Since I already had a Google email account I was interested in trying out Google Reader as my syndication service. I found the process of subscribing to various web pages and blogs as easy as cut and pasting a URL into a Google Reader open field box. I quickly added all of my classmate’s blog sites into my reader and find it fun and interesting to keep up with other’s postings.
I really like how Google reader lets me read the first line of each entry without actually opening any of them. This allows me to more selectively open entries that capture my attention based on the first sentence. I also subscribed to many other sites such as the Anchorage Daily News, blogs of friends, and various sports commentators. I quickly began amassing a massive amount of entries for each day the flooded my Google Reader. Needless to say, I began to see the need to categorize my resource to better manage and digest them. I found it easy to assign resources to specific folders from which I can more quickly monitor new entries and navigate to them.
I really like the concept of resources and updates being “pushed” onto my Google Reader after I subscribe to them, rather than me manually “pulling” them one by one after visiting each web site. I can definitely see how using a syndication service would save huge amounts of time when reading and monitoring even a few web sites. I also found it interesting at the variety of sites that offer syndication. I expected blogs to offer this ability, and even news sites, but was somewhat surprised to be able to syndicate several sports commentators that I enjoy reading from.
There are also many features of Google Reader that I really appreciated.
1. Google Reader automatically found any Gmail friends I had that also used Google Reader and shared resources. I found it fun to see what my friends subscribe to and share in their Readers.
2. My Google Reader “Home” page automatically presents the most updated postings from any site that I have subscribed to.
3. Google Reader also contains a “Trends” page in which one can view the percentages of each subscription that you have actually read. You can also view statistics on how many postings each subscription posts per day. One can also view their own reading habits by seeing the time of day and days of the week that they are most active on Google Reader.
Overall, I am really impressed with Google Reader and anticipate using it consistently in the future to better manage time spent reading online resources.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Social Book Marking
I created a del.icio.us account which can be found at: http://del.icio.us/jason.potsander . My criteria in selecting del.icio.us was based on del.icio.us’s popularity as a social book marking site. I’ve read that some have criticized del.icio.us’s plain design, which seems to be very text driven and lacks any superfluous graphics. I too found the text-centered design a bit hard to navigate at times, but felt that it’s popularity might overcome this downfall by socially networking others book marked sites to my own.
I found the process of joining very easy and quick. All that seemed to be required was establishing a user name, password, and email address. After I verified a confirmation email sent by del.icio.us and downloaded a del.icio.us tool bar widget for Firefox I was ready to start tagging sites.
As of this writing I have now added 14 sites to my page. Some of the resources I’ve added are:
1. http://www.bicycling.com/article/0,6610,s1-1-383-13579-1,00.html --- An review on the Cervelo Soloist Carbon which lead me to….
2. http://www.bikesportmichigan.com/bikes/difference.shtml --- An article explaining the difference between a road bike and triathlon bike, which lead me to…
3. http://analyticcycling.com/RiderAeroStudy.html --- An article on a bicycle rider aerodynamics.
4. http://www.crosscountryalaska.org/trails/index.php --- A web site in which skiers can report on ski conditions on many trails in the state of Alaska, which led me to…
5. http://forum.baart.us/ --- An Alaskan Winter Outdoors forum in which users can comment on various geographical areas and topics.
I began by going through the locally book marked sites I have saved using my Firefox web browser. After I added my most used web sites from my Firefox web browser I began to find out how I might better organize my tags. The main method I found to better organize my tags was through “bundling” them. Bundling essentially creates a folder that automatically acquires sites with predetermined descriptors that you tag each site with. Being very used to a folders mentality, I found that creating categories of bundled tags greatly helped organize my sites.
However, I found the process of creating the bundles a bit cumbersome and not quite as intuitive as I would have hoped for. To start the process you must click on a very small text entitled “bundle tags” in the lower right hand corner under “Tag Options.” From there you are presented with several open field boxes. After a bundle category is created you may then enter various tags that you would like to be associated with that bundle topic. It took me several times to properly create the bundles so that the appropriate resources were listed in the bundle. Several times I inadvertently deleted or overwrote one bundle when creating another.
I can see how the concept of tagging and bundling is more dynamic than the more traditional static folder and desktop model, however it will take some time for my practice to efficiently use tags and bundles. The constructs I have built in my mind regarding file storage and organization have worked well by-enlarge, and bundling and tagging is simply a new concept that will take some time to optimally utilize.
