Week+6

= Week 6 - Online Video, Podcasts and eBooks (3 activities) = February 7 - 11

= Activity 11 - Online Video=

Within the past year online video hosting sites have exploded allowing users to easily to upload and share videos on the web. Among all the web 2.0 players in this area, YouTube is currently top dog.

Do some searching around YouTube yourself and see what the site has to offer. You'll find everything from 1970s TV commercials to the B 52's to library dominos here. Of course, like any free site you’ll also find a lot stuff not worth watching too. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t explore and see for yourself what the site has to offer.

=** Discovery Exercise: **=

1. Explore YouTube and find a video worth adding as an entry in your blog. 2. Create a blog post about your experience. What did you like or dislike about the site and why did you choose the video that you did? Can you see any features or components of the site that might be interesting if they were applied to library websites?

OPTIONAL: Try placing the video inside your blog. Copy the code for the URL address found in the YouTube video. Go to your blog, add new post, add video, from URL and past in the address. Insert into Post and you are ready to go!

Other popular video hosting sites:
 * Yahoo Videos
 * Google videos

= Activity 12 - Podcasts=

The word // podcast // is used to refer to a non-musical audio or video broadcast that is distributed over the Internet. What differentiates a podcast from regular streaming audio or video is that the delivery method for podcasts is often done automatically through RSS.

In 2005, "podcast" was named the " word of the year " by New Oxford American Dictionary and with the growth of podcasting over the last 24 months, it's easy to see why.

Podcasts take many forms, from short 1-10 minutes commentaries to much longer in person interviews or panel group discussions. There’s a podcast out there for just about every interest area and the best part about this technology is that you don’t have to have an iPod or a MP3 player to access them. Since podcasts use the MP3 file format, a popular compressed format for audio files, you really just need a PC (or portal device) with headphones or a speaker.

iTunes, the free downloadable application created by Apple is the directory finding service most associated with podcasts, but if you don’t have iTunes installed there are still plenty of options.

For this discovery exercise participants are asked to take a look at some popular podcast directory tools. Do some exploring on your own and locate a podcast that is of interest to you. Once found, you can easily pull the RSS feed into your [|NetVibes] account as well, so that when new casts become available you’ll be automatically notified of their existence.

=** Discovery Resources: **=


 * To find out more about podcasts start Podcasting In Plain English
 * There are many, many podcast directories and finding tools out there. Here are just three of the more popular ones that, unlike iTunes, don't require a software download:
 * Podomatic
 * __[|LearnOutLoud]__
 * Podcast Blaster

=** Discovery Exercise: **=

1. Take a look at one or two of the ** podcast directories ** listed and see if you can find a podcast that interests you. See if you can find some interesting education related podcasts here. 2. Add the RSS feed for a podcast to your NetVibes account 3. Create a blog post about your discovery process. Did you find anything useful here? How can you use them in your classroom?

= Activity 13 - eBooks=

For this activity, you will explore where you can get free ebooks and get an idea of the types of titles you can find here. Take a look around and locate a few titles of interest. Many school and public libraries have audiobook and ebook collections, so check what they have in their collections. Audiobooks are popular for ELL and Special Education students, as well as commuters who enjoy a good story during a long ride. There are a number of commercial audiobook and ebook sources also. A simple Google Search will result in 1000's of sites.

=**Discovery Resources:**=

1. LibriVox, audiobook versions of copyright-free books from the Gutenberg Project. Read by volunteers. Started in August 2005 by Hugh McGuire. Check it out! 2. British Library Online Gallery includes digitized original classics. An audio feature allows a visitor to have the book read aloud. Don't miss the original version of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures Under Ground. Mozart's Musical Diary includes 75 audio excerpts. Take the [|tour] and encourage your students and colleagues to do so too! This resource is AMAZING. 3. Check out " Best Places to Get Free Books " site. 4. [|JustFreeBooks] 5. Children's eBooks 6. [|Stony Plain Public Virtual Library] - Books

=**Discovery Exercises:**=

1. Explore World eBook Fair' site for FREE downloads from the Gutenberg Project. Also just explore the site - there's much to check out. Explore any of the other sites in the resources as well. 2. Create a blog post about your findings. What is the future of ebooks and etextbooks in the classroom? How can you use them in your classroom?