Google Site versus Plaxo & LinkIn

Of the various sites utilized for portfolios, I preferred the Google Site. While the instructions were not too difficult, I was not able to reorder the pages and had to use many as sub pages to get things into the order I wanted. The site appears more professional. It was easy to edit and had multiple layouts as well as a variety of colors and themes to make the site more attractive.

LinkIn/Plaxo compared to Facebook/MySpace

Thinking about the types of social media sites we've utilized, I find LinkIn and Plaxo to appear more professional than Facebook/MySpace.  Examples on the sites are more formal, not as casual as Facebook.  Topics seemed more directed, not the casual conversation seen on Facebook.  It is understandable that professionals might use these sites, however, I really don't understand if you are suppose to direct a potential employer to your site, or if employers looking to hire, find people through the site.  If the latter is the case, which I am led to believe, then I really don't understand how they do the search.  I was surprised at the number of people I know who were members of these sites, but I wonder how much they utilize the site or keep it updated.  Just some thoughts . . .

LinkedIn and Plaxo

Looking over both LinkedIn and Plaxo, I personally preferred LinkedIn.  

On Plaxo, it provides the entire address book for contacts and you have to eliminate those you do not want versus LinkedIn where you select from your address book.

LinkedIn has a number of other applications you can utilize for work related activities and job hunting.  It also includes a poll, slideshare, travel link, google presentation, and others that are linked to your profile so they become more easily accessible.

Neither site gave clear instructions for first time users.  It was a lot of trial and error to complete tasks, especially when you are not familiar with these types of sites.

Revisit Web 2.0 Site

Revisiting the Web 2.0 site, I checked out some other things, however, I still like YouTube the best.  I like the fact that sites are identified as being in the top three with an honorable mention. Saves time looking through pages and pages of things if you search yourself.  I found it interesting to find drink mix recipes, philanthropic organizations, and educational sites all located in one easy to find spot.

Utilizing Photo Sharing Sites

After setting up and utilizing a photo sharing account, I have been thinking about how I would utilize this in my teaching.  I would first experiment with my dance class and as part of what I send home for signature, I would include a consent form to photograph.  With that in hand, the pictures that I take throughout the year could then be stored on the photo share and used for a slideshow for my final Family Showcase in the Spring.  This would allow students and parents to see the year's work.  I might also make it available so students could download pictures of themselves.

After working with it, I would then move to my PE classes and do the final presentation for each of the classes to enjoy seeing and reflecting on the year's work.

Web 2.0 Expands Horizons

Learning about the concept of Web 2.0 has expanded my horizons and made me realize the magnitude of possibilities and the ease with which collaboration can be done, items can be shared, resources can be obtained from a multitude of places, and multiple forms of media can be utilized - audio, video, document, etc.  While I will have to spend more time practicing to more easily be able to utilize all that Web 2.0 has to offer, I will definitely be going beyond what I have done in the past.  I am anxious to utilize some of these skills in my teaching.

Image Generator

 Practicing using the image generator.  Found this on 

    http://generatorblog.blogspot.com/

LibraryThing

I found LibraryThing very interesting, though I doubt I would utilize this site. Of interest to me, however, was that I found that there is a newer edition of a book I use a lot.  Knowing that, I will make a point of purchasing a new one.  Mine is so tattered from years of use. 

Locating a particular edition sometimes took a little time looking through the lists.  Interesting that if you didn't find it in one list, you could check another library listing.  I wish they had this for the CDs I use for class.  I'm always looking for new music, but hard to remember all the CDs I do have.  

I think this would be interesting for language arts classes.  The reading list could be posted and members could not only follow threads of discussion about a book among their classmates, but also from a world of readers.  I'm sure other media could be used for this as well, but looking at the various threads of discussion, it seemed like a different slant.

In our district, reading is a a big part of the district action plan and utilizing this site, students could post books they've read and watch the list grow.  Having an opportunity to interact with others and see how many other books by the same author, etc., could possibly excite them to do more reading.

