Thing 36: Dressing up your photos

Picnik, Fauxto, Pixenate, Snapfish
Like to play around with your photos then try the application listed above.

I tried Picnik and messed with a picture of my brother which I took with my phone on Christmas day.

As everyone knows it's summer time in oz. so I thought I place some snow around him, made it look a bit dreamy and tried to put a disguise on him so no one would recognize him, I doubt any of his friends would be reading this blog. Any way i had fun and I'm sure anyone who tries these site will also.

Thing 35: Mini or Micro Blogging

Twitter, Jaiku, Pownce

These three social networks are great for anyone wanting to send short but informative messages to friends or a group of friends. I have joined Twitter and was invited to Pownce, I used them for awhile but founf it was not for me. I'm sure many people will found these applications very useful.

Thing 34: Using the Web for Better Health

FitDay - Nutridiary

Thing 34, now this is an unusual discovery I was surprised to find this subject matter in the Learning 2.1.

Yes these sites may be beneficial to some, I checked them out and thought they had some worth but for the purposes of learning in relation to Learning 2.1 which is the discoveries of applications that would in some way be incorporated or enhance the work environment was a bit off track.

Granted the ‘play’ sites are included to give us some levity, perhaps the intention here is the same in that learning does not only have to be work related.

Thing 33: Express Yourself Through Online Art

Express your self the exercise says, and I did and tried to be artistic. I used Mr Picassohead

as you can see but I assure you, it is not a self-portrait.

I had fun playing with this application also with Falling Sand Games and the Snowflake maker. In a previous post (time out for play + a lesson) using String spin I created what I believe is a magnificent piece of artwork and of cause I would say that wouldn’t I.

I always like these play websites, you can distract your self for a while when you are finding it hard to think of something to write that is intelligent and witty. I will confess I take to distraction a lot.

With all these discoveries, we make through Web 2.0 and 2.1 it’s good for the soul and mind to have a little fun occasionally.

Thing 32: Online File Storage

Omnidrive - B0x-net

I understand the concept of these application but would not be using them so I did not sign on but wanted to add a post anyway.

Two online storage websites.

These can be very useful for organisation like a Library for storing files and pictures off site, access can be allowed or not allowed. Communicating with others and project with large files can be uploaded to be shared for comment or read only.

They can also be used for personal use.

There are so many storage site out there and it is a matter of choice as to what one is the best for your needs.

It is always a good idea to read through the information provided before choosing because you may choose one and find out later that you will need to pay to use some elements of the application.

Thing 31: Organizing your life

REMEMBER THE MILK - JOTLET - PLAXO

If you love organizing, making list, keeping track of friends, family, and not have to think to hard then these applications are for you.

Calenders, reminders, lists, notes, tasks, plans, share not share, event organizing.

Are you an on-the-go sort of person using the cell phone, blackberry, email, Internet sometimes all at once, then you will be in heaven, you life will be so organised you may even have a moment to sit back and relax.

For myself who is a nine to five working girl and a homebody will not be using these applications but can see that they would be invaluable to a very busy person.

Thing 30: LolCat Builder - MY VERSION

LoLCat builder intrigued me, so went and had a look. I’m not much of a cat lover so none of the pictures appealed to me and decided to make one of my own using Jasper (the cat who was rescued from our book chute and by the way is now one year old) and my favourite movie star George. I combined the two, uploaded the picture and added the text. Who could resist these two cute faces?

Thing 29: Scrapblog - my favourite author

Scrapblog is an easy and fun application it can also be used for serious work as well such as promoting happenings in the library. The only drawback I found is that you don’t have control on the transition time for the slides, but overall I liked the application. Below is my creation.

Learning 2.1 - Thing 28: Create your own magazine cover

This exercise was a lot of fun, not wanting to put my own picture up for viewing I decided to tell a story in a few words, it's a story of Jasper the survivor, dumped in a Libray chute and rescued by a cat lover Librarian and the word is that Jasper has taken control of the home.

Learning 2.1 - Thing 27: Fun with Photobucket

Many faces to newblog51

Learning 2.1 - Thing 26: YourMinis

YourMinis are small interactive widgets allowing quick access, you can use it for RSS feeds or for fun like I have. It's a nice little toy that can be posted or placed on the sidebar it's up to you.

Learning 2.1 - Thing 25: Newsletters in a Pop!

LetterPop is an easy online applications for creating vibrant and interesting newsletters for family, announcements and updates, there many template to choose from you are able to upload your own pictures to use in your newsletter.