I have been somewhat disappointed with the touted benefits of being able to see other del.icio.us users who tagged the same sites as me. So far exploring other del.icio.us users accounts who tagged similar pages as me has yielded very few new resources that I’ve found genuinely helpful to me.
Overall I like the concept of del.icio.us as way to remotely access a list of often used Internet resources from any Internet enabled computer worldwide. I can also see the potential benefit of sharing resources, however I have to fully experience how helpful this can actually be.
I found the process of joining very easy and quick. All that seemed to be required was establishing a user name, password, and email address. After I verified a confirmation email sent by del.icio.us and downloaded a del.icio.us tool bar widget for Firefox I was ready to start tagging sites.
As of this writing I have now added 14 sites to my page. Some of the resources I’ve added are:
1. http://www.bicycling.com/article/0,6610,s1-1-383-13579-1,00.html --- An review on the Cervelo Soloist Carbon which lead me to….
2. http://www.bikesportmichigan.com/bikes/difference.shtml --- An article explaining the difference between a road bike and triathlon bike, which lead me to…
3. http://analyticcycling.com/RiderAeroStudy.html --- An article on a bicycle rider aerodynamics.
4. http://www.crosscountryalaska.org/trails/index.php --- A web site in which skiers can report on ski conditions on many trails in the state of Alaska, which led me to…
5. http://forum.baart.us/ --- An Alaskan Winter Outdoors forum in which users can comment on various geographical areas and topics.
I began by going through the locally book marked sites I have saved using my Firefox web browser. After I added my most used web sites from my Firefox web browser I began to find out how I might better organize my tags. The main method I found to better organize my tags was through “bundling” them. Bundling essentially creates a folder that automatically acquires sites with predetermined descriptors that you tag each site with. Being very used to a folders mentality, I found that creating categories of bundled tags greatly helped organize my sites.
However, I found the process of creating the bundles a bit cumbersome and not quite as intuitive as I would have hoped for. To start the process you must click on a very small text entitled “bundle tags” in the lower right hand corner under “Tag Options.” From there you are presented with several open field boxes. After a bundle category is created you may then enter various tags that you would like to be associated with that bundle topic. It took me several times to properly create the bundles so that the appropriate resources were listed in the bundle. Several times I inadvertently deleted or overwrote one bundle when creating another.
I can see how the concept of tagging and bundling is more dynamic than the more traditional static folder and desktop model, however it will take some time for my practice to efficiently use tags and bundles. The constructs I have built in my mind regarding file storage and organization have worked well by-enlarge, and bundling and tagging is simply a new concept that will take some time to optimally utilize.
I have been somewhat disappointed with the touted benefits of being able to see other del.icio.us users who tagged the same sites as me. So far exploring other del.icio.us users accounts who tagged similar pages as me has yielded very few new resources that I’ve found genuinely helpful to me.
Overall I like the concept of del.icio.us as way to remotely access a list of often used Internet resources from any Internet enabled computer worldwide. I can also see the potential benefit of sharing resources, however I have to fully experience how helpful this can actually be.
Friday, June 13, 2008
Web Quest: Asynchronous and Synchronous Communication Tools
Reflection on Two blogs I’m interested in:
Two blogs that I would like to regularly read are:
http://jrlive.blogspot.com/
http://freetech4teachers.blogspot.com/
I chose http://jrlive.blogspot.com/ because I have a personal connection with the blogger and many mutual friends. Jonathon Reuel is an inspirational visual artist and musician friend of mine who challenges me to sincerely follow Jesus in a rapidly changing post-modern world. I’m an avid listener and collector of many of the CD’s and watercolor prints he’s produced in the last ten years. His blogs in combination with music and art often leave me wanting to see and hear more, as if his message offers me a prophetic insight and greater connectedness to being a Jesus follower. As with all great art, music, and writing I become aware of different aspects each time I return to his work. I can’t wait to set up an aggregator that will catch new blog entries for me.
I chose http://freetech4teachers.blogspot.com/ because I am personally interested in integrating technology and education. This site seems particularly interesting and practical because all of the resources shared are supposedly free to use/access. With the advent of many free Web 2.0 applications/resources it can be difficult to stay informed on new programs that may be beneficial in the classroom. This blog should aid me in finding useable and free resources from which I can recommend to my colleagues in future teaching positions. The free aspect is often a key aspect in helping educators surmount the numerous obstacles to integrating technology into their classroom. This along with other blog and internet resources will help me stay abreast of helpful resources from which to increase technology integration in my own teaching practice and that of my colleagues. I can’t wait to set up an aggregator that will catch new blog entries for me.
