Just today I uploaded a picture for Twitter . . . small steps here. I am not much of a Twitter user and don't have much of a presence here. As the summer passes I am trying to add more to Twitter, but really am not sure that my contributions to the Web 2.0 world have much impact, primarily because they are haphazzard and aren't all that interesting. Perhaps I should take a marketing class as well?
Despite my lack of use, there's now denying its impact on our society and its staying power. From the election in Iran to the various celebrity deaths this past week, all events have been dutifully logged and shared via billions of tweets. The research from the Pew Research Center, "140 Characters of Protest" sums it up very nicely.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Thing 30: More RSS
Part of my morning routine is to check email and then check my RSS tab page on IGoogle where I keep up-to-date with the blogs of friends, plus follow a handful of professional blogs. I used to throw all my professional reading materials in a pile and once a month take some time to read through the collected materials. Now, I can do that more effeciently each day and then pass along any timely information. Less clutter makes me happy! (Husband, that one's for you!)
The suggested article was a bit overwhelming at first, particularly if you're not interested in how the RSS feed works, but rather just want the information. Their conclusion of "It's easy to get discouraged with RSS" could be applied to almost any new technology. I'll continue to plug away with my Bloglines account and will give their "reader" a try.
The suggested article was a bit overwhelming at first, particularly if you're not interested in how the RSS feed works, but rather just want the information. Their conclusion of "It's easy to get discouraged with RSS" could be applied to almost any new technology. I'll continue to plug away with my Bloglines account and will give their "reader" a try.
Thing 29: Google Tools
Search Tools
The ability to set up search alerts by keyword seems like a publicists dream. No longer do they have to search through newspapers, magazines, websites, etc. for posts about their client, now those articles/blog entries/etc. can be found for them and sent to them in their Google Reader.
Instead of playing further with these tools (though at our house, Husband set up an alert to track everything that was going on with the Iranian election), I chose to play around with the newer search features in Google, namely timeline and wonderwheel. These search features debuted this spring. I played with them then, but haven't looked at them in over a month. I'd like to show our sophomore World History students the timeline feature as it would work well with their Enlightenment project.
Productivity
Husband and I use the Google calendar to keep track of our lives. It's a great way to see who is free and to schedule activities, appointments, etc. without having to interrupt their work day. We each have several calendars (individiual, joint, work, etc.) that are easily combined into one spot. It's been great and I laugh when I think how far we've come from when we used to plan it out on paper--a huge step for husband who never used to keep a calendar at all!
The ability to set up search alerts by keyword seems like a publicists dream. No longer do they have to search through newspapers, magazines, websites, etc. for posts about their client, now those articles/blog entries/etc. can be found for them and sent to them in their Google Reader.
Instead of playing further with these tools (though at our house, Husband set up an alert to track everything that was going on with the Iranian election), I chose to play around with the newer search features in Google, namely timeline and wonderwheel. These search features debuted this spring. I played with them then, but haven't looked at them in over a month. I'd like to show our sophomore World History students the timeline feature as it would work well with their Enlightenment project.
Productivity
Husband and I use the Google calendar to keep track of our lives. It's a great way to see who is free and to schedule activities, appointments, etc. without having to interrupt their work day. We each have several calendars (individiual, joint, work, etc.) that are easily combined into one spot. It's been great and I laugh when I think how far we've come from when we used to plan it out on paper--a huge step for husband who never used to keep a calendar at all!
Thing 28: Customized Home Pages
This past school year I created an IGoogle page which I use for tracking news, my favorite comic, FB updates, etc. Also, I created a second tab for tracking blogs. The IGoogle page has been an effecient way to track blog postings (I prefer it to bloglines). I get frustrated when I try to add a new RSS feed because inevitably time has passed since the last time I did it and something has changed in the process. For example, today I wanted to add the 23 Things page for our group at NetVibes and had trouble finding the RSS feed gadget. The gadet I used last time for this purpose is not where I remember it being and a quick search resulted in new gadets and those that I tried didn't work.
