Thing #18- Explore Social Networking

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=logo

I have opened a Facebook account. I chose Facebook b/c elementary - high school kids mostly used MySpace and I do not want to make myself accessible to them. I wouldn't even want a high school kid to know that I have a MySpace account. There are elementary kids and middle school kids with MySpace accounts. As a parent I think it is important to invade your kids space somewhat just to see what your kids are talking about and who they are communicating with. I do have some younger friends that have Facebook accounts. I've already sent out requests to several former players to be added as a friend on their accounts. It is probably important for educators to understand this tool because it is so widely used to network with your friends and professional co-workers. Looking over MySpace and Facebook has given me insight into the world of technology with a tool that I'm really not that familiar with and quite honestly do not use. However, it is easy to see why the multitudes are using these tools to communicate on a daily basis. I think the technology is incredible, easy to register for, but the only thing that I don't like about it is that I'm in an age group that is not very tech savvy. These tools appeal to younger generations (teenagers, 20's - 40ish ages). I'm 55 years old and I don't have any friends that are members of either of these networks. I did however immediately see many of my former students and athletes that have accounts. They are in their 20's and 30's now. I suppose if I wanted to stay in touch with this group that this would be an invaluable tool. I do think it would be valuable if you had the opportunity to reconnect with old high school or college friends.

From what I could tell it appears that perhaps MySpace has more features but I think that's based on their primary users age group. You can really build a really nice MySpace page with the options that are available. Facebook, although very simple seems to be suited for an older age group, mostly college kids, 20 & 30 something, young professional adults.

Without further investigation I'm really not sure what applications would be available for school and library use.

Thing #17 - Tagging and Social Bookmarking with Del.icio.us

The first thing I did on this assignment was to view the CommonCraft exploration video about Del.icio.us Social Bookmarking. Secondly, I viewed the Del.icio.us tutorial podcast, and then I browsed through Furl and Ma.gnolia.

I have discovered that this is absolutely the best way to save websites. Del.icio.us allows you to bookmark websites then tag them into a particular category. Tagging simply means labeling your information into categories by using key words for online content. Then you have the advantage of social networking which allows you to view tags from other people and they can also see your tagged sites as well. You have the ability to view or discover websites on topics of interest that other poeple have already found, bookmarked and tagged.

This is an incredible research tool becasue it enables you to find information very quickly just by doing a content/topic/subject matter search. Then you will have at yor fingertips tons of information related to your research.

I set up my own Del.icio.us account and I have already tagged some basketball sites that I can share with other coaches. I also bookmarked a site on Flickr Photo Sharing and started a new tag under Photos. I see social bookmarking as a great tool for Libraries. This simple tool will help students find the information that they need for reports and research papers much faster, quicker and more efficiently.

I find this to be an extremely effective and efficient tool for anyone in any profession, not just teachers' and students'.

Thing #16 - Online Productivity Tools

The very first thing I've done is open and bookmark an iGoogle webpage. I have customized it to my own personal needs and desires. I created tabs for News, Humor, Music, Entertainment, and Sports. Also, on my iGoogle page I have icons(tabs) to open YouTube, Movie ratings, Weather reports based on zip code, CNN.com, current Date & Time, and Top Stories of the Day. This is an awesome tool and I wish I had learned of this devise much sooner. I'm highly impressed with how easy it was for me to set up my very own page, very user friendly and such an interesting tool for anyone, not just teachers. I chose iGoogle because we already have a Google account and because of it's simplicity.

I have already created a Google Calendar and it is an excellent tool to help me plan and organize my schedule. It is basically a daily/weekly/monthly planner, which ever one you prefer or need.

For this assignment I created an account with Ta da List. It was so easy to use and I created a task list of things that I need to get done over the next few days. All of these gadgets are very user friendly and extremely useful products to use.

Thing #15 - What in the world is a Wiki?

I've always wanted to know what in the heck is a Wiki? Now I know! Wiki stands for "quick", and I just thought it was short for Wikipedia. I have come to the knowledge or awareness that wiki's are collaborative websites that allow students and/or teachers to author their ideas, concepts, opinions, or educational materials, information, projects and assignments simply by adding, editing, or deleting information on a wiki website. A wiki allows for coordinating information and it is a sharing tool which allows people to build information together. In other words it is a content management system between two or more people.

I also went to the MISD 23 Things Sandbox Wiki and pasted this same blog on to that site under Blogs, Avatars, and Comments.

Thing #14 - Go With The Flow

I have opened accounts with FlowChart.com and bubbl.us. Apparently there is a wait period for your account with FlowChart so I went ahead and built a sample mind map on bubbl.us. My mind map is a chart of "The Food Guide Pyramid" which is content subject matter for my Health class at school. I found bubbl.us very simple to use to construct this mind map. I can see how flowcharts and mind maps can be a wonderful, effective tool in the classroom. It's very simple and user friendly, which is a necessity for me.

HINT: On my SAMPLE MIND MAP you can go to the top of the bubble (The Food Guide Pyramid) click on it and drag it up to center the mind map on my Blog, then you can to go to the + or - symbols to enlarge or reduce the words in the bubbles.

Thing #13 - Online Applications - Zoho Test Writing

I just created accounts with Zoho Writer and Google Docs.  Wow - this is great!!  It is much better that Microsoft Word!  I think this will put Microsoft Office out of business and when people discover how to use this tool they will prefer using Zoho Writer instead.  You still have pretty much the same options as Word but it appears that you  can do so much more with this. 

It appears to be very user friendly and as I navigate through the options I don't seem to be having any trouble knowing how to use the various tools on Zoho.  This is very neat and I like it allot.




Well when I did this Zoho Test writing I was playing with background colors. I chose yellow gold and I used black print on Zoho but when I published it to my Blog you can barely see the words. "Sorry about that Chief" - Maxwell Smart/Get Smart

Also, where it says wink and smile is where I had inserted the little emotion faces and for some reason when I published to my Blog the showed up in print.

Thing #12 - Google, more than a web search engine

The most applicable google tool for me is Google Calendar. As a matter of fact I have already created a July Calendar for my players for Open Gym nights on Mondays and Thursdays, 6pm - 8pm, throughout the month of July. It is really handy how you can create a calendar based on what day it is, weekly or monthly. You can simply highlight one particular day and type in an hourly schedule for that particular day. If you need to, you can set up a weekly calendar Sunday - Saturday and plan out your entire week, on an hourly basis. You also have the opton of using a monthly format and you can type in times and event schedules that will take place on certain days during a selected month. Like I said I have already used th monthly format to set up a July Calendar fo my players.

This is pretty much takes the placed of a hard copy daily planner notebook, much more convenient, organized, and very user friendly. I have found all options very easy to use. Coaches are always putting together itineraries and calendars of events and this will help me stay more organized on a weekly and monthly basis. I also really like the event reminders you can receive by email, popup windows, or even text messages to your cell phone. That is a very unique option!

Next I set up a Google alert account via email msging on a daily basis for any news relating to the Dallas Cowboys. I was 8 years old in 1960 when the Dallas Cowboys were an NFL expansion franchise and came to Dallas. They are 48 years old now and I am a huge Dallas Cowboys fan, so I love following them, even in the off-season. However, they will be going to their pre-seaason camp at the end of July and this Google alert will help keep me posted on any current day-to-day news involving The 'Boys!