This is deli.cio.us

I finally figured out what all the buzz was about. I've been reading about social bookmarking, but I was too embarrassed to ask someone what it's used for. I guess since I don't use my favorites toolbar anyway, I wasn't missing much.

But now, every day I get older, and I keep forgetting stuff. I see cool websites, cool things that I know I'll remember and then "poof" they're gone.

And then to make it worse, I get mixed up where I put my favorites. Is it on my laptop? Is it at work? Is it on my flashdrive? Can't be too sure.

So, now, my favorites are all in one place, and all I have to do is summon "delicious". I used my podcasting name to name my delicious account. Just look for Mel N. Koly and you'll see what I like to play around with.

Can't get enough of it!!

More more more about games. The more I read about it, the more excited I am about games and libraries. I've always loved games and I've always loved libraries, so it's a perfect match.

But do games belong in libraries? And is the library just a game? Well, here's some interesting discussion at the Games and Libraries Intersection from Jenny Levine, blogger at The Shifted Librarian. After reading some of this, you'll believe too! This is from her latest presentation:

Here's some characteristics of great gamers:
--willing to experiment and keep trying
--willing to seek expertise and ask for help
--willing to share expertise and help "noobs" (new players)
--desire to collaborate (team player)
--learn from their mistakes and adapt quickly
--thrive on fast decision making
--good at prioritizing
--willing to take risks
--focused on feedback and continuous improvement
--constantly seeking to be challenged
--proactive, not reactive
--don't want to be spoon fed, want to do their own research
--expect interaction, rewards, and multiple paths

Examples of Skills that Employers want in Higher Wage Workers
--adaptation to rapid change
--team building
--learning on the fly
--rapid information acquisition
--determining what needs to be done, allocating resources
--plan/develop/implement
--multiple task prioritization
--information synthesis

http://www.fas.org/gamesummit

Can you see the relationship? I just led my classroom in a group exercise called "Crossing the River". It is a logic test given to potential IT employees in Japan. The object is to follow the rules and get everybody to cross the river with the rule constraints. The employer is looking for potential employees who can complete this task in less than 15 minutes.

Click here if you want to try it: http://www.robmathiowetz.com/

It was an interesting class session. We used the computer overhead projector to view the screen on the whiteboard. I followed the commands and clicked on their choices. There were about a dozen people in class. They worked together, called out suggestions, pointed out wrong assumptions, and as a class, they were able to solve the problem! I was so proud of them!

I'm game for it, are you?

There are some smart people out there who are already figuring out ways to tie games in to educational learning and information literacy.

The blog by Paul Waelchi shows you some clever ways to use Fantasy Football Leagues and Final Fantasy, Halo 3, and Madden Football to meet all the information literacy objectives.

These people are way ahead of me!!

Check out his blog at www.researchquest.blogspot.com