Thing 14: LibraryThing

This is the first time I have looked at Library Thing. I really like it. I just added a few of my favorite books. But, I am excited to get my other ones listed.
I think Library Thing would be a great way to share your favorite books with others and check out the favorites of other people. What a great source to get ideas for your next “Good Read”.
Library Thing would be a nice alternative to share booklists with anyone, at the library or on your own personal computer.

Thing 13: Online Productivity Tools

I can't get the count down to work. Help!

I have My Yahoo! and iGoogle already. So, I took this time to explore with them and set up new feeds. It was fun designing them the way I wanted. I have two tabs on my start up for these two home pages. I like iGoogle the best because of the gadgets available.
I had fun with Stikkit. I am constantly writing myself reminders. So, I think this will be helpful at home and at school.
I like the idea of having a calendar that everyone can check and add information to. This would be very helpful keeping communication open between a group of employees, or even family members.
The to-do lists were o.k. I think I would get more use entering notes on the calendars instead.
I did not try out Backpack. If I read it correctly, I would have to sign up for a free trial. I don’t like doing that.

Thing 12: Do You Digg?

I explored Mixx, Digg, Newsvine, and Reddit. I really thought that Mixx was the easiest to read and navigate. Digg would be my second choice. I enjoy reading through these sites at home, but I can’t see that they would be much use in the elementary school.
I spent a lot of time browsing around on these sites. If I can stay on task, these sites would enhance productivity. There were too many times when something interesting would catch my eye and I would be off exploring something totally different. I found some great stories and jumped from one link to another to get more information. That is when these sites would detract from productivity.

Thing 11: Tagging and Del.icio.us

1. I went back to a couple of my blogs and tagged (labeled) them. Tagging is a great way to stay organized.
2. I viewed the Del.icio.us tutorial. It gave a great summary with easily understood directions. This will be a great tool for bookmarking information for library, school, and personal use.
3. I spent a long time looking around Del.icio.us using the Minn23 account. There is a lot of information out there. I added lifehack.org to my RSS feed. I enjoyed reading some of their articles.
4. I got a little carried away going from one bookmark or tag to another. It was interesting to see how people used these tools to organize information.
5. I set up my own account. Now, we’ll see what I can discover!

Thing 10: Wikis

I found the whole wiki concept intriguing. It is a great way to share ideas with co-workers on a group project. For example, we are writing and editing our school curriculum. It is taking a lot of time, meetings, and paper. A wiki would be a great way to collaborate everyone’s ideas.
I am not sure if the “Wikipedia” would be a good source for student research. If anyone can add, edit or delete the information available, I would have a hard time trusting the accuracy of what I read.
The Common Craft video on Wikis was really helpful. It explained Wikis in a very easy and understandable way. I was able to add an entry in the 23 Things On a Stick wiki with no problem. It was fun to read what other people had written.

Thing 9: Online Collaboration Tools

I liked Zoho a lot. It had a great tool bar with many options. I had trouble with Google Docs. It froze up or something. I had to restart everything. It took forever to get into it. Once I was able to work with it, I liked it. I made a slide show with family pictures. I could see using this in the library to introduce new books or movies. It would be great for the students to make their own slide shows also. I can't decide which one I like the best. I liked the tool bar in Zoho and I liked the simplicity of Googles.

Thing 8: Share Your Creations

The uses for these tools are endless. The first thought that came to my mind was a slide show for parents at conference time. They could see pictures of their children that were taken throughout the school year. As for personal use, I would like to check more into the scrapbooking tools available. The tools were easy to use. But, I am a little concerned how to keep track of all the passwords I need to get into each of these “things”. It seems like I keep signing up for this and that. I would recommend Big Huge Labs – making motivational posters. I had a lot of fun with it. I did not know all this was available on the web!

Thing 7: Web 2.0 Communication Tools

I am using e-mail mostly for personal use. But, I am getting better at using it to communicate with the parents of my students. I like the Five Fast email Productivity Tips by Merlin Mann. I use to read all the little stories and forward them on to friends, but it takes just too much time. So, I write less and delete some of the stories.
Instant messaging doesn’t work very well for me. I am usually on the computer late at night, and not too many people are on at that time. At school, we send e-mail and check our inbox often.
Texting is great. My granddaughter got me into it. We ended up purchasing unlimited text messaging and now we send little messages to each other during the day. Not everyone has unlimited access to text messaging so you have to be careful because they get charged for every text sent and received.
Web conferencing is a great way to learn new things without having to travel far. As a teacher, I like to attend conferences or workshops to get new ideas. At times, these are costly and you have to travel. I much prefer sitting comfortably at home in front of my computer.