Thing # 18

I honestly can not believe that this is still a Thing. In 2008, when this Thing was first published on the APSU 23 Things blog there were only 100 million users. Now, there's 845 million. It's the number one social networking site. I have absolutely no idea how anyone, in a first world country, has not heard of Facebook. Even if you don't have a computer, television talks about it all the time. Even if you don't have a television, radio commercials are constantly telling us to "like" them on Facebook.

I like Facebook. I originally set up an account there about 5 or 6 years ago but didn't use it at first because I didn't really see the point in it. Then more and more of my friends started signing up. We started connecting and I really enjoy the fact that I know what they're up to even when they're a world away. I have recently found and reconnected with my best friend from 2nd grade who grew up into a Marine.

It's important for educators to know how social networking sites work for a lot of different reasons. They need to know what kind of information that their students could have access to if they don't secure their personal pages. I can see a school application for this, and particularly a class application -- teachers can create class Facebook page as a way for parents and students to stay connected to what's going on. It would create an almost instant communication forum.

Thing # 17

I've known about social bookmarking sites for a while but I never really thought to take a look at them. Now that I have, I can see how they would be really beneficial. I tend to move through a lot of computers -- my laptop, my work computer, my parents' computer, on and on, so having a place that I can access, anywhere, to get my bookmarks would be great.

I know that other people would really like the social aspect, too, but I honestly don't know if I would ever use Delicious in that manner. Maybe not right now, at least, but I can definitely see how it would be useful for teachers. It would be an easy way to network and find the best sites for the subjects you're teaching. It would also be a great way to find people who are outside of your district who may be able to help mentor us, as new teachers.

Thing # 16

I use Google Chrome and I like the simplicity of the homepage. All of my most visited websites on one page. I can see how knowing the iGoogle homepage could be useful, but I don't think I would honestly ever use it. Maybe I need to play around with it some more. While I'm typing this I'm moving back and forth between this screen and my iGoogle homepage I'm setting up. So far all I've been doing is deleting gadgets. I'm going to try to set up some bookmarks and RSS feeds, but I really think that I'm going to go back to my regular Chrome homepage.

I feel about the same way with online calendars. I can see how they would be helpful for people with a large family, but for my own personal use I don't think I would ever really use one. I have my phone on me almost constantly, so any information I need I can store there without having to worry about portability. I can, of course, see how online calendars would be great in a classroom setting-- not only would you be able to share with the students when assignments are due, but parents could also be aware of what the daily lessons were and what is expected of their children in the near future. There would be no last minute runs to the store.

I really like the web site Lifehacker. There's so much information there, presented in such an easy and engaging way, that it's kind of a little mini-heaven for a trivia fan like me. I love knowing things and knowing where to go to find new things. Like right now, I know that I need to get a belt replaced on my car. A few clicks on Lifehacker and bam: How to Change a Serpentine Belt. I would definitely recommend Lifehacker to my friends.

Thing # 15

I have a real wariness about Wikis just because they are so open to people. It's very, very trusting. And even if people go into a Wiki to edit it with full intentions of being helpful and good, they may just be completely misinformed. And then you have this cycle of misinformation perpetuating.

While I think Wikis are useful on a certain level, as maybe a way to get a kind of base understanding on a subject, but that's about all. I think it could be the start of a source of knowledge but it should never be the final destination.

With that said, I can imagine using Wikis in a class setting as part of a project for the students. Say that the lesson was about the solar system-- the students could create a Wiki where they all update the different areas with the knowledge they've gathered. This would also be a great way to create test reviews.

Thing # 14

I love flow charts. Love them. I think there's a lot of different great ways to use them, and not just educationally. I've been known to make flow charts for ridiculous reasons. I've flow charted the lyrics to Ice, Ice Baby, for example.

I wanted to play around with mind mapping, but the first website I went to, mindmeister, was a pay to use site. I went to bubbl.us and started playing around with that site. I was really, really pleased with how easy it was to use. I'm not normally a big mind mapper, but I think this website could turn me around. I'd rather type then write, most of the time, which is why I don't map on paper, and the fact that I can move from one bubble to another by hitting a few buttons means I can move pretty rapidly.

I think I'm a new fan.

Thing # 13

I played around with Zoho Writer for a while and a few of the features I found that could be really helpful are the features under Mailings. They have, what appears to me, a simplified way to do Mail Merges. Zoho also has almost all of the things that a standard word processing application has and is set up very similar to Microsoft Word, which I find to be helpful. They're not trying to reinvent the wheel and make things extra complicated for their users. Another feature I really liked about Zoho is that it gives the writer the option to publish it straight to their blog. I could see many uses for collaboration among students, in small groups, with the option of sharing their final project through a class blog for everyone to access and view.

I chose to make a drawing with Google Docs. Although my drawing isn't the best, it allowed me to play with a couple of different features before I published it. I didn't bother looking for instructions, I just kind of started hitting buttons and I was really pleased with how easy it was to navigate and do what I wanted to do, like hide the cat behind the arrow. I also really liked how they gave you the option to make the lines dotted, which seems like you would be able to use this application to create  images for the students to color and cut out.

I can see many uses for students to work collaboratively with Google Docs. For example last semester in one of my classes we had a major group project due. Part of this project included presenting to the rest of the class. I know that one group used Google Docs to share resources, complete their group paper, and create a presentation to share for the class. They talked about how they were able to work together without having to meet and that Google helped to facilitate this. 

I think I like Google Docs more simply because I am more familiar with Google than I am with Zoho. I'm more likely to return to Google because of the ability to flow easier among different aspects of Google (Gmail, Blogger, Google Docs, etc) than Zoho.

Thing # 12

I have had some previous experience with Google Alerts, but that was about a million years ago, when Andy Kaufman was suppose to have come out of hiding if he had really faked his death. But that's neither here nor there. 

Since that time I haven't looked at Google alerts. There are many more options now as opposed to when I was looking for Andy Kaufman's zombie. I particularly like that you can schedule how often and how many results you want to receive.

When I was in high school and college there was a website called Babelfish. It would translate inputted words or websites, but it did it pretty poorly. That's pretty much been my only experience with any translation websites, so I wasn't expecting much out of Google Translate. I was pleasantly surprised at how cleanly it translated.

I can see how the alerts could be used in a class setting. If there is a semester long project about a current event that the students have to do, they could be required to set up Google Alerts in order to stay up to date about what's occurring. Even if there isn't a project, the students could be required to set a Google Alert and report, weekly, to the class about the newest Alerts they've received.

Google Translate has fairly obvious educational uses. It could assist students in foreign language classes to learn as well as help ESL students to get a firmer grip on words and phrases they may not understand.