I really liked but was a bit scared by Topix.net. When I clicked on the link it took me to our local paper. It made me wonder how did it know where I was and what I might want without entering any information.
That also brings up the other thing that has been bothering me about much I have been looking at. What does a person need to think about as they participate in Web 2.0 but still want to keep their privacy. As we look at each item I keep looking at and for the privacy capabilities. From lurking in My Space my students are terrible at keeping things private and may get into issues some day over what they have put on line. As a teacher and a librarian I also know that something on line can cause issue with your employment. Where is my private life vs my teacher life on line? Is it wise for me to participate in these forums?
Google Blog Search does help to put some organization to Blogs. I am not sure I would subscribe to blogs but it is interesting to know how to find things.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Week 4 - Item 8 RSS Feeds
I am so thankful to finally learn about RSS Feeds. I have been seeing the symbol and the initials all over the place so it is now good to understand what RSS is all about. I selected Bloglines to investigate and arranged an account. It took some tinkering and I am not really sure I found feeds I would want to continually read but the process is interesting.
Last week I installed Office 2007 so I was also able to set up RSS Feeds to open in Outlook. That seemed to be a more convenient process for me since it saves going to another place to look for information. I was also successful, after some play, in adding our district RSS feed to Bloglines. So now I can add an outside source that does not list Bloglines if I am interested.
One of the concerns I have is keeping up with everything. There is so much information out there and I can see it as hard to regularly follow the feeds.
An application I am thinking of for the library is for public access for students to find articles for Current Event class requirements. Students come to the library, waste all sorts of time and often miraculously find an article to print at the last second of the period. If feeds of science and news sources were available then the process might move more efficiently. It is something to look into.
Last week I installed Office 2007 so I was also able to set up RSS Feeds to open in Outlook. That seemed to be a more convenient process for me since it saves going to another place to look for information. I was also successful, after some play, in adding our district RSS feed to Bloglines. So now I can add an outside source that does not list Bloglines if I am interested.
One of the concerns I have is keeping up with everything. There is so much information out there and I can see it as hard to regularly follow the feeds.
An application I am thinking of for the library is for public access for students to find articles for Current Event class requirements. Students come to the library, waste all sorts of time and often miraculously find an article to print at the last second of the period. If feeds of science and news sources were available then the process might move more efficiently. It is something to look into.
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Week 3 - Item 7 Technology
It is interesting how technology is to make our lives easier but it more often seems to take over our lives. When I started teaching I was excited to go home at the end of the day and not have ditto ink on my face. I taught prior to computer use in classrooms. When we started to use computers they were the Apple IIs and I taught BASIC Programming. In a couple of weeks we have a Computer Science Professor coming to instruct our 7th and 8th grade Enrichment students on Alice, a graphics computer program.
What a difference almost 30 years have made. Can you even think what you would do today without e-mail during the school day? I never even learned how to create catalogue cards. What would we do without Destiny? As I think of how things have changed over the last 30 years it is hard to even imagine where we will be in just another few years.
I have been looking into Twitter, Facebook, and registered for Delicious after finding all of these new places to visit. This week I downloaded Office 07 to my home computer so that I will be ready for our switch to it at the start of the next school year. While I am finishing this blog I am listening to political podcasts on my i-Pod. To keep up with a few of my younger friends I learned how to text.
Technology forces us to be life long learners.
What a difference almost 30 years have made. Can you even think what you would do today without e-mail during the school day? I never even learned how to create catalogue cards. What would we do without Destiny? As I think of how things have changed over the last 30 years it is hard to even imagine where we will be in just another few years.
I have been looking into Twitter, Facebook, and registered for Delicious after finding all of these new places to visit. This week I downloaded Office 07 to my home computer so that I will be ready for our switch to it at the start of the next school year. While I am finishing this blog I am listening to political podcasts on my i-Pod. To keep up with a few of my younger friends I learned how to text.
Technology forces us to be life long learners.
Week 3 - Item 6 Trading Card Maker
It is amazing to see the different applications that have developed from Flickr. It is interesting that a person can search for pictures from specific places through searching tags. I can see using this prior to a vacation to get an idea of places you want to be sure to visit.
The Trading Card Maker is interesting and I do like the idea of using it with elementary students. I can see them having fun researching something and then creating a trading card about the topic. The librarian trading cards were also interesting.
I also found an application where you can have a picture made into a puzzle. How fun to look at all of the colors on Flickr Color Pickr and the creations on Montagr.
The Trading Card Maker is interesting and I do like the idea of using it with elementary students. I can see them having fun researching something and then creating a trading card about the topic. The librarian trading cards were also interesting.
I also found an application where you can have a picture made into a puzzle. How fun to look at all of the colors on Flickr Color Pickr and the creations on Montagr.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Who is the Famous person in the poster?
I edited the first entry in Blogger now I want to try to create this entry in Flickr and then post it from the program. I am just experimenting to see how it all works. I am amazed at how smoothly the programs relate to each other and how easy it is to post a picture.
Having been excited many years ago to get a Brownie camera it is hard to believe where technology has gone and where it will go in just a few years.
Having been excited many years ago to get a Brownie camera it is hard to believe where technology has gone and where it will go in just a few years.
Week 3 - Item 5 Picture from Flickr
DSCN1383
Originally uploaded by Wall-e the Cat
I sent this picture from Flikr and am composing in Blogger. I also want to try it the other way to see how it all works. If I were to upload many pictures into posts I would work from Flickr instead of Blogger. The picture comes in and the text is easily arranged around the picutre as set up in Flickr. With this I am playing and not quite happy with the results. The technology is still interesting to play with and find out how it works.
Week 3 - Item 5 Flickr
The first thing I enjoyed this week was when I was taking pictures of the library. A student was in the library and I told her if I got her in the picture I would edit her out since I needed to upload the pictures to Flickr. The look of surprise on her face when I said Flickr was worth a thousand words. The expression said. "How could some old person like you know about Flickr let alone be planning to upload to it?" We then had a discussion about the things I am learning and exploring like Twitter, Blogger, and Facebook. Now I appear to be a more knowledgeable person than she thought!
Flickr was really very user friendly. I was able to navigate and edit photos without much difficulty. There are just wonderful photos on Flickr that are easy to find by browsing through the tags and the most recent photos. I can really see a use for Flickr if you have a wedding or a baby. It is a great way to share photos with friends and family near and far.
Flickr was really very user friendly. I was able to navigate and edit photos without much difficulty. There are just wonderful photos on Flickr that are easy to find by browsing through the tags and the most recent photos. I can really see a use for Flickr if you have a wedding or a baby. It is a great way to share photos with friends and family near and far.
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