Reflection on Two Social Networking sites I’ve explored:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php (search for Jason Potsander and add as friend)
http://www.classroom20.com/profile/JasonPotsander
Thought it was interesting that when I joined www.ning.com it somehow found the same profile picture I used for Classroom 2.0.
This past week I dove into the world of Internet social networking sites. I joined Facebook and Classroom 2.0.
Facebook interested me because I had heard so much about it from various friends and news media stories. My closest experience using it came from periodically observing my 20-year-old brother access the site and show me various things on his Facebook page. I remained intrigued, but not quite ecstatic or motivated to try it independently. In my mind it remained a fad phenomena in which I could not really see the need for expending the energy to create and maintain a page. After becoming a member in the last week I must say my perspective has changed. In less than a week I have accepted 41 “friends” from all over the country and world that I have shared bits and pieces of my life with. It is interesting and fun to learn what many of my past friends are up too, without really expending that much energy aside from the initial time it took to create my profile. I was amazed at how efficiently Facebook automatically found and suggested potential people I may know. For many of these friends I would not necessarily take the time to write them an email nor would I have anything particularly important to say, but with face book I can easily post something on their wall and maintain a contact and connection without expending much effort since the Facebook page seems to do all the “work” of amassing updates of all kinds from my friends list. I particularly like the way Facebook lists networks that I can identify to join such my past High School and College. I also liked how Facebook collects all the photos my friends have uploaded so that I can view them and catch glimpses into their lives. Checking my friends “status” is also revealing into their lives as some friends update them daily based on what is happening to them or how they are feeling.
I also found Classroom 2.0 to be interesting. Within Classroom 2.0 I joined several subgroups such as “Connecting Content and Technology,” “Elementary School 2.0,” and “Mac Classroom 2.0.” I joined these groups because of personal and professional interests that I have and am tempted to join many of the other groups I saw listed. I am still learning how to interact within these groups and glean and contribute information. Overall I like the usability and page layout of Classroom 2.0 better than www.ning.com. I found www.ning.com to be a bit clumsy to navigate around and while it had many sub-groups from which I could join, it was hard for me to tell how active some of the groups were and how helpful they might be for me. I find it interesting that apparently Classroom 2.0 was created by using Ning. I found some the my subgroups such as “Mac Classroom 2.0” interesting. For example I learned that Apple will soon be releasing “Snow Leopard 10.6.”
Reflections on my Wikipedia Experience
Reflection on my Wiki contribution to the following article: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stay-at-home_dad#References).
Since my primary “occupation” this past year was being a stay-at-home dad I decided to look up what information Wikipedia had on the subject and if I might add any edification. To my surprise I found that Wikipedia did have a page devoted to “Stay-at-home dads” with some basic information regarding the historical and social background behind this family arrangement along with external links related to the topic. I deem the information presented in Wikipedia under this topic to be generally creditable and accurate despite its lack of depth into the topic. I feel in this instance, as in most, Wikipedia provides a convenient way to get a very cursory or initial explanation on a wide variety of topics. I would solely rely on Wikipedia as a primary resource no sooner than I would solely rely on print encyclopedia of old.
I registered an account with Wikipedia so I could be a contributor if I wished. Under the above Wikipedia article on “Stay-at-home dads” I contributed the following statistics that I gleaned from the U.S. Census Bureau: 64.3 million – number of U.S. fathers, 159,000 – number of stay-at-home dads in 2006, 2.9 million – number of preschoolers cared for by their dads while mom is at work. Within 24 hours of my additional posting to this article I found that my addition had been deleted. Unsure as to why my addition was deleted I took care to create the subtitle “Statistics” in which I placed my information under. Perhaps this subtitle will help it fit within the flow of the article in an acceptable manner. I can only assume that someone edited my information out the first time because I unknowingly placed the information under “References” which is not an accurate placement.
I have used Wikipedia in the past and will continue to in the future to gain a cursory idea of many topics that I would like basic information on. I feel that Wikipedia can generally be trusted to be as accurate or helpful as any print encyclopedia set. The common fault sited with wiki’s is their open nature which allows any common person to post information that may be baised, outdated, or incorrect. However, this open nature also allows people monitor the recent changes to Wikipedia to watch for postings that need further editing. The popularity of Wikipedia ensures that most submissions will be “reviewed” by enough people to help the postings aspire to a minimum quality level. The Wikipedia overview page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Overview_FAQ) claims that “the overall accuracy of the encyclopedia is improving all the time as it attracts more and more contributors.”
