After looking at my small groups' blogs, I realized it would have been a good idea to post my plan for my inquiry project prior to posting inquiry findings.  I only posted my inquiry plan to the vista site so our professor could review it there, but now realize it will make my blog make more sense if I post it there too.

Project Plan for Inquiry Project
Here is my proposed inquiry project.  Being that my web 2.0 skills are at the novice level, I believe that these projects will force me out of my comfort level and help me move forward in technology.  Hopefully I have chosen projects that although challenging, won’t be too advanced for my present level.

6 Web Tools I will Explore:

1) Photosharing
2) Wikis
3) Rss and Blog Aggregators
4) Skype
5) Podcasts for Personal or Professional Listening
6) Podcasts (Creating a Podcast)


Ways I Will Demonstrate my Learning:

1) Photosharing: I plan on creating a flicker slideshow embedded to my blog.  This was suggested as an activity to try if one is a novice at this, so it makes sense for me to demonstrate my knowledge in this area in this way.  Also, I plan on explaining the steps taken to create the slideshow.

2) Wikis: I plan on creating a wiki about an interest I have ( painting, trail running, surfing, music or cooking).  Although I have created a very basic one (last term in LIBE 463) I think I could use some more experience with this so I’d feel comfortable using wikis with my students.  So I will be able to create one, I don’t know that it will actually get added to by others, but at this point as suggested above, just getting familiar with creating one and adding links etc. is good practice and knowledge for me.  I plan on demonstrating my learning by adding a link to my blog that goes to my wiki (I’m assuming that is something I can do?). Also, I plan on explaining the steps taken to create the wiki in the first place.

3) Rss and Blog Aggregators: I plan on creating an RSS feed for search terms in a topic or a variety of topics that interest me.  Of all the web tools explained in Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms this is the one that stuck out the most to me for personal interest as once I’m interested in a topic, I love to read like crazy about it, and it seems that this will be a great way of effortlessly gathering information to feed my interest..  In terms of demonstrating my learning, I thought I could add a weekly write up to my blog summarizing either the articles read, or perhaps the most interesting/inspiring/controversial article read that week.  Also, I plan on explaining the steps taken in creating the RSS feed.

4) Skype: I plan on setting up a Skype account and then Skyping my family in Montreal each weekend once my Skype account is up and running.  At this point my computer doesn’t have a camera, so I will have to sort this out prior to starting this project.  I will demonstrate my learning by adding a write up to my blog about how I set up a Skype account and then once a week I will add a few sentences to my blog about my Skype experience that week with my family.

5) Podcasts for Personal or Professional Listening: I plan on listening to at least one podcast a week on a topic of interest ( painting, trail running, surfing, music or cooking) and uploading the address for the blog as well as a brief reflection of it to my blog.  I think this assignment will help prepare me for my sixth web tool I’d like to experiment with.

6) Podcasts (Creating a Podcast): I plan on creating a Podcast that summarizes my learning in this course and then I would like to upload it to my blog.   I would like to use this project as my final reflection as it will be a new medium for me to so a reflection  in.  Also, I plan on outlining the steps I took in creating the Podcast.

Rationale and Personal/Professional Goals:I have grouped these two categories together as I see them as one in the same.  My personal goals are to become acquainted and comfortable with the 6 Web tools I have chosen to explore so that I can then include them in my teaching.  Once I become familiar with the tools personally, I then have the professional goal of including these Web tools in my professional life as a Librarian, or a classroom teacher.   My rationale for choosing the above mentioned Web tools are two fold.  They all interest me personally and I can see myself using them regularly in my personal life once I understand how to use them well and the same goes for my professional life.  I teach elementary school and I see them a useful tools to enhance my teaching and my young students learning.

Timeline:This course goes until Friday April 6th so I plan on putting my assignments on a timeline where they are due on Fridays.  I will explore a new web tool and demonstrate my learning for each due date, and then once I’ve completed the assignment on that Web tool I will continue to demonstrate my learning in that tool by posting about that tool (as explained in demonstrating my learning) on a weekly basis (always by the Friday).  So as the course goes on my workload will increase as not only will I be learning about a new tool and demonstrating my initial learning in that tool, I will then comment weekly on that tool while exploring the next tool that I will then comment on weekly etc.

Here is my proposed calendar:
1) Photosharing -assignment due Friday February 10
2) Wikis -assignment due Friday February 17
3) Rss and Blog Aggregators -assignment due Friday March 2
4) Skype -assignment due Friday March 9
5) Podcasts for Personal or Professional Listening -assignment due Friday March 23
6) Podcasts (Creating a Podcast) -assignment due Friday April 6