The drag and drop feature and the ease in adding text make this application very usable for anyone. You don’t have Publisher? why not try LetterPop to make that amazing newsletter for any occasion. It’s your choice to print, email or show online.

My newsletter can be found by clicking on the small screen shot below

Learning 2.1 - The journey continues - Thing 24

I've moving on to Learning 2.1, I'm was inspired by Learning 2.0 and am looking forward to trying all things suggested.
Thing 24 - file conversations - Zamzar covers conversation for documents, image, music and video formats. I tried the conversion of a PDF (portable document format) to a word documents the formatting was exactly the same then I did the opposite with great results. Public Libraries don't always every program available on their computers Zamzar may be of help when their patrons who want to print the document and the correct program is not available..I used Zamzar to convert a video file into an extension that I could use on my computer and was very happy with the results. I have talked about this website back in September.

Week 9 #23 - the finish and the start

All about Learning 2.0 and 23 things

I began with an end in mind and that was ‘if I try I can succeed”
It is up to me to improve myself
Problems can be resolved if you look at them as a challenge
Adapt to changing technology - take a chance
Help others - learn from others
Think about what have I learned and what will I do with what I have learned
Enjoy

Things I have learnt about

Blogging Tagging Flickr mashups RSS feed Image generator Rollyo Technorati Del.icio.us Wikis Online applications Library Thing Podcasts video/audio downloadable

Through my discoveries, I learned not just to look but also to investigate as I browse. Some of the extra things I learnt were making a Tag Cloud, making changes in the HTML code.

I find I am continually learning every time I open the browser and I believe that is the point of Learning 2.0
Some of the applications we investigated in 23 Things can easily be integrated into the Library world.

I can see RSS feeds, Podcasts, Wikis and Tagging becoming a valuable asset for Libraries and their patrons some Libraries have already integrated these applications.

This is not the end but the beginning of lifelong learning.

Next No 24 and beyond

My apologies I forgot to thank the Yarra Plenty & the Victorian State Libraries for creating the opportunity to take part in Learning 2.0.

Learn Inquire Seek Thrive

Week 9 - #22 Audiobooks

There is certainly a lot to choose from when looking through the eBooks websites, for someone who likes listening to them through their mp3 players or reading the book on the computers.

For me I like to listen to audio books while driving to and from work.

Netlibrary and/or Overdrive is a good idea for Libraries to use.

Patrons can download items and then transfer to MP3 players, laptops, Pocket OS and Palm OS devices, or burned to a CD (depending on title) this offers more mobility for the patrons and for the library no more problems with lost or scratched CDs that occur with the CD audio books currently in use.

One slight problem may be that some patrons like myself for instance who does not have an MP3 player (I don’t like having the earphones in my ears) or do not have a burner on the computer.

The library would have to consider the blind patrons who are heavy users of audio books, so perhaps the library would need to have access to both types of eBooks/audio books.

Overall, the future and technology are beckoning whether we like it or not.

An observation, a while ago I caught the train into the city first time in a long time and looking around noticed nearly everyone had earphones in the ears what ever happened to social interaction.

Week 9 - #21 Podcasts, Smodcasts!

Podcast are the new ‘in’ they are being used to communicate information.

I have listened to quite a few over time but I will have to say I prefer the video podcasts to the audio podcasts. I do not think I would ever make one myself I think my voice is not the best for casting messages.

As part of the week 9 task we were asked to check out a couple of websites that offer podcasts, I tried them all but did not found anything interesting except that Yahoo closed its podcast directory, effective October 31st there are still plenty of places to find podcasts. Therefore, I went looking in other places.

I visited the Library of Congress and found they introduced podcasts, I added National Book Festival Authors Do Podcasts to my blogines feed (see above) and also I have add one from Orange County Library Systems (OCLS) they offer video podcasts you can subscribe to RSS feeds from both these sites. I looked at the Victorian State Library and the National Library of Australia and could not find any obvious reference to podcasts they may have them but I could not find them.

I can see a future for podcasts within libraries if anyone is brave enough to do the voice over.

