Thing #17

In some ways I agree with the articles and in some ways I don't. I don't know about the population in general but I know that I personally still like to read traditional books and don't have any problems focusing doing so. Now this is reading for pleasure. When it comes to doing research, I totally agree with the articles. I don't want to read big books or long articles to find the information I need. I know I can search for something and find what I need quickly. There's no need to look forever to try to find stuff anymore. I know this is the "traditional" way to research but it has become outdated for the most part. Our brains can skim over articles until it comes to something that we need. There's no reason to read the whole thing. I know I'm guilty of doing just that. I'm told to read something and if I'm not especially interested in the topic, I will just skim it and get the general idea. I think the way people read is changing and we have to change the way we teach to match.

Thing #16

First, I made a start page at igoogle. It only took a couple of seconds to create and then I could rearrange and make changes as I wanted. It was pretty neat but I'm not sure if I'd use it as a regular homepage. I currently use yahoo as a homepage and I prefer that over google.

Second I made a yahoo calendar. It was easy to make and didn't take too long. I like that I can access this calendar from anywhere I have internet access. This is a big plus but I still like using a regular calendar to write things in on as well.

Next I made a to do list on Remember the Milk. I like that there is an app for my iphone that I could use if I wanted. That way I can add something anytime anywhere from my phone. I like this feature and will most likely add it to my phone.

Finally I checked out Zamzar. I could definitely use this site in my classes. It allows you to convert file types. I can't tell you how many times a student wanted to use something but it wasn't the correct file type so they couldn't. This would give an easy way to fix this problem. Love it!

Thing #15

I looked at Gliffy first for a flowchart. It's kind of nice to have a template to start off with if you want. It gives you something to work with and you can add to and modify it to work for your needs.

I looked at bubbl.us for a mind map. I feel like this was easy to use and gave you lots of options. Starting with nothing could be a little daunting though. I feel like students would do better with something is they have a template to start with. Sometimes this helps them see what they need to be doing.

Neither of these would be extremely helpful in my classroom but I could see them being useful in an english class or something like that. We do write a paper in my class so maybe we could use one then.

Thing #14

The first thing I looked at was Google Alerts. I like that you can choose how ofter you want to get emailed and how much info you want to receive. I see this being very helpful in a history classroom maybe. You could use this to get up to the minute current events to discuss in class. I could also use it in my classroom to get technology updates. We could use it as a bell ringer at the beginning of class.

The second thing I looked at was Picasa. This website is very similar to Flickr. I created an album in Picasa of Landry's newborn pictures. I could see using this in my class. My students could save their pictures for their assignments into albums there and have better access to them. Here's a link to my album:

Landry

Thing #13

The concept of tags is a cool thing. You can add anything you feel may describe that topic and this allows you and other people to be able to find it again. I'm not sure if this would really be the best research tool though. The things that come up when you search for a specific tag may not really be related to what you want. I think it would be more beneficial for personal use or finding general information. You can bookmark things more easily using Del.icio.us which is pretty neat. Social bookmarking sites could be used in a classroom to find general information about a topic.

Thing #12

Rollyo is a pretty neat website. I like that you create the list of websites and you can only search those sites for the information you want. This helps narrow down all the results you would normally get using a traditional search engine. Often times when using a traditional search engine, you get some results that are really not related to what you are wanting to find. Students could use this site to help them research certain topics. The sites they add will be ones they know are reliable and helpful. This would save them time since they don't have to check numerous sites that may or may not be what they are looking for. I created a searchroll for Photoshop topics. Here's a searchbox:

Select Search Engine...PhotoshopSearch The Web

Powered by Rollyo

Thing #11

I posted on the following blogs:
Bobo's Blog- I like the graphic she found for Thing 10 and wanted some more info about it.
Mr. T's World- I comment about his Thing 6 and the problems with some of the mashup sites.
Margaret's Thoughts on Things- I agreed about Thing 7 and the students just assuming info on a website is accurate.
RHHSTechPlayChandler- I liked his Thing 8 comment about using the reader to monitor when students post to a blog.
Jane's Techie Efforts- I posted on her Thing 4 and encouraged her to keep trying and offered help.
http://rocksinmydryer.typepad.com/- This is a blog I have been following for a while just for enjoyment. She hasn't posted much lately but her older posts are priceless.
www.bpa.org- I added a comment about my opinion on a competition for next year.

Commenting on blogs is important because it builds community. Your comments could help someone else out with something or just encourage someone. This builds the amount of information there is out there about the topic you are commenting on.

I like the point about adding a hyperlink from your comment to your blog. This is a great way to get more followers if this is something you are interested in. I also like the point about not being too negative or hard on someone when they post something personal. You shouldn't be judgemental. You chose to read their blog and if you don't like it, don't read it.