Thing #17: Delicious - a.k.a., "how sweet it is".

Until this particular assignment, I hadn't heard of Delicious before. That's too bad, as I had no idea of what I was missing. After getting an account, I started exploring right away, searching for key words and tags such as "teaching history", "historical", "social studies", "lesson plans" and more. Each and every time, it revealed a treasure trove of detail and information. Its potential and value is clear, for teachers and students. It's effectiveness, in my opinion, is the fact that it not only bypasses the typical web search engine - it transcends it.

As a teacher, I foresee using this resource and others like it when it comes to webquests, internet scavenger hunts, essay research, and curriculum and faculty/administration assistance. And more. Education and the internet have a strong ally in Delicious.

Thing #16: Organizational Chaos

Accumulating information and using it wisely when it comes to a "start page" is, as this blog itself is titled, all relative. Meaning, how much is too much? I've been using iGoogle as a start page for the last year or so. At first, I felt compelled to add all sorts of gadgets, widgets and real-time applications. It just seemed natural. But it also appeared overly busy after a while, and I soon realized I didn't need all that stuff. So I followed a started streamlining it and lightened the load. I avoided all the "new and improved" additions that Google was bombarding me with. I enjoy iGoogle very much: I just don't need bells and whistles to entertain me.

The online calendar, 30 boxes, is terrific. I've started putting that to use since looking into it last month. I see a future with it in my classroom. As do I see StickyNotes and LifeHacker as effective tools as a teacher. It's all about experimenting and implementation - albeit wisely. I've talked to teachers who felt the need to surround themselves with digital online resources, only to find themselves overwhelmed and realizing that sometimes, less is better.

Thing #15: Wiki Fun

I have to say, I had a great time creating my own post in APSU's wiki sandbox. The platform itself is a terrific arena, malleable as it is, for expression and sharing. It led me to investigating some of the wiki links that were posted in the #15 requirement, then pushed the boundaries further as I began to explore how education and wiki's can work hand-in-hand. From distance and project-based learning, to student assignments and professional portfolios, there's an enormous level of opportunities when it comes to utilizing the resource.

Here's a link to two award-winning educational wiki's. As a history teacher candidate, I'm biased towards the second one.

And to Dr. Jerles: thank you for turning me on to Taylor Mali, teacher/poet. I included a video of his in my sandbox example.

Thing #14: Flow With It

Interesting blog assignment this one is. It's all about the visual, really. How can basic concepts of planning, communication and thought processes that are so important to teachers be displayed and shared with the new forms of web-based tools that seemingly come out every week?

Mindmeister: I couldn't get my head around it. It's simply not my kind of thing. I see the value and use, but I don't see utilizing it as a teacher. It's far too convoluted. Bubble was far more user-friendly and best of all, entertaining. I think a big part of dealing with 21st century digital flowcharts is enjoying putting them together. Not seeing them necessarily as a chore. Flowchart was somewhere in between a hurdle (more because of the interface) and an effective tool. Once I got over some of the design details, it was a piece of cake. I could see myself putting the program to use in my history class. Last but not least, Gliffy. This was by far my favorite of the web-tools. Lots of effective layouts; a simple yet detailed environment to work within and results that paid off. Flowcharts aren't going away anytime soon. They have their place in the academic world. In fact, with the right the ideas and right concepts in using them, they can be a teacher's best friend.

Thing #13: Web-based Applications

Here are two examples mentioned in this exercise. The top image is document from Zoho, while at the bottom, is a spreadsheet made from Google Docs. All things considered, I prefer Zoho over Google. It's cleaner, more streamlined and doesn't present a host of options that aren't needed. I'm led to believe sometimes that Google thinks too much of itself. They want to be the primary content provider of everything. Bigger doesn't always translate into better. That said, they do have a platform that offers terrific compatibility between shared information and users, which is a very important resource for teachers in the digital world. But Zoho offers it as well. While Zoho may not have all the bells and whistles that Google does, it gets the job done just fine.

Thing #12: Got Google?

Like many of you who have been posting about this particular "thing" already, it's safe to say that Google has impressed all of us. Where to start about my own experience? Well, I'm very fond of Google Voice and have been using it over the last few years. I also use and enjoy iGoogle. One of the things that impresses me the most about this application is the continuing development and evolution of it. It's anything but static. As a teacher, I can envision adding specific tabs to assist my lesson and day planning. Picasa is nice - but in my opinion, there are a glut of image viewing programs available today that are so flexible and user-friendly, I don't see the need to take on one more. On the other hand, Google Scholar definitely has its place. While it isn't JSTOR by any means, it is a valuable academic article portal in its own right. It's also a solid introduction for high school students who might be researching scholarly data for the first time.

Thing #11: ISO good feeds

I'm voting for the Edublog Awards site and Topix as my favorites for this exercise. Both opened up a wealth of sources configured specifically for my interests in education and history. In fact, there were so many blogs and feeds to choose from regarding these two sites and my preferences, I had put a limit on what I was adding to my subscription. I'm not much of a fan of Technorati. Its layout and dated material/links didn't suit me very well.

One of the more unusual and interesting Topix feeds that came up when searching under the title of history, (which also highlighted how global the internet information world truly is) was a discussion forum based out of India with the title "History of the Tyagi (Taga) Pandits". They are, for all intents and purposes, a rather heated and opinionated group discussing social castes in and around New Delhi. On another front, I found Stump The Teacher from the Edublog site. It's a terrific, insightful blog written by Josh Stumpenhorst, a 6th grade Language Arts and Social Science teacher in suburban Chicago.