Do I have to pick one?  My favorite part of this course is the variety of ways to learn.  To read an article, listen to a webcast, experiment with the technology and then chat about it - what a great combo.  Each part built on the others to help deepen my understanding.  Also, it was great being assigned to a specific group.  That helped me to feel that I had some more personal collaborators.  My group really fueled my thoughts with new approaches and helped me expand my ideas of the possibilities for using these technologies.  Great encouragement too. 

My favorite experiences in this course include viewing the webcasts and screencasts and taking part in the group discussions. The webcasts and screencasts really helped the technology sink in. I was better able to understand what we were learning and implementing. I also enjoyed the group IMs. I was able to practice IMing and I was able to connect with other individuals in the course, to broaden the discussion and hear some truly great ideas.

I enjoyed working with del.icio.us, bloglines, and flickr. I have been using these tools quite frequently since learning about them. I feel like I can keep track of random and fantastic things I find on the Web without having a ginormous favorites list on my computer. Plus, I'm finally seeing why people set up their own blogs and which blogs are most interesting to me. As for professionally useful, I think the week we spent on Wikis made the most impact on me. Our library has a staff intranet wiki but it was neat to see so many different uses for a wiki and really talk about the ways a wiki can make an impact. Definitely a handy technology to know about!

• What were your favorite experiences in the course?
  I really enjoyed my weekly chats with my group.  Not only did I learn tons in the tiny bit of time we had together, I totally feel that I can contact my group members with my future questions.  I also enjoyed the OPAL-Online lectures...And the fact that presentations and this site exist for future reference.
• What technology did you find most interesting for your personal use? What technology did you think would be most useful professionally?
  The wiki.  I can think of so many great applications for a wiki--departmental, liaison program, ref. desk log, etc.  I didn't expect it, but it's my favorite.
• Were there any unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?
  

What an amazing experience.  I know these past 5 weeks were pretty intense – alot of us had very busy work-lives during this time and fitting in the course was a little difficult at times – but as I’ve said to all of my colleagues, without hesitation, I would do it all again.  You know, I’ve paid for courses before – and learned very little!  Hard to believe that this was all free. 

Besides learning by using the technologies and the well-produced webcasts, screencasts and podcasts, my favourite experiences had to be the weekly chats.  This was probably the most valuable learning tool – if I wasn’t learning from my peers, I was gaining their support and encouragement.  I treasured the time I spent with these folks – being among your “peers”, even if it’s just an hour a week, can be very valuable when you’re in an environment where you’re not quite sure your efforts are appreciated (I still don’t think folks realize how much time I spend learning and implementing these new tools).

• What were your favorite experiences in the course?

Webcasts, screencasts, participant blogs and proposals, group chats, activities, and readings – all of it!

• What technology did you find most interesting for your personal use? What technology did you think would be most useful professionally?

Probably the only one of these technologies that I will use for personal reasons is flickr – where I can post photos to share with friends who live far away.  For professional work, I think the wiki will be most useful to me – for collaborating with colleagues.

• Were there any unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?

I am surprised at how often I use delicious.  I am not bookmarking myself, but find it useful to review what others have bookmarked.  In general, I think popular tagging is very effective. 

I just posted the list of individuals who currently have successfully completed the course requirements. Congratulations to all of you! If you are not on the list, you should have received an e-mail last week or this week from your chat group facilitator about your status and suggesting ways that you could make up the required work you missed. If you didn't attend any Webcasts one week, you can watch the archived version of one of the Webcasts from that week and write a blog post on it. If you missed posting at least one blog post (on one of the activities) one week, you can write a post now on one of the activities from that week. If you missed chat sessions without first contacting your facilitator, please contact them to find out how you can make that up.

These are the individuals who have successfully completed the requirements of the Five Weeks to a Social Library course:

• Linda Bedwell
• Karen Bjork
• Karen Bradley
• Reegan Breu
• Tamara Cameron
• Shireen Deboo
• Cheri Duncan
• Tiah Edmunson-Morton
• Rita Ennen
• Jacquelyn Erdman
• Jini Errichetti
• Cristie Ferguson
• Josalyn Gervasio
• Renata Gibson
• Robin Grant
• Fred Jahns
• Janelle Jarboe
• Rachel Kingcade
• Suzanne Mangrum
• Jill Markgraf
• Lauren McMullen
  

 Fantastic learning experience.  Thanks to all oranizers and participants!

Keep up the course!  And let all who have completed it have lurking priveliges in the future.  :-)

• What were your favorite experiences in the course?

Unexpectedly, I found out how helpful step by step instructions are visually. I never thought of myself as a visual learner. Definitely this is something to consider when using new technologies as learning tools. The feeling of being part of a library community was the best part. I tend not to share the same interests as the teacher-librarians in my locale, so this was very rewarding for me to be able share technology experiences.

• What technology did you find most interesting for your personal use? What technology did you think would be most useful professionally?

Personally...not too sure yet. Professionally, however, the RSS seemed to be most important. I had no idea that this tool could filter so much. I discovered that wikis are a vast arena of unexpected resource sharing....still not a big blog fan, though. 

• Were there any unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?

I have been using Drupal both to organize my library class and as a learning log for students. It worked OK, but when I tried to use it as a collaborative space for teachers to share information, it bombed. Now I know why...I have a lot more information at my disposal about which tools are better for what...hence the incredible utility of the librarysuccess wiki.

• What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?

Great facilitation! I, too, found the course intensive, and maybe a mid-semester breathing space would be nice.

My favorite experiences in the course have been going through each different tool, reading, discussing, and thinking about practical ways to apply them to my library. I continue to be fascinated with delicious, for both personal and professional uses. Flickr is also one of my personal faves. Professionally, many of the tools can be useful but the one that has the most obvious potential at my library is the wiki.

Outcomes that surprised me -- I was surprised that I'm leaving the course with lower opinions of MySpace and Second Life. Although I think these tools are great to use in some libraries, I don't think that they would necessarily be successful at a rural community college with many first generation students. Maybe in a few years, but not as of yet.