Hello everyone. I am Heather Leary and my first introduction to blogging came from David Wiley and Sandie Waters in 2004. Blogging is great and I have found that it is a great way to write down thoughts and gain feedback from others. Currently I am a PhD student at Utah State University in the Department of Instructional Technology. I am a research assistant on the Digital Libraries go to School project. I work on the online course and various other parts of the project. My research interests include problem based learning, digital libraries, and open education. I also work in the Merrill-Cazier Library at Utah State in the Digital Library Program.

Sarah asked us all to post a quick intro of ourselves. I’m Brooke - this isn’t my first blog post ever, I’ve actually been blogging since election day of 2000 - I spent the day not working, and instead setting up a blog and watching election results. I’m currently a PhD student in Instructional Technology here at Utah State, and I am a research assistant with the Digital Libraries goes to School project. Before coming to USU I was a peace and justice activist in Eugene, Oregon. The most important work I did was with LEAD: Leadership, Education, Adventure and Direction, a group by and for at risk teens that gives them the skills to change the world. The teens are my constant inspiration for doing the work I currently do.

I have a variety of things that I’m in charge of on the project- but really I do whatever it is the PI’s ask me to do. My research interests involve digital libraries, localization, open educational resources, reciprocal mentoring and social justice education. I keep a blog about my thoughts of various things related to my research, academia, and instructional technology called OER’s, DL’s, Reuse and Culture: It’s about being a PhD student in a multicultural world. I look forward to seeing this space evolve and contributing to that evolution.

My name is Sarah, and this is my first blog post ever. (Group: Hi, Sarah). This is an experiment for me, for everyone else working on the grant, Digital Libraries to go School, and for all of the teachers that we’re working with. My initial idea for the blog was that teachers who are attending the workshops Using Online Science & Math Resources in Your Classroom could post their reflection papers here and link to IA projects and NSDL resources. I still think that would be a good idea, but I see now, we could do a lot more with this space.

A little bit about me: my background is in library science, but I’ve been working with digital libraries, specifically in evaluation and various metrics since 2002. I do training for this grant mainly in upstate New York, but would entertain other location ideas. You can see pics of previous workshops, and other life events, at my flickr site. I’m an administrator on this blog, but so are Andy and Heather (in Utah), and Brooke and Bart are editors (also in Utah). I’ll pass the torch to them now, and hope I won’t be too embarrassed when I read this in a year.