I was able to spend more time exploring the sites/tools from the "short list" of Web 2.0 Awards winners. I was surprised at how many of these tools I currently use. I use "Personalized Google" as my home page. I like that I can customize the page and have added some useful and fun items to my iGoogle page. I especially like that I can access my groups and email from this page. I'm also able to get to my blog easily from iGoogle.
At the beginning of this quest, I set up a Del.icio.us page. I keep all of the places I frequent on this page. Using tabs (I love this feature), I'm able to have Del.icio.us on one tab and my blog or School Library Learning 2.0 up on other tabs. I think I like using Del.icio.us more than Google Reader. I know that they serve different functions, but I'm still getting used to all of these tools. I know I could use Del.icio.us to create bookmark lists for the various projects my students are working on, although I think that Google Custom Search might be a better application for that purpose.
I've also played with Library Thing and Shelfari (a cousin invited me to join). The jury is still out on which application I'll end up using. Either one could be used to post new additions to the library on my web page. My sister uses Kayak for all of her travel arrangements, but after playing on Farecast, I might get her to change. Zillow has been around for a while. I've looked up the value of our house along with home values in areas where I might want to live. It's fun, but not reliable. I love One Sentence - the language arts teachers do an activity similar to this. It would be fun for their students to have their stories posted on this site. Another site I enjoyed was Coverpop. I love the screen with all of the kids books - but there is no way to include it in my blog or post it on my library web page. It would be great to include a short annotation of the book - maybe even the AR or Reading Counts info when clicking on the cover.
All in all, this activity was fun. It felt good to know I wasn't as behind the times as I thought. Thank goodness for NPR - many of these tools/sites have been mentioned on various NPR radio shows. It's a good thing that I have a commute to work.
I did join a NING, but not sure how much I'll participate or follow the group. I feel pretty connected being a member of CSLA and following the discussions on CALIB keeps me busy.
Play -- of course I had to check out the game sites - played a Mah Jongg game and then checked my Travel IQ. I am definetely geographically challenged :)
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3 comments:
Aren't weekends great for playing! I too joined a Ning, but have since given it up for things like reading books and sleeping. Only so many hours in the day...
Hi Redcouchreader, when I went through the 23 things last summer, I did not quite "get" del.icio.us and now I think it is indispensible.
I would like to share an interesting story about joining TeacherLibrarianNing. I joined the middle school group and participated in several discussions. Then I began a discussion of my own about e-books. I stated that my library is very small and I was considering purchasing many nonficiton as e-books to save shelf space for fiction. No one responded to me for several weeks. Then I received an email from a Wallstreet Journal technology reporter who was interested in my e-book project! We exchanged several emails and then several phone calls. It was fun discussing my decision making process with him. I was flattered that my ideas intrigued a technology reporter. There really is power in putting our ideas out there on the Internet where others can read and respond to them.
I had fun on this assignment as well, and I too am geographically challenged but keep going back to that one! I loved checking out your site. Thanks for your comments on my rollyo search engine - it was the first comment on my blog - it felt good to have someone check out what I've been doing! Keep up the great work!
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