eBranch Blog

October 01, 2007

Press Release: HCPL Launches Free Technology Training Program

iHCPL offers nine weeks of self-paced web instruction plus fun.

Beginning today, Harris County Public Library debuts iHCPL: A Learning Experience for Our Customers through the world of web based tools.

Technology has changed the world and not everyone is experienced with the types of free tools that are available online or the ways they can be used in our jobs and personal lives. The iHCPL program was created to increase understanding of and comfort with these tools. This program was adapted from the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County?s Learning 2.0 program and has been enthusiastically received by the staff of Harris County Public Library, who started the program three weeks ago and are ready to share it with the public.

So, if you?ve ever wondered what it?s like to have your own blog, to post pictures on Flickr, to catalog your personal library on LibraryThing or to create your own online alter ego, then the iHCPL learning program is made for you! By the end of this nine week program, you will have done all of these things and much more.

Each week of the program is centered around a theme, such as blogging or sharing photos, and 2-3 discovery exercises are posted each week to explore these themes. Anyone following through the program is encouraged to share their discoveries through their own blog, which is set up as part of the program.

Week 1: Introduction to Lifelong Learning
Week 2: Blogging
Week 3: Photos & Images
Week 4: RSS & Newsreaders
Week 5: Play%
Week 6: Tagging, Folksonomies & Technorati
Week 7: Wikis
Week 8: Online Applications & Tools
Week 9: Podcasts, Videos & Downloadable Media

http://ihcpl2.blogspot.com

Join the fun and let the blogging begin!