Week 9: - Video -YouTube

For this exercise I have posted a classic Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis video @ the Library.
I have been to YouTube many times and in previous posts, I have uploaded videos from YouTube.
YouTube is a fun site to visit; it is amazing how many people have uploaded their personal videos or mashups videos they have created.
Libraries could take advantage of the popularity of YouYube and promote some of their activities for example holiday programmes conducted in the library, using the appropriate tags may generate traffic back to the library

Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis @ the Library

Part 1

Part 2

Not happy but still fun-a widget I made - countdown to the Librarians' TV show

Technology can try ones' patience but determination is a wonderful thing.
While I was looking through the award winners of Web 2.0 I came across Springwidget.
This site allows you to make your own widget and because I like to try things, I decided to have a go.
Jumping on the bandwagon about the TV show called The Librarians I decided to make a widget countdown to the premiere of the show.
I am sure there will be a lot of comment some good some bad about this series.
Making the widget was easy, it took me awhile to work out the best way to place it on my blog while I was deciding on this the site went down and I thought I had lost all my work but I did not give up, I waited and tried again and have successfully finished off my widget.
For someone who is not very tech savvy I was quite pleased with myself.
BUT the website is either unstable or my firewall keeps interferring with the script, and it may happen to anyone looking at my blog ( if I turned off my firewall the widget worked but you should not have to comprise your security to make things work) so I decided not to post the widget, even using a page element the widget plays up. So I used Widgetbox to make the countdown to the Librarians
Learning is to challenge oneself continually

Week 8: Online Applications & Tools - WEB 2.0 AWARDS

Blog Guides, Bookmarking, Books Business, City Guides & Reviews, Classifieds and Directories, Collaborative Writing and Word Processing, Communication, Content Aggregation and Management, Digital Storage and Remote Access, Events, Feed Management , Fun Stuff, Games, Health, Hosted Wikis, Lists and Polls, Mapping, Marketing, Mashups, Mobile Technology , Music, Online Desktop, Organization, Philanthropy, Photos and Digital Images, Podcast Services , Professional Networking, Questions and Advice , Real Estate, Retail, Search, Social Networking, Social News, Social Tagging, Start Pages, Travel, Video, Visual Arts, Web Development and Design, Widgets

Where does one begin, so many to look at, so many choices?

I looked at everyone; some I had come across before and even joined a few well before I heard about Web 2.0 and have also posted about some on this blog.

I guess the decision comes down to what your need is, how easy the site is to use, will it still be around in years to come, will it still be free to use.

I think some of these applications/programs if integrated can add value to the services the library offers to their patrons and the community in general.

I was pleased to find an Australian website "The Broth" although its’ only offering applications that can be added to Facebook but still it is an ozzie.

A little bit of blogging humour

Online Applications & Tools - Zoho Writer

Well I tried Zoho Writer and found it very easy to use. I created this document for my daughter so she could place it with the tickets she wants to sell.

I took up the challenge and original posted my creation using Zoho’s "publish" options to post to my blog but the effect was not the same so I have created a link below.
I think Zoho - Work Online is an excellent find and can be very useful for many people, for myself I have all the necessary programs on my computer for all my needs. Google Docs and spreadsheets is another excellent resource for online collaboration, our Library used it for suggestion on ideas for a new look web site for the Library. I give them

click on promotion to view my creation

Videos may not work - my apologies

Today I tried to show my work colleague the videos I had posted using SplashCast and found they would not work on my work computer the reason being I did not have Flash Player installed and I am not able to download it, lucky for me our IT guy did have the player so he was able to view the videos on his computer. So if the videos don't work try installing Flash Player

Playtime No 5 - A couple of videos featuring Libraries

A great little programme to show case your favourite videos at one time. There are 6 videos set in a Library situation, the controls are at the bottom left hand corner (move your mouse over the screen and they will appear) you choose which one you want to view or watch them as they appear. I found SplashCast through an RSS Feed.

Wikis - Week 7- Playing around with PBWiki

Wikis, looking around at a few, I feel that I have a good understanding of how they work.

Wiki’s can be a great way of sharing information either internal or external.

Internal could be a work related one, allowing staff collaboration on a particular subject created.

Our Library created a Wiki called “Ideas for the future” staff was able to offer up their ideas/thoughts on the new directions and projects in the pipeline for the library service.

The external can be a valuable source to share around information as to what is happening around the community.

The Library Success and The Book Lovers Wikis are a great idea for sharing information.

Most Wikis require you to register although it is possible to a have a generic login. Because anyone can edit and/or add to the content perhaps when setting up an external Wiki for the community the Library perhaps add a warning to the public that information contained in wikis may not be accurate.

