Chapter 6 Assignment

In the beginning we were focused on responding to how we might use different technologies in the classroom. Without realizing it, we have moved into sections of our book that have required us to become participants rather than observers.

Your reactions to using RSS were insightful. I hadn’t thought about the log jam that would happen if I had the RSS feeds sent to my email. I can also see where students would sign up for everything that would cross their minds. There would be too many distractions to be meaningful for my classroom. I did like Julie’s quote about RSS feeds feeling, “like using a living newspaper,” RSS feeds really do seem to have a presence of their own. Getting together on Wednesday helped me to gain new perspectives and new ideas (possibly working with Julie to add art work to our Julie of the Wolves wiki, would be exciting).

Which brings me to our next task.

In Chapter Six, Social Networking: Learning Together, covers a variety of ways to organize your bookmarks into a manageable, one click source. Doing this will allow you to access your saved bookmarks by descriptive tags, and that can save you time. You can see the subjects you’re looking for all on one page.

There are two sites (there are many others, but for the sake of sanity) that work with bookmarks. Del.icio.us organizes your sites concisely and visually. Quickly, you’ve found what you need for a classroom activity. Furl.net organizes your bookmarks, keeps a snapshot of the web page, (should it be removed from the web, and allows you to search through the Furl site for other web sites that match your interest. Furl also allows you to send a great site to others easily.

The del.icio.us site was more practical for me. I’m a visual person and this site made searching for sites I can’t remember very easy. The great thing about del.icio.us was that it put the sites together into labeled groups on its own.

Should you have difficulty signing up for either one, let me know, I can help. The web sites walk you through the process quickly. The book directions seem more complicated then they need to be

The task for chapter six is to take an in-depth look at both sites and then choose one (or both) to try out on your computer. Please take the time to evaluate one of these sites for: ease of installation, relevance of use, practical application to educational needs, and ability to access and use easily.