Thing 8: Screencasts

My Read OutLoud screencast

I use Screencasts to help create training videos for Read OutLoud for the LibGuides. 

Thing 7: Google

I use Google.  A lot.  I use the regular ol' search feature in my toolbar, the image tab, the video tab, the calendar, iGoogle, Gmail, Google docs, etc.  However, the slideshow on the 'Taming' blog introduced me to features which will be helpful in narrowing down my search.  For example, I never knew you could exclude certain results by using a -.  I never used the filter for the image search (size, color, etc).  I also never knew about the :edu or :gov action which limits search results to educational or government webpages.  This is definitely helpful because I often have to go through pages of search results before I locate the correct source or type of source.  Something I thought would be useful for both myself and my students is the related searches feature.  This could be useful during the beginning stages of research to help narrow or broaden a topic.  Overall, I realize that Google has more options that will make searching (and my life) better and easier.

Thing 6: Evernote

I've had Evernote on my iPad for quite a while, but I haven't used it much because I'm used to using Pages or Notability.  I think the edge that Evernote has though, is that it syncs to the web.  That's a biggie for me.  I don't like to be tied to one device.  I love the idea of being able to hop on any computer/iPad/whatever and find my notes by logging in to Evernote.  I also like the formatting options it has.  It's pretty easy to customize notes, add pictures, or audio.  I think I'm going to use it more often.  The next thing I'll learn is how to clip notes from the web.

Thing 5: Wikis

The Wiki could be a great tool for the Learning Specialists to share information.  We do this informally here and there, but having it all on one page would be awesome.  We could also use it to list which KU strategies each student is learning so that teachers in other departments can access this information.