Thing Sixteen - What to do

• Which start page did you choose? Why did that one appeal to you? Will you make it your permanent home page?
  
  I looked at all the different home page generators. I think this is a very cool idea. I currently have yahoo as my home page. I don't like it for the simple fact that it contains all this stuff that doesn't interest me. Using these generators resolves this issue. I liked iGoogle and Page Flakes. Netvibes seemed a little to complex for me. IGoogle starts off as a blank canvas and the user creates it from the ground up. Page Flakes starts off with a basic template then the user can go in a tweak it to his/her liking.

• How can the online calendars be useful to you?
  
  When I was younger, keeping up with important dates was mommy's job. When I left the nest for college it became my job. I struggled with it for a while. Then one day something just flipped and now I am all about my date book. I honestly think I would be lost without it. In fact I know I would be! The only thing that keeps me away from online calendars is that they are online. I like the fact that I have a planner that I can hold and always carry with me in my purse or daily bag. I'm also afraid that not being able to see it all the time would cause me to forget things. But this is just the type of person I am. Different strokes for different folks.
  
• What about the to-do lists—helpful, too much work…?
  
  I love the to do lists. I am a big to do list maker. I make one every week for all the stuff I need to get done during the week. I have a place in my cell phone that allows me to make lists similar to these sites. I love it! I put my grocery list on there. It is so handy. :)
  

Thing Fifteen - Get your own wiki!

This was rather cool. I'm not real sure as to the purpose of me going in and changing my own stuff. Maybe just to show that I can. *giggles* This could be useful in the class room. It can be used for peer discussion that is still guided and controlled by the teacher. After all we don't want to turn into Wikipedia. ;)

Thing Fourteen - Think and Flow

I used Gliffy and Bubbl.us for the flow chart and mind map tools. Gliffy was pretty easy to navigate. I made a family tree of sorts. I started with my grand parents, moved to my parents and their siblings. Then finished with me. I just made something up on the spot. This could be used for a variety of things. It could be used in science to describe a process. It could be used in English or theatre to describe a plot. Bubbl.us was a little harder to figure out but not totally impossible. I found it similar to what I used often in elementary and jr. high. My schools called them bubble maps.

Thing Thirteen - Applications

Zoho Writer was interesting in the fact that a paper can be written in a place other than Microsoft Word. Also it can be saved on line so you don't have to worry about loosing your jump drive or something like that. It has a lot of the same features as word so it is user friendly in that respect.

Google Docs can be used in many ways for students to think as a group. They can make presentations similar to the one I made. There is a place to create drawings. There is also a place to write papers similar to Zoho and Microsoft Word.

I had more fun with Google Docs. I liked making the presentation. I was in the library at school so I had some compatibility issues with some of the applications in there. That would be the only down fall for me. Does anyone else have some interesting findings they would like to share?

https://docs.google.com/present/view?id=dg4nj7sx_0cg5gz8cb

Thing Twelve - Just Google it!

I had so much fun with this thing. A lot more than the last thing. The two tools I chose to use was Google Calendar and Google Translator. In the calendar I just made a schedule for our class. In the translator, I typed in a variety of searches. The link provide below is the funniest I came up with. These tools can be used in many different situations. The class room is no exception. The calendar can be used to hold class due dates or field trips. More than one calendar can be made at a time so keeping presentation dates wouldn't be a problem either. The translator tool would obviously be ideal for language classes. I could use it in my class subject (theatre) as well. If I am working on a place that may have diverse culture and I need to know different pronunciations or spellings I can come here. :)

https://www.google.com/calendar/render?gsessionid=pgzstSVicXAbGTVUxxFvCg

http://www.google.com/search?q=you+look+like+a+hungry+monkey&tbs=clir%3A1%2Cclira%3Al%2Cclirsl%3Aen&hl=EN

Thing Eleven - Can I cry now?

Oh my goodness! This thing was SO hard. I didn't think I would ever get the hang of it. I tried all the suggest tools. The only one I could somewhat comprehend was Google. Thinking back it makes perfect sense. I'm a big fan of Google. I use it for everything. When in doubt Google it. No really. I didn't bother with the other ones since Google seemed to work for me. I found a very interesting blog. It's similar to the Pioneer Woman. This lady is a theater teacher, a mother, a photographer, and a scrapbooker. I'll post the link to her blog if anyone is interested. How was the process for you? Was it just as difficult?

http://feeds.feedburner.com/blogspot/yINpL

Thing Ten - R.S.S. (Rest Silly Sara?)

Tee hee! I couldn't resist! I would do this when I was younger. I would take initials like RSS and make up my own meanings for them. Anyway enough about my wierdness! Off to these answers:

• What do you like about RSS and newsreaders?

I think it is very nifty. It puts all these different articles that you like to read in one place. I hate when I have to go here to read one thing and there to read another. Its nice to have it all in one place. Would this make me lazy? *giggles*

• How do you think you might be able to use this technology in your school or personal life?

I have been meaning to subscribe to the pioneer women for a while now. Since our prof introduced us to this amazing lady actually. She puts a wide variety of topics on her page. Some are school realated and some deal with everyday life.

• How can teachers use RSS or take advantage of this new technology?

I consider RSS to be a type of bookmarking. Teachers can save different sites all in one place and even present certain pages in a class room setting.