Lego-building: Learning through Play

Lots of people don't have access to continuing education programs.

one-off webcasts don't ensure continued learning/use of tools.

Importance of hands-on learning.

Online courses can be run more cheaply.

Five weeks to a social library.

first free, completely online course for teaching librarians about social software and how to use it in their libraries.

40 participants. All kinds. Used open-source when possible. Solicited presentations from experts in the library world. Entire course planned through wiki and instant messaging.

Droopal? Supports multipal blogs, creates static content. Suports wikis and chat rooms.

Mediawiki. - sandbox so everyone had experience with wikis.

blip.tv podcasts and video content, screencasts.

Webconferencing software was not free. They used OPAL. (Online programming for all libraries)

Included hands-on activities, as well as readings. The users reflected in blogs, had weekly chats.

Final project was to create a proposal on how to use social software in their libraries.

playing with technoloy is essential to learning technology.
reflective learning makes ideas stick.
learning from peers can be more important than learning from an "expert".

librarybytes.com
slideshare.net

Learning 2.1 - Continuation on 23 things program. oooh.

What can you do to continually keep up with changes?

Don't be an expert, be a player. (someone who plays.)

1. Take 15 minutes a day.
2. Subscribe to at least 5 blogs. (librarianinblack.net, tech crunch, what I learned today, wired, learning 2.1)
3. tag "play items" in del.icio.us
4. create a learning blog.
5. play!

how can you help others navigate the learning maze?
--become a guide, not a trainer.
1. It's about learning. (focus on -them-. make them engaged and motivated.)
2. remove the classroom. encourage participants to use each other?
3. remember that -exposure- is the first step towards learning.
4. learners have as much to share as guides.
5. Focus on fun!