Instructional Tech is the name of the Rollyo Searchbox I created. I am trying to put a link to it here.
This could come in handy if I wanted students to search for terms like "breast cancer" and I wanted to make sure they didn't accidentally access inappropriate websites. Although the filter does a great job :( at the school level, topics like this can produce unexpected results. By filtering the websites they can visit, this problem could be avoided.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Thing 14 - Online productivity tools
1. I've had a customized iGoogle page for a while, but, honestly, I find it more distracting than a time saver. I have webpage design skills, so when I have needed multiple links on a start-up page, I have created it myself and set it as the home page in my browser. Although I appreciate the variety and the visuals iGoogle has to offer, I end up spending MORE time looking at all the goodies and this cuts into my productivity. I like the idea of a basic list of links and this is what I have done in the past... now I seldom bookmark or need links as much as I used to, but for the media center I am constantly updating the web page and the links to students who visit have the most current links to use.
2. We have been using the Google calendar at work for a while, but not consistently. Usually shared to plan a specific event or long-term project, once the event is over the calendar stops being used. We are trying to get the teachers to use a shared calendar to book the computer labs, but this is a slow process for some of our veteran teachers. I do believe it is a powerful tool for planning and booking computer labs, media center and other common areas online is ten thousand times more efficient in a large campus like hours - the alternative is for the teachers to email or walk in to see "if the place is available tonight". As with everything else, training becomes a necessity. Scrybe looks like an awesome entry into the calendaring field; some of these features I understand are also going to be tested by Google...
3. I downloaded Remember the milk into my iPhone a while back ago. But... really... I am not a "list" person mostly because my memory seems to be functioning well.. still.. The iPhone has other options for lists, so I keep going to the notepad because it is as easy to use. I take notes in my phone, make lists, write lists of passwords I may need to use one day... I guess I better not lose my phone!
Zamzar is the application I need in my life. I wish it had an easier name to remember, because I am almost sure I have used it in the past, yet when I really need it I can't think of the name. Maybe it IS one of those things that needs to go on my webpage... Ok, done!
The amount of online tools available is akin to the shareware boom of the 80s, where every programmer felt their program was THE one to have, the next Lotus Notes or Office suite that was going to make them rich. Of course, nobody has the time to explore all these and as organizations like Google, with plenty of resources available, buy out the most promising apps, we'll all benefit and hopefully Cyberspace will become less cluttered.
2. We have been using the Google calendar at work for a while, but not consistently. Usually shared to plan a specific event or long-term project, once the event is over the calendar stops being used. We are trying to get the teachers to use a shared calendar to book the computer labs, but this is a slow process for some of our veteran teachers. I do believe it is a powerful tool for planning and booking computer labs, media center and other common areas online is ten thousand times more efficient in a large campus like hours - the alternative is for the teachers to email or walk in to see "if the place is available tonight". As with everything else, training becomes a necessity. Scrybe looks like an awesome entry into the calendaring field; some of these features I understand are also going to be tested by Google...
3. I downloaded Remember the milk into my iPhone a while back ago. But... really... I am not a "list" person mostly because my memory seems to be functioning well.. still.. The iPhone has other options for lists, so I keep going to the notepad because it is as easy to use. I take notes in my phone, make lists, write lists of passwords I may need to use one day... I guess I better not lose my phone!
Zamzar is the application I need in my life. I wish it had an easier name to remember, because I am almost sure I have used it in the past, yet when I really need it I can't think of the name. Maybe it IS one of those things that needs to go on my webpage... Ok, done!
The amount of online tools available is akin to the shareware boom of the 80s, where every programmer felt their program was THE one to have, the next Lotus Notes or Office suite that was going to make them rich. Of course, nobody has the time to explore all these and as organizations like Google, with plenty of resources available, buy out the most promising apps, we'll all benefit and hopefully Cyberspace will become less cluttered.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Thing 13 - The Library Thing
Well, this was nice. I found a little something for my son in the library thing local activities I didn't know was going on. Maybe he'll decide to attend.
As for the other part, sorry. I can see how this could be helpful for small libraries and for others who have book clubs or reading classes. Perhaps I could start a book club online with my students and create a collection for them to share reviews and all. But as far as me putting my collection up there to share... I don't know. Why this emphasis on sharing everything? Nothing seems to be private these days! Besides, I couldn't justify the time this would take to accomplish (yeah, yeah, some home weeding is in order, but I first need to weed the school library!)
I enjoyed reading through the Funny Requests from patrons, though :-)
Right now we are sharing books with students via the morning announcements. I am not sure this is effective, but they DO hear when we have new books and they DO get checked out. I have the feeling that is a student were to start a sharing group it'd be more successful than a media center sponsored group.
As for the other part, sorry. I can see how this could be helpful for small libraries and for others who have book clubs or reading classes. Perhaps I could start a book club online with my students and create a collection for them to share reviews and all. But as far as me putting my collection up there to share... I don't know. Why this emphasis on sharing everything? Nothing seems to be private these days! Besides, I couldn't justify the time this would take to accomplish (yeah, yeah, some home weeding is in order, but I first need to weed the school library!)
I enjoyed reading through the Funny Requests from patrons, though :-)
Right now we are sharing books with students via the morning announcements. I am not sure this is effective, but they DO hear when we have new books and they DO get checked out. I have the feeling that is a student were to start a sharing group it'd be more successful than a media center sponsored group.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Thing 12 - Wikis
These are not new, of course. Anybody who uses Wikipedia and has a feel for how it works understands the basic principle. It used to be everybody had a personal web page and wikis and blogs were not around. Yes, the advantage is that the software behind the web page is invisible to the end user, no html coding is necessary and it's fast and easy. Maybe TOO fast and easy because everybody feels they can edit, modify, vandalize and practically make these wikis unusable.
