Week 6

Social Bookmarking

I love these "plan English sites". The explanations are so simple. I was aware of del.icio.us and actually set up an account a while back. I didn't realize how useful it could be. Watching the video cleared up so many questions I had. Anyone can see your bookmarks. I didn't know that! What a great way to share sites with colleagues or friends. Tagging was not explained to me in the past. I now get it. My favorites can get so out of control plus I also have them on more than one computer. I have always tried to create folders but I don't always remember where I put the link. Last summer a few of us at school posted a list of useful websites. It is on the server at school. I definitely need to transfer the information to a del.icio.us account.


Exploring Web 2.0 Sites


I looked a a number of sites and had trouble finding something I liked or would use. The first one I liked was CitySearch http://national.citysearch.com/ . My first search was Danvers. I know Danvers well but I liked the variety and the reviews. Next I tried Nashville where I will be visiting over Thanksgiving. The site provides all sorts of information on the city that will be useful.



Next I came across Craigslist which I have used many times before. I did not realize there were other sites so I looked at Oodle http://http//www.oodle.com/. Wow this sites posts on other sites such as facebook, twitter, AOL, etc. That is kind of cool. I have a number of items I want to sell that belonged to my husband. I think I will try posting something on that website and see how it works.



Finally, I explored mapping application sites. The first one Flappr.com did not work. So I tried Wayfaring.com http://http//www.wayfaring.com. It is a site where you can create a map. I thought maybe this would be a site I could use with the children. Again I had to sign up with an email address. Barbara suggested creating a class email class if I wanted to use it with children. I may try that. I find this site to be difficult to use. There are no instructions and I could not always get it to work so I gave up and moved on. Next I tried CommunityWalk.com
http://http//www.communitywalk.com hoping this site would give more explanation. It seemed easier to use but an advertisement stayed right smack in the middle so I could not see the part of the map I want to see.When I tried to get rid of it the site wanted me to pay for it!!! AHHHHHHH! Frustration reached I gave up. I like the idea of creating maps with children so I continued on to Google Maps. I have used google maps many times for personal maps. To my surprise when I went to My Maps there was a "How to" Youtube video.


I may try to design my final lesson plan around this.