I read Joyce Valenza's article about using IGoogle pages as a way to help students track their research. It's an intriguing idea and I'd like to know more about the type of projects that the students used the readers for . . . was it a current events class? Best though was her third "duh" where she pondered if her student users wouldn't be better served by integrating specifc RSS feeds into exisitng pathfinds. That's a trail I'd like to follow!
I read Joyce Valenza's article about using IGoogle pages as a way to help students track their research. It's an intriguing idea and I'd like to know more about the type of projects that the students used the readers for . . . was it a current events class? Best though was her third "duh" where she pondered if her student users wouldn't be better served by integrating specifc RSS feeds into exisitng pathfinds. That's a trail I'd like to follow!
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Thing 27: Twitter
Husband started tweeting in March and I joined then to follow him. It's been neat to see his posts and to learn who's following him. After a conversation with him this morning, he proclaimed that I am Web 1.0 since I follow things and Web 2.0 is all about collaboration. My Igoogle page is filled with blogs that I follow, plus my daily Non-Sequitur fix. I love this tool as it keeps me in the loop with professional things as well as friends. But like the student I was in the classroom, I tend to listen and reflect internally and on occasion raise my hand to contribute. The challenge to me then would be to start tweeting!
Too funny is a recent Tweet from a public librarian. In responding to a common question posed to librarians, "What do you do?" he tweeted "I help mentally challenged people stalk celebrities on the internet. What's not to like?"
Too funny is a recent Tweet from a public librarian. In responding to a common question posed to librarians, "What do you do?" he tweeted "I help mentally challenged people stalk celebrities on the internet. What's not to like?"
Friday, June 12, 2009
Thing 26: Join the Ning
Have joined the ning. In general, I like nings, though am frustrated that our proxy server at schools blocks them. I have read about several nings for content area teachers where lesson plans and other ideas are shared. As I have passed along those links inevitably I hear back from teachers about their frustrations about not being able to access them at school.
This summer, I see myself visiting and contributing to the Camp Read-A-Lot ning as I prepare to attend this conference in August.
This summer, I see myself visiting and contributing to the Camp Read-A-Lot ning as I prepare to attend this conference in August.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Thing 25: Blogger's Toolkit
Turtles. The turtles are a gadget from Google and I added them to the blogger site using the online help at the designingers site, but the gadget isn't working as well as I would like. The turtles are moving quite slowly, more tortise like than turtle like. The problem may be the size of the gadget window. I've been unsuccessful in tweaking the HTML code to resize the window.
Professionally, I apprecriate the creation of so many different gadgets and widgets. This year I added to our school library website a widget which allows users to search all of our ebooks at once. Also, we added a Shelfari page to help display our latest aquisitions. The Shelfari widget reminds me of something I saw last summer on 23 Things . . . St. John's used Flickr to display their new acquistions, each book was linked to a review. Shelfari lets us do the same thing and seems like a little less work.
Professionally, I apprecriate the creation of so many different gadgets and widgets. This year I added to our school library website a widget which allows users to search all of our ebooks at once. Also, we added a Shelfari page to help display our latest aquisitions. The Shelfari widget reminds me of something I saw last summer on 23 Things . . . St. John's used Flickr to display their new acquistions, each book was linked to a review. Shelfari lets us do the same thing and seems like a little less work.
Thing 24: Refresh Your Blog
Green is the color of spring and summer. This year, seems like those two seasons are a bit intertwined. In honor of a return to 23 Things and to refresh my blog, the new layout color is green. Also notice the charming, or what I like to think of as charming, turtles on the left. Aren't they dear? This summer dear reader, I hope to update you on my reading. On the right side I've added a list of books currently read and will add to it as the summer passes. Perhaps you'll joining me in a reading a title or two!
Regarding the prompt for this entry, I've set up a blog reader page within my IGoogle site for following a number of professional and personal blogs. Now longer do I look at each blog each day, navigating from the favorites menu of the web browser. Now, I log into my IGoogle site and everything is there--super handy!
Regarding the prompt for this entry, I've set up a blog reader page within my IGoogle site for following a number of professional and personal blogs. Now longer do I look at each blog each day, navigating from the favorites menu of the web browser. Now, I log into my IGoogle site and everything is there--super handy!
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