High school students can be particularly obnoxious when they think contributions are anonymous. Of course, in some cases it is possible to track down the offenders, but policing a wiki is really not one of my favorite activities.
Among adults this is a great collaborative tool and, even though some novices can cause havoc, wikis are usually manageable and great opportunities for collaboration. Book clubs could meet online, schools in a district could publish and modify selection policies, regulations, procedures, etc. Collective journals as byproducts of professional development are also possible.
I find that most wikis are abandoned after a fashion. They seem to be more suitablemfor short term collaborative projects.
High school students can be particularly obnoxious when they think contributions are anonymous. Of course, in some cases it is possible to track down the offenders, but policing a wiki is really not one of my favorite activities.
Among adults this is a great collaborative tool and, even though some novices can cause havoc, wikis are usually manageable and great opportunities for collaboration. Book clubs could meet online, schools in a district could publish and modify selection policies, regulations, procedures, etc. Collective journals as byproducts of professional development are also possible.
I find that most wikis are abandoned after a fashion. They seem to be more suitablemfor short term collaborative projects.
Thing 11 - Social Media
I had fun with the "Liar, liar, pants on fire" story about a boy's iTouch catching fire in his pocket. I am sure this has to do with the battery manufacturer and not with Apple, so I suppose they aren't going to be able to get money out of APple for this lawsuit.
I use Stumble Upon because when I have the time to surf the web I like to be amused... the Stumble button sits in my browser and, when bored, all I have to do is click... and some picture, video, story or amusing story it brought to me instantaneously. If I don't like it, I click again.. but I can (and do) customize my preferences so now I only get stuff I like. I'd a great boredom buster, but, let's face it... who has time for this?
I like to go directly to CNN or NYT or pull news in my cellphone when I want to hear news. I don't particularly want to read weird stories from all around the world, so I find Mixx a bit awkward to use. What other people like to read is not necessarily what I want to see in my front page. I prefer to start with international news and move to local, sports being at the bottom of my reading pile.
So, no, mostly I wouldn't use these pages and, if anything, I'd like to have links to "mail this to a friend" on regular news sites so I can share with particular people. This social tagging concept is interesting to see who likes what and may be useful to somebody in advertising or journalism, but I can't see any application to my classes in the media center.
I have run across some pictures and flash animations using Stumble Upon that I have enjoyed: the program keeps a list of my favorite sites so I can always revisit them. But, again, this is mostly for personal use and I can't think of uses for other purposes. Perhaps I should read other NEFLIN blogs to get further ideas for using this in instructional situations.
I use Stumble Upon because when I have the time to surf the web I like to be amused... the Stumble button sits in my browser and, when bored, all I have to do is click... and some picture, video, story or amusing story it brought to me instantaneously. If I don't like it, I click again.. but I can (and do) customize my preferences so now I only get stuff I like. I'd a great boredom buster, but, let's face it... who has time for this?
I like to go directly to CNN or NYT or pull news in my cellphone when I want to hear news. I don't particularly want to read weird stories from all around the world, so I find Mixx a bit awkward to use. What other people like to read is not necessarily what I want to see in my front page. I prefer to start with international news and move to local, sports being at the bottom of my reading pile.
So, no, mostly I wouldn't use these pages and, if anything, I'd like to have links to "mail this to a friend" on regular news sites so I can share with particular people. This social tagging concept is interesting to see who likes what and may be useful to somebody in advertising or journalism, but I can't see any application to my classes in the media center.
I have run across some pictures and flash animations using Stumble Upon that I have enjoyed: the program keeps a list of my favorite sites so I can always revisit them. But, again, this is mostly for personal use and I can't think of uses for other purposes. Perhaps I should read other NEFLIN blogs to get further ideas for using this in instructional situations.
Thing 10 - Tagging and delicious
Ok, something happened to my Thing 10 and it is not showing up... so here it goes again.
I have been disconnected from the Internet thanks to ATT's incompetence... now on Cox cable hoping to stay on. I have developed serious empathy with those students who use the media center because they don't have internet access at home. After two weeks of interrupted service, I totally understand.
I have never been tempted to use delicious, even though I have visited the site. My Google search skills are good - and I don't bookmark a lot, anyway - so my mind and Google's seem to work well together so it is easy for me to find stuff by typing the right keywords. Delicious doesn't use Google's mathematical algorithms for tagging, so it was hard to find the stuff I wanted ... too many unrelated URLs.
I can see how this could be useful for a group of students researching a topic... some collaborative project online where all the players need to have access to the same information.
I have been disconnected from the Internet thanks to ATT's incompetence... now on Cox cable hoping to stay on. I have developed serious empathy with those students who use the media center because they don't have internet access at home. After two weeks of interrupted service, I totally understand.
I have never been tempted to use delicious, even though I have visited the site. My Google search skills are good - and I don't bookmark a lot, anyway - so my mind and Google's seem to work well together so it is easy for me to find stuff by typing the right keywords. Delicious doesn't use Google's mathematical algorithms for tagging, so it was hard to find the stuff I wanted ... too many unrelated URLs.
I can see how this could be useful for a group of students researching a topic... some collaborative project online where all the players need to have access to the same information.
Monday, March 2, 2009
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