Reflections on Elluminate
The ED693 class meeting on 6/5/08 was my first experience using Elluminate and I must say it was a very positive experience. Having taken many distance education courses whose primary interaction came through weekly an online and in depth discussion boards, I can say I already feel more connected to my classmates, professor, and course objectives than I ever have through using discussion boards alone. The combination of shared audio and graphics really helped me to understand the various ways I would be interacting/navigating with this class and fulfilling its requirements via the UAS class home page, Moodle, blogs, and etc... Had it not been for the initial Elluminate class session I’m sure I’d be a bit lost and overwhelmed in trying to put the many components of this class together on my own in isolation. While the synchronous nature of Elluminate does create some added challenges in bringing distance education students together simultaneously, I believe the challenge is well worth the benefits.
I could see using Elluminate in many applications that go beyond the classroom. Such a tool could be used in supporting colleagues throughout your district or network by more conveniently sharing resources and ideas. I could also envision using Elluminate when joining or creating a professional interest group devoted to specific topics that pertain to my field. I believe a tool such as Elluminate would be particularly helpful when members of a group may never have the opportunity to meet each other in person. The combination of shared audio and graphics creates a shared experience that connects a group more than audio or graphics can alone.
Two blogs that I would like to regularly read are:
http://jrlive.blogspot.com/
http://freetech4teachers.blogspot.com/
I chose http://jrlive.blogspot.com/ because I have a personal connection with the blogger and many mutual friends. Jonathon Reuel is an inspirational visual artist and musician friend of mine who challenges me to sincerely follow Jesus in a rapidly changing post-modern world. I’m an avid listener and collector of many of the CD’s and watercolor prints he’s produced in the last ten years. His blogs in combination with music and art often leave me wanting to see and hear more, as if his message offers me a prophetic insight and greater connectedness to being a Jesus follower. As with all great art, music, and writing I become aware of different aspects each time I return to his work. I can’t wait to set up an aggregator that will catch new blog entries for me.
I chose http://freetech4teachers.blogspot.com/ because I am personally interested in integrating technology and education. This site seems particularly interesting and practical because all of the resources shared are supposedly free to use/access. With the advent of many free Web 2.0 applications/resources it can be difficult to stay informed on new programs that may be beneficial in the classroom. This blog should aid me in finding useable and free resources from which I can recommend to my colleagues in future teaching positions. The free aspect is often a key aspect in helping educators surmount the numerous obstacles to integrating technology into their classroom. This along with other blog and internet resources will help me stay abreast of helpful resources from which to increase technology integration in my own teaching practice and that of my colleagues. I can’t wait to set up an aggregator that will catch new blog entries for me.
Reflection on Two Social Networking sites I’ve explored:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php (search for Jason Potsander and add as friend)
http://www.classroom20.com/profile/JasonPotsander
Thought it was interesting that when I joined www.ning.com it somehow found the same profile picture I used for Classroom 2.0.
This past week I dove into the world of Internet social networking sites. I joined Facebook and Classroom 2.0.
Facebook interested me because I had heard so much about it from various friends and news media stories. My closest experience using it came from periodically observing my 20-year-old brother access the site and show me various things on his Facebook page. I remained intrigued, but not quite ecstatic or motivated to try it independently. In my mind it remained a fad phenomena in which I could not really see the need for expending the energy to create and maintain a page. After becoming a member in the last week I must say my perspective has changed. In less than a week I have accepted 41 “friends” from all over the country and world that I have shared bits and pieces of my life with. It is interesting and fun to learn what many of my past friends are up too, without really expending that much energy aside from the initial time it took to create my profile. I was amazed at how efficiently Facebook automatically found and suggested potential people I may know. For many of these friends I would not necessarily take the time to write them an email nor would I have anything particularly important to say, but with face book I can easily post something on their wall and maintain a contact and connection without expending much effort since the Facebook page seems to do all the “work” of amassing updates of all kinds from my friends list. I particularly like the way Facebook lists networks that I can identify to join such my past High School and College. I also liked how Facebook collects all the photos my friends have uploaded so that I can view them and catch glimpses into their lives. Checking my friends “status” is also revealing into their lives as some friends update them daily based on what is happening to them or how they are feeling.
