I spent some time working with the tagging site. I had used Backflip! in the past so I was familiar with the concept of keeping bookmarks on a remote site. Across the years, I have gotten better about organizing my bookmarks to begin with so I quit using Backflip! The addition of tagging would make the remote bookmarks more useful. If I were to use it, I would have to give some thought as to what tags would be the most useful - work, personal, science, technology, troubleshoot, etc.
Having said all that, I probably won't use the site because of the buttons being added to the Toolbar. Anything being added to the IE Toolbar just makes it launch slower. It also makes me wonder what the button is doing that I don't know about.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Friday, June 27, 2008
Pursuit 12
The Google Blog search was easy to use. And the search return was in their nice, familiar format. I tried searching for Butterfly Gardens and didn't find too much. But then I tried searching for Needlepoint Projects and came up with a bunch of good information. One site had a helpful Color Picker widget that I tried to get onto my blog, but I couldn't get it to work. Will try again later.
I enjoy reading comments from my fellow bloggers. Nice to know someone is looking at my work! I saved some of the html's on the How to Comment links to use with my faculty this fall. I think the Darth Commentator analogy was pretty good. When I read through postings on local news sites, there are always a few lurking DCs.
I enjoy reading comments from my fellow bloggers. Nice to know someone is looking at my work! I saved some of the html's on the How to Comment links to use with my faculty this fall. I think the Darth Commentator analogy was pretty good. When I read through postings on local news sites, there are always a few lurking DCs.
Pursuit 11
Library Thing - I enjoyed looking at this site. The page design was much better than all those blogs in the last Thing.
I signed up as a user and hope to benefit from this site. I am always looking for good books to read - not just the books that Barnes and Nobles choosed to display. I read the description for The Guernsey Literacy and Potato Peel Pie Society and will have to track a copy of that down. Since I was sick for 4 days in May, I actually had 4 books that I read recently to enter. I cruised through a couple of comments that others made about those books, too.
I spent the day sorting books here at home in anticipation of moving in three weeks. So many books that I'd forgotten we owned! Maybe a site like this would help me get better organized!
I signed up as a user and hope to benefit from this site. I am always looking for good books to read - not just the books that Barnes and Nobles choosed to display. I read the description for The Guernsey Literacy and Potato Peel Pie Society and will have to track a copy of that down. Since I was sick for 4 days in May, I actually had 4 books that I read recently to enter. I cruised through a couple of comments that others made about those books, too.
I spent the day sorting books here at home in anticipation of moving in three weeks. So many books that I'd forgotten we owned! Maybe a site like this would help me get better organized!
Pursuit 10 - more
These image generators are tons of fun! I am just wondering how I would get a class to actually complete a project. It seems that they would spend HOURS choosing which to use! I limited myself to 30 minutes on Thing 10 so that I can keep moving through the course.
Also, I am still confused as to how the students would access these sites and use them. If I am having a hard time keeping up with MY user name and account, I can only imagine attempting this with students. Has anyone tried this with a whole class or grade level? Do you print them all out or post them to your own blog? (Implying that you would enter your blog user name and password for each posting???)
Pursuit 9
I have spent quite some time looking for a blog that I REALLY like and, to be honest, haven't found one yet. Most of them are so crowded with ads and other distractions that it's all I can do to concentrate on the content. Yikes!
The "cleanest" site I found was Technorati. The green color must be calming for me. Also, there is a lot of white space on the layout.
My thought is that many blogs haven't really defined their audience. The blogs that I have followed have a specific communication goal. For example, my nephew was studying abroad in Japan last semester. He was able to post on his blog and keep in touch with all of his family - which is a challenge with his 7 brothers and sisters and numerous aunts and uncles. Our niece's softball team won state last year and their blog had every detail you would ever want to know about their games.
It also seems that many of the indivudual blogs start out with a specific idea or goal and somehow totally divert from that goal. They seem to get full of themselves and start posting absurd content that no one else really cares about.
The news blogs may be more useful to other people. I am more of a "general" news browser. M
The "cleanest" site I found was Technorati. The green color must be calming for me. Also, there is a lot of white space on the layout.
My thought is that many blogs haven't really defined their audience. The blogs that I have followed have a specific communication goal. For example, my nephew was studying abroad in Japan last semester. He was able to post on his blog and keep in touch with all of his family - which is a challenge with his 7 brothers and sisters and numerous aunts and uncles. Our niece's softball team won state last year and their blog had every detail you would ever want to know about their games.
It also seems that many of the indivudual blogs start out with a specific idea or goal and somehow totally divert from that goal. They seem to get full of themselves and start posting absurd content that no one else really cares about.
The news blogs may be more useful to other people. I am more of a "general" news browser. M
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Pursuit 8
The RSS feeds can be fun to read, but I think I have to develop my scanning skills or else I will spend all day reading on the computer. I have set up a Google Reader account. I hope to use it to keep track of other postings of my fellow teachers at MDE. I've add Tech101 but am looking for the names of our other users.
Friday, June 13, 2008
Pursuit 7
I set up a Google calendar. One features I really like is that you can have more than one calendar. I always have trouble deciding what to list on my Microsoft calendar at work. I hate to list personal events, but if I don't list them, sometimes I loose track of them across the day. It would be nice to be able to separate them, but see them on the same log in.
I have used Picasa before. I also read an extensive evaluation on Notebook, but the author made it sound so complicated that I never tried it. They might have simplified it since its original release, but it still looks a little tricky for elementary students.
My son mentioned that he has used Google scholar for some of his research. But, he is working on his PhD, so I am not so sure about younger users and what kind of links you get.
This same son works for Google during the summer as a programmer. We have had numerous conversations about all the cool things Google develops, but then never really advertises. It seems like you have to have a love for Google in the first place to keep checking what's new on their site. There is also a book out called Googlepedia that was just written this past year that describes all these applications in great detail.
I have used Picasa before. I also read an extensive evaluation on Notebook, but the author made it sound so complicated that I never tried it. They might have simplified it since its original release, but it still looks a little tricky for elementary students.
My son mentioned that he has used Google scholar for some of his research. But, he is working on his PhD, so I am not so sure about younger users and what kind of links you get.
This same son works for Google during the summer as a programmer. We have had numerous conversations about all the cool things Google develops, but then never really advertises. It seems like you have to have a love for Google in the first place to keep checking what's new on their site. There is also a book out called Googlepedia that was just written this past year that describes all these applications in great detail.
Pursuit 6
I'm watching the Astros play the Yankees while working on my 23 Things, so I have to include a card for Lance Berkman tonight!
Mashups was a new term for me.
The playing cards and mosaics are fun. I am having a hard time keeping up with what user name and password is used for which site.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Pursuit 5
Flickr - We had a chance to practice this with Vaughn last week, so this was an easy part today!
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Monday, June 2, 2008
Pursuits 3 and 4
I have an Avatar posted. I will be curious to see how often I feel that I need to change her look! The best thing about this activity was that I did something my 22 year old daughter didn't know how to do!
Pursuit 2
My favorite Habits are :
Habit 5: Create your own learning toolbox
Habit 6: Use technology to your advantage
I enjoy getting set up for a detailed project. And, I really appreciate finding ways to use technology in my life to communicate better with others.
Habit 5: Create your own learning toolbox
Habit 6: Use technology to your advantage
I enjoy getting set up for a detailed project. And, I really appreciate finding ways to use technology in my life to communicate better with others.
First Pursuit
This blog is my first pursuit in learning new ways to use technology. There are so many options in educational technology and I need to have a way to keep up with the pace!
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