I have added my blog to PBwiki Learning 2.0 SandBox wiki, Favourite Blogs page under AUSTRALIAN BLOGS

More thoughts and ideas on Web2.0, Learning 2.0 and Libraries

Since posting my thoughts about Web2.0, Learning 2.0 I came across a few post about communities, libraries and Web 2.0 in my RSS feeds. I found these post very informative (no doubt they say it better than I do) and wanted to share so here are the links with the title of the posts. You will have to scroll down for the last two.

It’s about the community
http://www.davidleeking.com/2007/10/02/its-about-the-community/

Using Web 2.0 to Communicate with Customers
http://librarianinblack.typepad.com/librarianinblack/

Telling the Library's Story: A TTW Fave
http://tametheweb.com/

Web 2.0, Library 2.0 and the future of libraries and my thoughts.

The web has become the THING everyone is using it or nearly everyone. first it was the tech savvy people or geeks as some people were called, the computers was something only a few people owned like when colour television started not everyone had one now everyone has one and the same goes for computers, then laptops, which are no longer just used for typing up a document, or homework. The web has changed how we do things; you can do your shopping online, your banking you can even talk to a friend or family member who lives across the other side of the world.
With introduction of emails and chat, the way we communicate with each other has changed, then came along social networking making friends with people you have never met.
Technology and the web has slowly crept into our way of life, sometimes without us realizing that it has, it’s in the home, it’s at work and even when you are out and about. Mobile phones, PDAs and laptops have giving us a very mobile life style.
Web 2.0 has brought into the conscience of the business world of how technology and the web if integrated into their services would benefit them and their customers. The young (perhaps not so young) have taken to these new services offered through the web for example there is MySpace, Facebook, RSS feeds, YouTube and many other types of social networks and also blogging they use these to communicate with each other or showcase their likes or dislikes.
Libraries can take advantage of some these new toys (for wont of a better word), RSS feeds to patrons about new additions to the collection, podcasts of events that happen or will happen, Facebook for a pictorial of events, blogging. Perhaps have a community blog to inform about what is happening in their areas or even a Wiki allowing patron to offer suggestion to the library, or create a book discussion online
Web 2.0 or Learning 2.o can bring the library and the community together to make them one, so the Library will no longer be seen has just a place that hold books but a place for the community and the Library to become partners for the future development of all.

Time out for play + a lesson

My creation

I came across this website while reading through a blog, String Spin you draw a couple of lines or more, click play, watch the magic happen. You could say it's the electronic version of creating a string picture using a board, nails and string which was the craze a few or more years ago. If you want to save a copy of your creation you will have to take a screen dump (press 'Print Screen')

Tip: a quick way of achiving this is to paste your screen dump into PowerPoint, crop the picture to your liking, right click scroll dow to 'save as picture ' choose jpg format give it a name and save, see example, good luck.

WINK - ZAMZAR - FILEXT what's it all about Alfie?

FREE FREE FREE

I like finding and trying new things and when I heard about WINK from a colleague, I had to have a go. For anyone who has to present training class but does not have the expensive software to develop a Flash tutorial or presentation then this program may be for you.
Wink is a software program for creating tutorials and presentations, using Wink you can capture screenshots and add callouts with notes. The way it works is that it captures your mouse movements as you work through the explanation of how a certain programme works.
Therefore, what you would do if you have to explain to a class how to use for example Microsoft Word, you would capture your movements as you work through the lesson and later add callouts with notes or record your explanations. Wink has many features to help you make a quality tutorial. You can save your tutorial in different formats Macromedia Flash, standalone exe, pdf, postscript or an html file. Wink also works in others languages
To try WINK got http://www.debugmode.com/wink/ you will be surprised at your results, I was and my creation was very basic. Best of all it is FREE

File conversations - Zamzar covers conversation for documents, image, music and video formats. I tried the conversion of a PDF (portable document format) to a word document the formatting was the same then I did the opposite with great results. If you want to share documents with others who may not have the same version of the programme you used you can change your document into a PDF or another type of file for sharing. Public Libraries may find Zamzar useful when patrons who want to print a document and the library does not have the correct program. FREE

FILEXT-a file extension source website, when you are not sure what a file extension stands for check it out here. FREE

Playtime again, I believe playing is good for the soul or at least a distraction from thinking too much. Eventual George had be part of my blog.

