip from the movie adaptation of my favorite book, The Alchemist by Paulo Coehlo.

Thing 16 - Project Calculators

I have come across similar tools from my days teaching in an English classroom. I think they are fine, it's just that what they do (give a timeline/plan for completing an assignment) is basically what the teacher does in teaching the assignment. College professors do not spend a lot of their time "walking" students through projects - but such practice is very common in the high school classroom. Because of this, I never saw the NEED for these tools for high school kids.
But the more I think about it, the more I see the potential benefit of such tools . Thinking back to my own experience teaching the research process, no matter how detailed a timeline you give a student, no matter how many "step-by-step" deadlines you have - some kids just aren't going to pay attention to them and will still cram it all in at the last minute. Maybe, if kids get a chance to feel like they (with the help of their computer) are setting their own deadlines, they might be more involved in the process. I also see A LOT of value for teachers themselves. I looked through RPC handouts section and found many interesting/useful materials.
In the end - I will definitely make my staff members aware of these sites and their supplementary materials and will probably make the RPC site available from my library homepage.