Technology Miscellany

For my friends who are educators (and those who love to read--see #4 & #5), some Web 2.0 tools and online sites that you might enjoy:

1. http://www.polleverywhere.com/
You can create an online poll where respondents use either their cell phones or twitter.com to respond.

2. http://historicaltweets.com/
Fun, fun, fun! You can read interesting tweets from historical figures or get creative and come up with your own. There is a Photoshop template you can use or just send in your ideas to the historicaltweet crew. It would be really easy to come up with an interesting student activity that crosses content areas.

3. http://www.bookglutton.com/
Book Glutton is an interesting way to read online with others. Many books are free and can be inserted into blogs as a widget. You can see Alice in Wonderland on my blog on the left hand side at the top. I haven't read much lately but hope to finish it soon and put another on my blog before the end of July.

4. http://www.librarything.com/
I've been on Library Thing for a while and have posted some of my books. You can hook up with other book lovers who share similar tastes in reading. A lot of media specialists are on this site. They also have book reviews and give away hundreds of books each month. You can sign up to be an Early Reviewer and hope to receive one of the books. I try every month but haven't been lucky enough to snag one yet. But someone has to!

5. http://www.goodreads.com/
Good Reads is similar to Library Thing in that you can catalogue your own books online, but this website is more for avid readers than librarians, though usually they are one and the same. I just find this site much more user friendly than Library Thing, and it has a slicker look. It is a social networking site, and you can find friends on this site who also post info on what books they have read, are reading, and want to read. There are groups you can join, and some of these groups also have podcasts where they talk about authors.

6. http://www.diigo.com/
Ever wondered what to do with all of those really cool websites, online articles, videos, blogs, images you find online while you're away from your personal computer? Or maybe you want to access your personal bookmarks when you're away from home? Diigo is an option that I've just begun using. I am more familiar with #7.

7. http://delicious.com/smartmedia8
This should take you to my homepage on delicious. It is a social bookmarking site. My main problem with bookmarking is that I forget to do it and then regret not remembering the site I wanted to remember. Bottom line, use a bookmarking tool and you'll never forget where you saw something online again.

Seven seems like a good place to stop. After spending three and a half weeks writing and posting to a blog, I plan to stay in the habit. I'll post more about Web 2.0 online tools for learning, so check back.

Please share your own experiences with these tools that you use to improve your performance as a teacher, help your students, or to have fun.

If you'd like to look at some other Web 2.0 tools, here are some educational bloggers with some suggestions for you:

Larry Ferlazzo's Best Web 2.0 Applications for Education 2008

Jane Hart's E-Learning Pick of the Day--once you go to her blog, you will want to click on the Learning Tools link on the left of her page. She keeps a running list of online tools to use in the classroom.