Images created by:-

Dumper – a place to have fun with your pictures
http://www.dumpr.net/net/

GlassGiant – lots of opportunities for play - my own keyboard
http://www.glassgiant.com/

Word puzzle maker (wheel of fortune)
http://atom.smasher.org/wof/

Week 6 - Getting not-so-technical with Technorati

Technorati tracks over 100 million blogs and more in tags, the website is place where you can add your favourite blogs and keep track of them.
Technorati offers Warchlist – keeping track of searches at a glance, WTFs – where’s the fire – what’s hot and why –you can vote on what you like, there is also Popular and Topics all these add entertainment if you are into reading many different blogs. I will go back occasionally just to see what going on. Check it out you might like it.

Week 6: Tagging, Folksonomies. Del.icio.us & Technorati

Tagging, folksomonies & social bookmarking in Del.icio.us

Del.icio.us - social bookmarking
Tags - one-word descriptors
I like this tool; I have looked at it before but never really checkout what you can do with it. I thought it was just and another way to bookmark your favourite’s websites, which I suppose it is, but you don’t tag your favourites, here you can, what I liked about this after joining was the ease in adding bookmarks and tags. You will have to add the Del.icio.us buttons to your toolbar, making the adding of websites stream less.

The advantage of using Del.icio.us is that you can add bookmarks wherever you are using the internet. If you are studying/researching Del.icio.us would be an excellent assest, being able to put tags to the site you have bookmarked makes it easier to look back at what you have saved.
While I was typing this post I asked myself is there potential for this to be used in libraries I searched the net for information on libraries and Del.icio.us and I looked at two site which I bookmarked and tagged before going back to my posting see how easy it is. If you would like to check out what I bookmarked go to my bookmarks on Del.icio.us the tags are LibraryJournal and Delany College. Click on newblog next the the Del.icio.us badge on the left

Gone on holidays (only from blogging) be back soon- having a good time

Holiday over back to blogging

An observation

Nothing new but it just dawned on me; sometimes I am a bit slow on the uptake. While creating posts I have learnent that you can learn about HTML codes, this may not be new to some. During the last posting I had changed over to 'edit Html' why I can't remember and when I change some words into Italic I noticed the codes before and after these words, as I said I am a bit slow on the uptake sometimes and from now on I will be looking at the Html codes just to see if I can understand what is going on. I know that you can get this information on the internet but why search the net when its right here, its only basic I'm sure but it will do for now.

Week 5 - Rollyo

Rollyo is a nifty way to share your favourite web sites. Could it be used on a Library web site, its possible. The creation of the Rollyo was easy and the searches can be changed often. Click on the Rollyo icon to chech it out

Week 5 - LibraryThing

After looking around LibraryThing and seeing how it works I think it would be great for anyone who likes to keep a record of all the books they have read and like joining in on discussion about books.
LibraryThing offers an online service where one can catalogue or for non-library people keep a record of the books they have read. To join is free and you can add up to 200 books before you need to pay.
Being an internet site you can update your records anytime and anywhere there is internet access.
I would not use LibraryThing because I am not record keeper of what I read but for this exercise, I did add books from my authors you can see what I have added by clicking on the LibraryThing Widget on the left.

Week 5 - play - online image generator

Image generators are a lot fun and I had a lot of fun creating these three images.
The first one I tried was from FAMOUSDEFACES, I followed the online instruction but for some reason the generator was not working but I really like the image I picked I decided to recreated it myself, so I guess you could say I am an image generator.
The second is from WARNING LABEL CREATOR this one worked just fine and the third is from WINDOWSEAT where you create your own crazy artwork.
For anyone looking for image generators a good site to look at is IMAGEGENERATOR

Week 5 - play

Week 5 is a good week you get to play, play as in trying different things my first attempt is below and then I will try and find something that could be used by Libraries later


I got my name in lights with notcelebrity.co.uk

Learning 2.0 is working, learning to overcome problems through discussion

Learning 2.0 is working, staff are working together to overcome problems, one of my colleagues told me how she was having problems with her blog and how she got another colleague to help and with them both working together they over came the problem isn’t that what Learning 2.0 is all about.
It’s good to hear that people don’t wait to be told how to do something but rather they are willing to give it a go.
Well done girls a gold star for you both

Week 4 - RSS feeds- Bloglines

RSS feeds, do we really need them, maybe not, but could they be an advantage to us, yes they can be. Do you, like me, surf the net find interesting web sites and forget to write the address for future reference. RSS feeds is way to overcome this.
Most web sites have a RSS feed and subscribing to the feeds from your favourite site gives you continues information without you going back the web site.
Libraries could send out feeds about new addition to the collection, events that will be happening and I’m sure there are many more ways that RSS feeds would useful for Libraries.
For my own personal use I use Google reader and have four folders with feeds coming in, from these feeds I gain a lot of knowledge on a lot of different subjects.
For the benefit of this exercise I have subscribed to Bloglines and added 10 feeds. It was not difficult to set up a Blogline account or to add the feeds; the hardest part was working out how get a URL address for my public bloglines account but persistent works and here are my RSS feeds through Bloglines here click on the RSS feed icon

Week 3 - Technology

Technology is all around us, in our home, at work, in school, all of us in some way use technology.

