Thing # 12

I really am amazed at how much more google is then just a search engine. The google tool that I like the most was the igoogle, where you create your own home page. The link to my page is http://www.google.com/ig. I think this is neat because it is a great and very easy way of having a homepage that just has the information that you are interested in reading about. This could be used on a computer in a classroom, by having the students select information that they are interested, that pertains to class lessons or current projects and having that appear as their homepage.

I liked the google calander feature, this is something that could be used in the classroom, both for students and for teachers. Having a google calander would allow the teacher to put all of the assigments for the month on the calander and then it could be posted in the room for students to check. It is also a tool that a teacher could use, that could be accessed anywhere, instead of just from a home or work computer.

Google Alerts is a good feature if you are wanting to stay up-to-date on an issue. If I had to chose I would use Google Reader over Google alert, by just having an RSS feed for the website that will provide information on that topic .

Thing # 11

For this post I looked at different sites and tools for RSS feeds, to add to my Google reader. I found easy ways to find posts and also discovered new fun feeds that I wasn't looking to find. I also found unusual feeds, such as a feed for magic and one for boardgames.

The easiest way I found to add feeds onto my Google reader was to go one of my favorite websites and use the RSS feed icon to copy into my Google reader. I did discover a easy search tool for RSS feeds on Google Reader. I found that you can add "pre-packaged bundles" on one of 449 topics that interests you and then once you have that bundle you can unsubscribe to individual feeds if there are a few from the bundle that you do not want. You can also share a bundle with a friend. I added an education and a fitness feed bundle.

I found both Topic.net and Technorati sites to be to confusing to use. I was not sure what was suppose to be about feeds and what was just information on the site.

Thing # 10

Learning about RSS feeds was really interesting. I started with http://www.bloglines.com/ but I had trouble with the site and could not add feeds. So I switched to http://www.google.com/reader/%20 and had no problems and found that it was really easy to add sites. I think there are pros and cons to using an RSS Reader. I like how new information for my chosen websites is all in one place, it is easier to go to one website, especially when there is so much information on the web. On the contrary, for sites such as cnn.com or foxnews.com, there is so much new information that it is an overwhelming amount to have listed on the RSS Reader.

I think the RSS Reader is a feature that is best used to keep track of sites that are interesting, but do not have constant new information. A site that if you went to daily you might go and find nothing new, but the next day might have several new articles. As for the news sites, if you were just interested in looking for articles on a particular topic, then having an RSS feed for that site would be helpful because you could just scroll through and look for information on that topic. However, if on the news site you are interested in looking through all of the articles, there are so many to go through on the RSS Reader, when you could just go to their site where all of the stories are laid out in an easy to follow format.

This could be used in my personal life to keep track of all of the sites I enjoy that I do not go to all of the time, to keep from missing great new things. For the classroom I think this could be a great tool because a teacher could help students to collect websites that were appropriate for them to read, and they could log on to which ever RSS Reader site they use and read through information that is appropriate for them. This can also be used in schools for teachers to keep track of blogs that students have set-up, to see when they post new items.

Thing # 9

I created my first sign,the heart mosaic, on http://www.imagechef.com/. It was easy to do, I just had to choose the background and text color, font, and the text I wanted to use. It was fun to do, and I think it would have a use in classrooms for decorating for the holidays.

My second creation was done on http://www.fototrix.com/border/. The picture is of the first time my niece met my cat. It was simple to do, I just had to go to the page, download a photo and choose a frame. I can see a lot of use for this in my personal life, so many fun ways to decorate your pictures and it is so easy to share them once you are finished.

Of the two sites the first one was my favorite. It was easy to use, and there are so many different options of things that you can choose from. I also found the site as a whole more user friendly.

Thing # 8

http://bighugelabs.com/mosaic.php

Above are the three things that I created for thing # 8. I found it very easy to use the above website, and it was also easy to upload the pictures onto my Blog, once I figured out how to do it.

While creating my 3 designs I thought about several different ways that this could be used in my personal life, to have fun ways to share pictures with friends and family. I think it is neat that you can order real puzzles from your design.

I think there are ways that this could be used in the classroom. One way is for decorating the classroom, a mosaic could be done of different pictures taken of the students, especially for a open house for the parents to come in and see what the children have been doing in class. This also could be tool that the students can use to be creative and have fun with pictures that they have taken.

I am okay with having some photos online, but I prefer not to for most pictures.

Thing # 7

Using Flickr was fun! It was very easy to upload and share photos. I have not used a photo hosting site in the past. My pictures are of my cat Tippy.

I will use Flickr again to post pictures to share with family and friends. I like how different members of the group can add pictures to the pool, this would be a great way for friends to share pictures with each other, instead of each person having to share photos individually.

I have some mixed feelings of having my pictures available for the public to view, but overall I do not mind.

I think Flickr could be a great tool in the classroom, students could take pictures of projects and other classroom activities to share with friends, family and other classrooms. Children can share what they have learned and learn from other students as well. I think anything that is ineractive for children is great.

Tippy

Tippy
Originally uploaded by angelaoconnor

My cat Tippy

My cat Tippy
Originally uploaded by angelaoconnor

My cat Tippy

My cat Tippy
Originally uploaded by angelaoconnor

Thing # 6

In reviewing the Web 2.0 winners I found a site for cooking. This website has a lot of recipes, and many other great features. What I like most about this site is that it makes trying new recipes so easy. The website has a section where you can enter in what you have in your pantry and it will tell you what you can make with those ingredients. Also when ingreditents are listed on a recipe it will tell you if an item is on sale at the grocery store. In addition you can add in food allergies or dietary restrictions and it will provide recipes according to your individual needs. Recipes are organized into several helpful categories including, type of food, main ingredient, and time to prepare. This website will even make your grocery list for you of the items you checked that you need for each recipe, divided into store categories. This tool could be used at a school if it were in a class that was teaching about cooking and how to find, shop for, and make reciepes.

http://www.recipekey.com/