About Adventures in Technology

Adventures in Technology is a free, online, self-discovery program that encourages the exploration of Web 2.0 tools and new technologies. The Adventure is being organized by the Emerging Technologies Team a at the Racine Public Library in Wisconsin. A special thanks to the South Central Library System, Outagamie Waupaca Library System, and Winnefox Library System in Wisconsin. Many of the lessons are taken from their Project Play . Join us exploring more, learning more, and fearing less!

Our goals are to:

• expose staff to emerging technologies that they are hearing about and which many of their patrons are already using
• encourage learning through play (with the focus on ”participation”, not necessarily on doing something ”right”)
• empower and encourage people to take responsibility for their own lifelong learning
• expand people’s knowledge and confidence
• and eliminate fear of the unknown.

(These goals are based on the Learning 2.0 Program created by Helene Blowers of the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County).

Who can explore?

All staff members libraries of the Racine Public Library may participate. Participation in Adventures in Technology is open to ”’all”’ library staff, regardless of a person’s job description. Anyone outside of Racine Public Library can participate by using the projects on this site, however, they are not eligible to register or to receive incentives. Participants can seek support for the projects from members of the Emerging Technologies Team.

How will it work?

The Adventure will be divided into 2 halves:

• 1st semester will start April 1, 2008 and will run for 12 weeks
• 2nd semester will start September 2, 2008 and will also run for 12 weeks

Each week a new topic will be introduced, and besides providing learning and exploration time, a fun extra will always be included! Participants can choose to complete just one or both semesters.

Some of the topics we will cover include…

• blogging, RSS & newsreaders
• audio, podcasts, iTunes & Pandora
• video & YouTube
• tagging, tag clouds, Technorati & del.icio.us
• wikis & Wikipedia
• photo sharing tools like Flickr & free online photo editors
• IM, Meebo & the Meebo Me widget
• book sharing tools like LibraryThing, Shelfari & Book Mooch
• search tools like Rollyo, Google custom search & Google co-op
• productivity tools like Google docs, Ta-da Lists, Doodle, Basecamp & Skype
  
  

Participants will be eligible to earn incentives at the completion of either or both “semesters” of the Adventure. Everyone who completes the entire Adventure (both semesters) will also have their name put into a drawing for a fabulous prize. Participants will track their progress on a blog and can participate anonymously if they so choose. We will encourage people to work collaboratively on all projects to make the process more fun. Collaboration will not, however, be required.

Why should I participate?

A simple search in EBSCOhost for “Web 2.0″ or “Library 2.0″ reveals the wide array of interest in these emerging technologies from all fields, but especially for libraries. They encourage participation in our services and engage patrons in new and exciting ways. We need to be aware of new technologies, explore how we might use them in our libraries, and go where our patrons ”are” instead of expecting ”them” to come to ”us”.

Here are some quotes from the blogs of ”Learning 2.0” participants, which serve as testimonials of the success of this kind of program:

“As this learning exercise continues, I am slowly gaining confidence both in my abilities using these programs, and in the purpose of what I am doing. For a while I though that while a lot of this stuff was fun, it had minimal practical value. I’ve started to change my mind.” ~ “Ian”

“The best thing about this process is that I’m very inspired by all the things I found and how they can help us make our public library system an integral part of the community. Programming podcasts? IM homework help? YouTube library tutorials? Book club blogs? The possibilities are endless and that’s exciting and invigorating.” ~ “Sarah Jo”

“When we took a look at the 7 ½ habits [of lifelong learning], I had mentioned that confidence was probably my weakest one. I’m not sure that I’ve conquered that one (it could take a lifetime!) but I’m so much more confident at these few things. As I continue to learn information, my confidence grows.” ~ “Little League”

Why not take a chance and see what you might take away from this experience? Besides, when else will you have permission to PLAY?!