Seeking information has gone beyond walking into a library and looking for and through a book.

Libraries and technology have come together to give their patrons the best possible service. Searching for a book has gone from using the card system to computer assisted searching, either in the library or from home and access to databases through the library has widen information source for library patrons also communicating information to patrons via emails and text messages.

Some of the ways the library has incorporated technology

Computers for patrons to access the internet

Use of emails and text messages to inform patrons their request are available

Access to databases on all sort of information

Computer for children with inter active software

Use of a plasma screen show casing new arrival to the collection, events happening within the library and local community

A computer with adaptive technology for patrons with disabilities

With these introduction staff had to learn (yes that word again) how to use the technology, some adapted quickly others took longer but with training everyone feels confident in using the new technology.

As there are changes in technology we also need to keep up to date and look for ways are can enhance our service.

My favourite technology is the computer and the internet, my computer and the internet enabled me to take part in flexible learning working full time makes it hard to take on study. I also use my computer to create PowerPoint shows that are used on the plasma screen at work.

Week 3 - Flickr - Possibilities - Mashups - Fun

CLICK ON PICTURE TO GO TO FLICKR

I came across a Library (in America) who uses Flickr to promote their collection and the LibraryI was very impressed with this and I thought I would have a go at doing the same thing.

My objective was to recreate what this Library had accomplished.

The first thing I had to do was to create a picture of some new books we have in our library then upload this picture to Flickr. This done I then had to work out a way to place a note as well as a link back to the catalogue for each book within the picture.

I am happy to say that with a little patience and learning (there is that word again) I have completed my objective. If you click on the picture it will take you to Flickr where you will find the picture with notes, if you click on the note it will take you to the catalogue, where, if you were a member of the library you could place the book on hold.

Some will say why bother going through this process, well its one way to promote new additions to the collection, there is no cost (good for Libraries with limited resources) involved all that is required is a link on the Library website and a Flickr account.

Not sure, about copyright issues I will leave that for another day.You could also use you Flickr account to promote activities within the Library by just creating a link on the Library website to your picture on Flickr.

Mushup = books - Flickr - Library Catalogue

At time of posting all links worked

Week 2 - blog creation

BLOG CREATED AND REGISTERED

Week 1 - Learning 2.0 and 23 things 71/2 habits

Through the course of completing the 23 things my GOAL will be to finish and to keep learning, make it MY RESPONSIBILITY to learn, turn PROBLEMS into CHALLENGES, have CONFIDENCE in myself that I can do it, it being anything, use my LEARNING TOOLBOX which will consist of books, computers and the web, use TECHNOLOGY to my advantage, TEACH/MENTOR others if I can, and PLAY

Week 1 - Learning 2.0 and 23 things – pointers from lifelong learners

As I was listening to the podcast I began to realize that I have been learning for the last 50 odd years, and without realizing it I have been doing the 7 ½ habits all along. This may be a strange thing to say but when we learn something new we don’t really think about it being part of lifelong learning but just something we have learnt, I think it all comes down to the way we think about learning, it’s not just knowing it’s what you do with it.

The first was through structured learning i.e. school, the next was through the working environment, you learn to interact with all types of people, work through grown up issues, taking responsibility for your actions.

The next for me and probably for most is moving into the partnership phase again new learning skills are taken on, i.e. give and take, patience, motherhood, learning to be a diplomat. Sometimes, not always, one can become too complacent with life and not think beyond what one has.

My learning took on a new direction, which was coping with independence again, perhaps not so much as independence but coping with everything solo.

It was time to move into a new learning experience, learning to re-enter the world, as in the workforce world. After years of not working it can make you feel slightly ignorant, things change, terminology changed, the way to get back into the work force changed when I got my first job all I had to do was sit for a test pass and I got the job.

For me my greatest learning was discovering computers, my goal became learn, learn, learn and never stop.

This goal has taken me into a job, given me confidence to try anything, not be afraid of new technology but seek it out, not give up, share my new knowledge with others who have yet to learn, use learning to my advantage and most of all have fun with what I learn.