Serendipity35

I came across a site intended for library staff at the Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County (PLCMC) called Learning 2.0. It's a blog that features 23 Things (or small exercises) that you can do on the web to explore and expand your knowledge of the Internet and Web 2.0.

It's intended for their library staff, but it could easily be adapted for faculty and students at any grade level. They have even built in a way to record staff progress in the program.

This is not just a "webquest" of clicking around the web, but includes actually creating a blog of your own, setting up RSS feeds etc.

I've been doing some of these same things this semester with my students, so I wish I had found this site before the semester began.

I did some further surfing and discovered that Learning 2.0 & 23 Things is not unique to that North Carolina library. It's a movement!

I found a library association that encouraged their members to complete all 23 items by October 31st in order to to receive recognition and be eligible for prizes. (See California School Library Association - CSLA).

Turns out that I lucked onto the original site with my first click. Some history from CSLA:

The CSLA 2.0 Team modified The Learning 2.0 program designed by Helene Blowers, Technology Director, Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County and is loosely based upon Stephen Abram's article, "43 Things I (or You) might want to do this year" (Information Outlook - Feb 2006) and the website 43 Things. We also drew heavily from the jslibrarylearning2 program.

The San Jose version includes audio files too. The more I click on these links, the more I find. Helene has also done animated tutorials (using Articulate, a program we also use at NJIT too) on topics, like this one on "Seven & a half habits of successful lifelong learners."

I don't know how far this has spread and how many libraries (or others) are participating, but I think it's a great idea.

Has anyone set up a version, adaptation or similar site for their teachers or students? Please comment below...