LIBR 246-12: Web 2.0 and Social Networking Tools (Fall 2008)

Prior to this class, I never imagined that I would learn and experience so many types of social software. I thought social software is only for young people or people who have extra time in their hands. After taking this course, my view of social software has totally changed. Social software is a great tool for connecting with people and sharing information with people. In fact, social software is social phenomenon. It revolutionized how people communicate with each other.

At the library in which I work, Wiki and screencasting are useful tools. Wiki is a fascinating tool to work on projects with my co-workers. Screencasting is the best tool to make visual instruction materials for student workers. For my personal use, Google aggregator and RSS are wonderful tools for me. I can select information I would like to read. It appears that I have control of the information in the world.

When I completed My Facebook assignment, I was surprised by how quickly and easily people can connect and share personal information with each other. Now, I understand the reason why young people are so addicted to this networking tool.

I liked all of my assignments and exercises. I felt blogs are the center of this class and read blogs by my classmates very often. It was an interesting experience. This course is well balanced, organized, and covered many new technologies for libraries.

Comparing blackboard and Drupal, I thought that the opinions and thoughts of the students are treated with respect by using the Drupal system. In other words, by using this system, students are like the main actors and actresses in movies. I thought that the features of Durpal were built around blogs and focused on connections and communication among teachers and students. On the other hand, blackboard focuses on announcements and instructions from teachers to students. They have totally different concepts.

My experience in this course was informative and adventurous. Also, my group project experience was wonderful. This course gave me opportunities to experience new technologies which I never had any intention of attempting to use. This is especially true of the interaction with class mates by blogs was a totally new experience for me. I had an opportunity to make a presentation regarding web 2.0. While preparing the presentation, I realized that I had learned and experienced so many new technologies from this class. This course gave me courage and knowledge to try new technologies for my future position in the library. Thank you for creating this innovative and brilliant course.