Thing 16. Student 2.0 Tools

Research Project Calculator better for 7-12 than the University of Minnesota Assignment Calculator
I can think of several teachers who would start to use this right away. English, Social , History, and Study Guide class.
We could print the files for Library Handouts or maybe make them available electronically for teachers. Create a link on the school Website for student or parents access. Put the link in the students handout at the beginning of the year.

I can see how the email reminder might be a good way to keep you on track for teacher created projects. Back up you PDA reminders.

Gaming

I had a bit of trouble with Second Life. It wasn't cooperating. Operator failure I think. I tried Puzzle Pirates and I can't see a connection between that and what I am having kids do in the Library. Learn about online Pirates maybe. How close is that to the true Balckbeard?

I've got some larnin to do Matey! I thinks I'll git back to me puzzle fer a while. Arghhh!

Not being much of a gamer this was a confusing piece for me. It might be that the computer and connection I am on are a bit slow or like i said above, it might just be operator failure.

We have not supported gaming inthe Library in the past. Too much distraction for those students who are working on projects for classes. Maybe this would be better outside of the class day. I like the idea of a "Gaming night." I might suggest that for our next lock-in.

Library Thing

I like Library Thing. I can think of a number of students right now who would make a great Library thing group. Quite a few of my students have very few resources and this would help them branch out a bit. I can also think of several coworkers who would benefit from this in and out of the classroom.

Online Productivity Tools

Where will all of this cool stuff end? I just customized my home page. Really neat. It made me take a serious look at MSN which is what I had by default. I used to use Firefox on my old machine. I might return to that as the recipe of the moment in the cooking tab is having a fit. Anybody know the quick fix on IE for that?



Online Calendar. Nice tool but when you are away from a PCwhat do you do? I don't think they will replace PDA's anytime soon.



I can see how the Ta Da List could be useful for a group but I might prefer to use Remember the Milk so I can see it on iGoogle. I put it on my Blogline RSS That way I will look at it daily (I'm an RSS addict now)

Sticky Notes.
I thought Sticky notes were great when they came out with Mac OS10 but they soon became run of the mill and we never used them. It looks like Stick Notes has taken the concept and given it a shot of steroids! Very customizable. I'm still not so sure I would use them that much.

Zamzar File converter. This looks like a great tool. I just paid 27.00 for a video file converter that doesn't do half of what Zamzar can do.

Social Media

Tags
I found that Tags are a great way to get away from Google. So many users (old and young) who "research" the web are stuck on a single web browser whether that is Google, MSN, or Yahoo. By just introducing del.icio.us to a few friends, I was able to open their eyes to many different ways to look at the web.



Blog prompts



I like the idea of using Blog Prompts as resource links on the school Library web site. If we could get teachers interested they could use Blog prompts specific to the class curriculum.

WIKI

I am impressed with how easy it is to use Wikis. I thought that the point in Common Craft video on Wikis about not wasting time with emails and revisions was great! I had a very closed minded opinion of them before this project. I got an email almost as soon as I hit SAVE on the 23 things Wiki.
I have already shared the Bee Keeping Wiki with my brother the local Beekeeper.

Thanks for the tip on starting a free wiki. We are already up and running with PBwiki! I'm not sure if I will use it this spring but I can see a project for next year.

Communication via pictures

Funny how this works. As I am learning these tools one of my friends shared pictures of the play we were in last spring via Snapfish. I prefer logging in by email address and skipping the user name process. I have a log of all of my user name / passwords but it becomes a bit too much at times. So far I like the way Snapfish (by HP) allows you to add photos by folder rather than one at a time. They are in the business of selling pictures though so you have to deal with the sales pitch. You also have to send an email to share your album. Picture Trail is a little more tedious but it allows you to right click protect your photos. I prefer the Picture Trail method for sharing albums as I don't like sending a business invitation to people. I would share my Snapfish album with you but that would be very hard for this project.
I imagine that when I get around to working on the Library Web page it will be a richer page due to some of these tools.

Visit My Photos - 15 Pics Flowers From the Burg