So what is the NZ/Australian Cohort for 23 Mobile Things all about? Read on.
What are the 23 Mobile Things?
- Taking a photo with a mobile device: Instagram / Flickr app / Snapchat
- eMail on the move
- Maps and checking in: Foursquare
- Photos + Maps + Apps: Historypin / What was there / Sepia Town
- Video: YouTube and screencasts
- Communicate: Skype / Google Hangout
- Calendar
- QR codes
- Social reading: RSS / Flipboard / Feedly / Goodreads / Pocket
- Augmented reality: Layar
- Games: Angry Birds / Wordfeud
- Online identity: FaceBook and LinkedIn
- Curating: Pinterest / Scoop.it / Tumblr
- Adobe ID
- eBooks and eBook apps: Project Gutenberg / Kindle / Overdrive / Bluefire / Kobo, etc.
- Evernote and Zotero
- Productivity tools: Doodle / Remember the Milk / Hackpad / any.do / 30/30
- File sharing: Dropbox
- Music: last.fm / Spotify
- Voice interaction and recording
- eResources vendor apps
- Digital storytelling
You can view the 23 Mobile Things on the official blog here – http://23mobilethings.net/wpress/the-things/
What is this NZ/Australian cohort all about?
simple; it is just establishing a group of librarians in NZ and Australia who are keen to do the 23 Mobile Things at the same time. This cohort will give us mutual support and contact with each other so that we can learn together and keep each other motivated. Hopefully it will help you grow your own personal learning network (PLN) and have fun and great collaborations throughout the course!
Who can take part?
Anyone! This is not limited to New Professionals, but is open to anyone who would like to take part – whether newer or older to the profession. I have just put the contact form on the New Professionals blog as that is a place where I know many people will find it. We are creating another blog specifically for this NZ/Australian cohort that will be the hub of our conversations and connections. So please sign up and let’s all learn from one another and have fun playing with mobile technologies! Over 60 people have signed up already; this is going to be such a fantastic group to be a part of 
(It’s mainly NZ’ers at the moment so come on Australian’s sign up!)
What do I need to take part?
- Access to a mobile device (e.g. iPad, tablet, smart-phone, etc…) – if you don’t have one yourself, you could borrow one or use the PC applications to understand the general principles.
- Time to dedicate to investigating the 23 things – it seems most people are keen to do 1 Thing a week so you can dedicate as much or as little time as you need to exploring that thing and engaging in chatting and collaborating with others on the course.
- Willingness to collaborate, experiment, and support each other – it’s going to be fun!
How do I sign up?
So you’re keen? Great! Here’s what you have to do to get involved:
- fill in the contact form on the blog
- vote in the poll for best time-frame for the course
- share the news with friends/colleagues
We will be in touch as we create a blog as a hub for the group, a Facebook group (if you are keen) and organize some online real-time events such as Twitter chats and Google+ hangouts so that we can chat and collaborate. It will also give us an opportunity to put into practice what we have been learning!
We are hoping to start with Thing 1 the first week of May. If the course runs for six months (approximately 1 Thing a week), it will finish at the end of November.
So what are you waiting for? Sign up today and we will be in touch again a bit closer to the date.
If you want more information please don’t hesitate to email me (Kate) at my gmail account (take off the no spam) or on twitter at @katejf.
Abigail Willemse (NZ) and Kate Freedman (NGAC) and Hiba Kanji (NGG)(AUS)
]]>Howard, Jennifer; For Libraries, MOOCs Bring Uncertainty and Opportunity, The Chronicle of Higher Education. The Chronicle of Higher Education (March 25, 2013). Here’s a quote….
“Ms. O’Brien had one piece of basic advice for librarians wondering what to make of MOOC mania: Take a MOOC or two to see what they’re really like. “You can’t be a valued adviser if you don’t understand what it takes to do one of these courses,” she told the audience.”
Image by BrianCSmith CC Some rights reserved
Some that might be of particular interest to librarians…
- Metadata: organizing and discovering information – starts September 2013 (8 weeks)
- Hyperlinked Library MOOC – starts September 2013
- Surviving disruptive technologies – started 3 days ago, but looks like you an still sign up. 2-4 hours per week for 7 weeks
- Introduction to data science – May 2013 (8 weeks)
- Globalizing Higher Education and Research for the ‘Knowledge Economy” – Jan 2014 (8 weeks)
- Apps for Librarians & Educators ($125)
- Accessibility features of iOS for the iPad and iPhone
- How to write a thesis ($12)
- Responsible Computing – sounds interesting to see how they ‘develop foundational computing and information literacy’ for college freshmen
- The Economics of Information: Strategy, Structure and Pricing
- Digital Learning Transition
But you could choose one on any topic you like:
- How to listen to orchestras
- Introduction to guitar
- Message of the image
- Polite Puppy Dog Training Classes
Have you enrolled in a MOOC? What was it like? Have you asked your employer to fund a MOOC for professional development? How did that go?
]]>Now there is one for anyone interested in the library world. Library 2.012 Worldwide Virtual Conference October 3 – 5, 2012. It is a free conference held online, in multiple time zones, over 2 calendar days (three if you take all the time zones into account.
It looks to be a much larger affair than VIDM with several strands of presentations being planned. The School of Library and Information Science (SLIS) at San José State University (http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/) is the founding conference sponsor. Opportunities for commercial sponsorship, and conference partner organisations are available.
The call for presentation proposals is open.
Sarah Stewart taking part in last year’s VIDM.
Image : Virtual International Day of the Midwife 2011 by Sarah M Stewart. Reproduced under a Creative Commons Licence.
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