Online Image Generators

Playing with the online image generators is fun and addicting. I always wondered how these were created when I see them on various sites. Now, I know. This can definitely enhance materials whether online or hard copy.
Catching the attention of students is half the problem sometimes. Utilizing this, you can be creative in your presentation of online work for students.
Among professionals, again, utilizing tools like this can capture their attention.
It did take a little time figuring out how to post. The direct post did not work. I had to drag the image to the desktop. Then , it became figuring out how to get the image to the post. Nonetheless, this is something I will utilize. It's fun knowing how to utilize all these amazing things.

MAT Analysis & Podcasts

Utilizing the MAT analysis tool was interesting. Not sure when I would be able to use it in the setting I'm in, but should the need arise, it's nice to know that there are tools available to do the job. Jill, Jasmine, and I worked together as the programs would not download on my computer. Only part would download on Jill's, and Jasmine's was the only one that had all the information we needed. But we all experimented with it and noted that none of us came up with the same figures on anything.

On another note, I've been trying to download music to my ipod. Apparently, the computer it was on (PC) doesn't support the nano ipod I have so I could not transfer. Trying to upgrade that program so I can transfer. If that doesn't work, I will have to copy the music to CD's and put it on my computer. I don't want to go that route as I really have a lot of music I've collected for class use.

On a positive note, the podcasts I selected are already in my itunes ready to download. At least I can listen to that during my flight if I don't figure out how to deal with the music issue.

itunes and ipods

Been downloading music onto my ipod and looking for some podcasts. If I have more time when the music finishes, then I want to find an audio book, as well. Anxious to listen to the podcasts and check them out.

Podcast Directories

Interesting what appears. I immediately found something that I felt would be great for for a colleague that teaches health. I would like to explore this further and see what else I can find for use in class.

I want to try downloading some podcasts of specific interest to me so I can listen to them while flying. When I head to the States in a couple weeks, the flight will be over 12 hours and I can enjoy more than listening to music and watching the in-flight movies.

The other use I see immediately is to catch up on information listening to podcasts while driving to and from school.

Great tool!

YouTube

I love this! It took a little time while Jill and I located the embed and figured things out, but once we did that, wow, right there. That is neat and I would love to use this when I have internet access, hopefully when the new school is built. My question is . . . when you pull a YouTube video to your blog, will it play places that restrict YouTube? Can you put it on a thrumbdrive and play it that way? The site is restricted at school and there are so many things I would like to show my dance students.

BYU Summer Ballroom

Libraries of the Future

I can totally see research in libraries utilizing Web 2.0. The ability to collect and share information from multiple sources, as well as, from mutiple media sources, will expand research possibilities and cut down on the amount of time to gather that information. As with all the social networking technologies, I'm sure there will be monitoring of information placed onblogs. Library rules will definitely change.

But, I think libraries in the form most of us know them will still be around. It's hard to curl up on the sofa in front of the fireplace with a good "computer."

Technorati

Technorati is a great search tool. It would be fantastic for research projects, for self or classes, because you can access a huge number of sites for information and then refine that search by utilizing blogs, and even further with the use of tags.

I think I would find this particularly useful locating and updating information for my classes. But I see this as an excellent tool for students to learn how to narrow down information when researching topics.

del.icio.us

Del.icio.us was interesting. Currently, I have very few sites that I utilize as computer access is very limited at school, especially in PE. However, this site really makes it easy to access sites you use often. Multiple tags make it possible to access the site in varying ways and also allows to see the popularity of a site. Through blogs, you can find out what people like or dislike about it and whether or not it is recommended.

I think this would be especially useful for research by oneself or students. It makes it possible to post sites that you want to explore and do further research. The tags make it easy to gather all the sites together to explore rather than hunting through site after site.

Sharing of the sites could be done for a group or class that is working on various aspects of a single topic.

Never Ending . . .

Spent quite awhile today working on my podcast. My never ending saga . . . At the point of meltdown, I moved to checking out some of the other things we have been doing. In the process, voila', I found the presentation I had tried for practice. It never occurred to me I would find it in my own mailbox. I guess I'm so use to emailing that I expected a place for an address box to appear when I sent it.

The other thing I realized today is that all of these social networks are addictive. This is not something that particularly appeals to me, but I find myself being drawn to the sites to see if anything has been added.