I also found Classroom 2.0 to be interesting. Within Classroom 2.0 I joined several subgroups such as “Connecting Content and Technology,” “Elementary School 2.0,” and “Mac Classroom 2.0.” I joined these groups because of personal and professional interests that I have and am tempted to join many of the other groups I saw listed. I am still learning how to interact within these groups and glean and contribute information. Overall I like the usability and page layout of Classroom 2.0 better than www.ning.com. I found www.ning.com to be a bit clumsy to navigate around and while it had many sub-groups from which I could join, it was hard for me to tell how active some of the groups were and how helpful they might be for me. I find it interesting that apparently Classroom 2.0 was created by using Ning. I found some the my subgroups such as “Mac Classroom 2.0” interesting. For example I learned that Apple will soon be releasing “Snow Leopard 10.6.”
Reflections on my Wikipedia Experience
Reflection on my Wiki contribution to the following article: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stay-at-home_dad#References).
Since my primary “occupation” this past year was being a stay-at-home dad I decided to look up what information Wikipedia had on the subject and if I might add any edification. To my surprise I found that Wikipedia did have a page devoted to “Stay-at-home dads” with some basic information regarding the historical and social background behind this family arrangement along with external links related to the topic. I deem the information presented in Wikipedia under this topic to be generally creditable and accurate despite its lack of depth into the topic. I feel in this instance, as in most, Wikipedia provides a convenient way to get a very cursory or initial explanation on a wide variety of topics. I would solely rely on Wikipedia as a primary resource no sooner than I would solely rely on print encyclopedia of old.
I registered an account with Wikipedia so I could be a contributor if I wished. Under the above Wikipedia article on “Stay-at-home dads” I contributed the following statistics that I gleaned from the U.S. Census Bureau: 64.3 million – number of U.S. fathers, 159,000 – number of stay-at-home dads in 2006, 2.9 million – number of preschoolers cared for by their dads while mom is at work. Within 24 hours of my additional posting to this article I found that my addition had been deleted. Unsure as to why my addition was deleted I took care to create the subtitle “Statistics” in which I placed my information under. Perhaps this subtitle will help it fit within the flow of the article in an acceptable manner. I can only assume that someone edited my information out the first time because I unknowingly placed the information under “References” which is not an accurate placement.
I have used Wikipedia in the past and will continue to in the future to gain a cursory idea of many topics that I would like basic information on. I feel that Wikipedia can generally be trusted to be as accurate or helpful as any print encyclopedia set. The common fault sited with wiki’s is their open nature which allows any common person to post information that may be baised, outdated, or incorrect. However, this open nature also allows people monitor the recent changes to Wikipedia to watch for postings that need further editing. The popularity of Wikipedia ensures that most submissions will be “reviewed” by enough people to help the postings aspire to a minimum quality level. The Wikipedia overview page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Overview_FAQ) claims that “the overall accuracy of the encyclopedia is improving all the time as it attracts more and more contributors.”
Reflections on Elluminate
The ED693 class meeting on 6/5/08 was my first experience using Elluminate and I must say it was a very positive experience. Having taken many distance education courses whose primary interaction came through weekly an online and in depth discussion boards, I can say I already feel more connected to my classmates, professor, and course objectives than I ever have through using discussion boards alone. The combination of shared audio and graphics really helped me to understand the various ways I would be interacting/navigating with this class and fulfilling its requirements via the UAS class home page, Moodle, blogs, and etc... Had it not been for the initial Elluminate class session I’m sure I’d be a bit lost and overwhelmed in trying to put the many components of this class together on my own in isolation. While the synchronous nature of Elluminate does create some added challenges in bringing distance education students together simultaneously, I believe the challenge is well worth the benefits.
I could see using Elluminate in many applications that go beyond the classroom. Such a tool could be used in supporting colleagues throughout your district or network by more conveniently sharing resources and ideas. I could also envision using Elluminate when joining or creating a professional interest group devoted to specific topics that pertain to my field. I believe a tool such as Elluminate would be particularly helpful when members of a group may never have the opportunity to meet each other in person. The combination of shared audio and graphics creates a shared experience that connects a group more than audio or graphics can alone.
My Social Networking Sites
Here are the links for two social networking sites I have joined.
http://www.facebook.com/home.php (search for Jason Potsander and add as friend)
http://www.classroom20.com/profile/JasonPotsander
http://www.facebook.com/home.php (search for Jason Potsander and add as friend)
http://www.classroom20.com/profile/JasonPotsander
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
My First Blog
This is my first attempt at blogging per requirements for my Emerging Internet Technology class I am taking.
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