Week #9-YouTube, Podcasts, and Audiobooks

*Podcast wasn't a new term for me, but I didn't really understand what they were. I thought I needed a fancy iPod to be able to use them as a resource. It was great to learn that I didn't. I found some great podcasts of the Dave Ramsey Show and some NPR shows that I miss because my carpool companion doesn't have the same taste that I do. I can see podcasts being great to listen to while I do computer work. I can just download them to my Google Reader and I'm set.
*I have had plenty of experience using YouTube, but it certainly isn't for anything educational, or at least not very educational. I used YouTube to learn how to use a drop spindle and break open a coconut. Also as a demonstration for my first graders to show them what the Hamster Dance is. It is amazing what you can find! I can see the benefit of using YouTube for book talks or educational videos. My school subscribes to Discovery Education's United Streaming so I don't usually need to look elsewhere for videos. I see YouTube as more of something to use for entertainment or to share something with your people.
How to use a drop spindle-YouTube
The "introducing the book" video was HILARIOUS! I enjoyed it. I could see middle and high schoolers enjoying that.
*I really enjoy listening to audiobooks on long car trips or while I am working on menial tasks around my house. I download them to my Kindle so that I can pick up where I left off at any location. It was excited to find places to download free books. I will definitely be sharing that information with the teachers that I work with and hopefully the middle school teachers can share with their students. We listen to audiobooks from time to time in my classroom. It is a nice change for the kids from listening to me to a different kind of entertainment. I enjoyed browsing the World eBook Fair website. Wow! My public library has ebooks, audiobooks, as well as iPods with books that they check out to people. I have only used the audiobooks on CD from their collection. I figure the others should be left for those that may not have the means to get the others on their own.
*This journey has taught me so much! I have learned about new topics that I'd never heard of and increased my knowledge about other topics that I knew a little about. I have bookmarked so many new sites that I will use regularly. I feel like I can be more connected to technology while having to do less work to be informed. I will definitely be using this technology in my classroom as well as in my job as a librarian sometime in the future. My favorite website was Library Thing. It is going to be a wonderful way to keep track of books and share books with my fellow avid readers.