Really the last? or Just the begining?

I can't believe that I completed learning 2.0~ I was really afraid in the beginning not thinking I would be able to keep up and learn it all, but I'm so glad that I did. I realized that I shouldn't underestimate my abilities to learn and more important be more open to change to learn something new!

Change is good as I've learned over the weeks...most of the technology I learned can help me to simplify and improve activities that I already do!

My favorite activity was the mash-ups...because it was so fun. There are still so many applications to explore and try out! I also liked delicious to help me keep track of my links and organize them. I love picnik! I use it all the time to do quick touch ups of photos!

Lastly, I enjoyed learning about blogs and how we can customize them using gadgets and editing the html.

All in all Learning 2.0 was a great learning experience for me! =)

Week 9: Podcasts, Video and Downloadable Audio

Video
I used to use Youtube religiously to find and watch korean dramas online - think soap operas but with much more crazy absurd story lines! Anyways if you've ever watched Korean dramas...you know they are addicting!!! you can never just watch one..they make it so suspenseful that you keep watching more and more....no sleep.

Youtube was awesome because they would have these dramas submitted by users (broken into many different parts) and it was free and pretty fast to watch. But this was short lived as the korean tv execs soon realized people were watching online and they removed most of the content.

But of course there are many other sites that host these korean dramas.... like megavideo, myspace, tudou, veoh, youku, google video, and viikii just to name of few. Some are in chinese but if you type in english you can find the videos.

If anyone is interested in watching k-dramas, my source is: mysoju.com. Interesting name because soju is a rice liquor almost like vodka but think worse...imagine rubbing alchohol! i don't know why koreans drink this, but its the drink of choice!

Anyways mysoju.com has not just korean, but chinese, japanese, tawainese, and hong kong dramas too, plus movies! problem is that sometime you'll come across links that are broken but you can report them and they try to "repair" them.

Most of the Korean tv stations also host their videos online for free so fans can watch.
I love having videos online! so many to choose from, so little time.... hehe

Here's an example of a youtube video embedded into my post. I decided to go with Hello Kitty since someone kindly informed me that I had nothing HK on my blog. =)




Podcasts
I don't use podcast that often but I do think they can be used as learning tools. I download podcasts directly to my ipod from itune....its the simpliest way for me to use...plus i like how you can browse and search for different podcasts.

When I started, I sampled different podcasts and thought learning a new language would be fun. I chose a series of podcasts that helped me learn japanese. Each podcast was like a mini-lesson - enough for you to learn something in each session but not too much for information overload.

I honestly haven't downloaded anything new for a while, so maybe I'll go back and find something interesting!

NetLibrary
I was surprised to find that RU libraries has an eContent Collection. 876 titles but they all seem to be e-books no audio books. Anyone else find any audio books on NetLibrary??? I use itunes to download audio books.

Week 8: Online Applications & Tools

Zoho Writer
I really enjoy using Google Docs to colloborate with friends and collegues on projects. It's so convienant because we can each contribute on our on time schedule and see the final work coming together. There are some snags...like the weird formatting that you can't correct sometimes and the limited options, it not like a full word processing software program like Word.

Now this week we are asked to explore Zoho writer. I'm definitely glad that I did. It's like Google Docs but 10 times better. I found it to be more like the real thing, it had so many more options!!!
I like how its neatly organized the function categories with tabs. It even has share options.

So i'm going to try to the publish option and embed my test page onto the blog! wish me luck~ yay it worked!


Picnik
I love this online photo editing tool! it's awesome! you can the usual like crop, rotate, resize, change colors, etc...but the real fun is creating aspect! you can take a pic and change it up by adding special effects. it so much fun! here's an example.

BEFORE and AFTER