Week 7 tech explorations

Maybe I'm feeling cynical today, but this week's reviews are all pretty negative... I didn't see much usefulness in these resources.

www.delicious.com

1.	Describe what you learned from exploring this resource.  Be thorough in your response.
	Delicious is an interesting resource which uses a combination of lists and tags to create a database of links to websites you are interested in.  Using the ability to link to other existing accounts, like your facebook, delicious keeps track of links you have shared and makes them accessible in a searchable list so that you can easily find them again.
2.	How could you use this resource in a school setting?  It does not matter if it is in your field or level, you need to understand how the resource might be used in educational settings.
	Not only does this resource already have a list of links for educational technology resources, but you can use it to track your own links and resources, or make them share-able to others.  You could use this site to create a list of links for certain webquests or other online activities for students.
3.	Would you recommend this resource to other educators? Like/Dislike; Ease of use, fee or not, and so forth.  Why or Why not?
	Honestly I don’t see the point in this resource… when you have the ability to bookmark resources in EVERY browser (even mobile ones!).  If you want to keep track of a link or resource simply create a bookmark for it, then when you find it difficult to remember which bookmark is what, create folders for your bookmarks to organize them into!  (Edtech folder for edtech links, for example).  This, of course, doesn't allow you to access these links if you are on another computer… this is the only true benefit I see to using this resource.  If you often find yourself using multiple computers and do not have the ability to access your saved bookmarks on your home/work computer then having an online version would help!  I also see it as a kind of search engine, giving you the ability to search for tags, finding links other people have found helpful for that tag… and this could come in handy.

www.historypin.com

1.	Describe what you learned from exploring this resource.  Be thorough in your response.
	Historypin is a unique photo hosting web resource which utilizes google maps to also add location information about the photographs.  Unlike google’s typical location based photos that can be viewed on google maps, historypin also allows you to search specific time periods, hence the name!  Historypin was created to give people the ability to share their old historic photos in an interesting way.  You are able to search for and view photos from different time periods and compare them to how that location looks today!
2.	How could you use this resource in a school setting?  It does not matter if it is in your field or level, you need to understand how the resource might be used in educational settings.
	This resource would be fantastic in a history class.  Students can see and compare the way locations looked in the past with how they appear today.  This would be a good resource for photos for presentations and other research.    It would be a great activity to ask students to upload their own photos to the site, putting their own personal mark on history!
3.	Would you recommend this resource to other educators? Like/Dislike; Ease of use, fee or not, and so forth.  Why or Why not?
	This is an interesting resource but limited.  This resource, like so many publicly edited content historypin is restricted to the content which it’s users have uploaded.  If there are no users uploading content for particular areas there will be a gap in the database.  For example, I live around the Murray Kentucky area and I don’t see any content for my area on this site… even though I know that Murray State University has a rich history in the area with plenty of historic photographs available, there hasn't been a user to upload them to historypin! I would recommend this site to teachers, but I would be careful how they use it.  I think it would be great to ask students to find old photographs with their family’s help to create more content for their area!

www.diigo.com

1.	Describe what you learned from exploring this resource.  Be thorough in your response.
	Diigo is a web-browser add on which allows you to organize and save information you have found online.  It not only creates a list of bookmarked pages, but highlight and annotate webpages.  You can also create screenshots and other captures of the information you are viewing.  Going beyond web browsers diigo apps for mobile devices which allow you to save notes and reminders to access later.  Interestingly, all the data which you save, highlight, or annotate gets saved into a cloud based server which allows any device you use (installed with diigo’s utility) to access it.  This allows you to pick up where you left off, or re-access notes you have created, from any device connected to the internet.
2.	How could you use this resource in a school setting?  It does not matter if it is in your field or level, you need to understand how the resource might be used in educational settings.
	This would be a good resource for teachers who have trouble organizing their resources.  The ability to highlight and add sticky notes to webpages would be helpful.  Sometimes when I save things to my browser favorites I forget where, or what it was, on the page which I wanted to access later!  I see this utility mainly for personal use to keep organized, however students can use this to help them study when using online resources.  The ability to highlight and annotate web documents is a great study tool!
3.	Would you recommend this resource to other educators? Like/Dislike; Ease of use, fee or not, and so forth.  Why or Why not?
	Diigo is free, so if you feel like this is a resource that would help you stay organized I would recommend it.  I don’t think I personally would use it, as I have my own methods for keeping track of my bookmarks and favorites…  although I do see the benefit of being able to make saved copies of webpages which may be changed or taken offline!  This allows you to have an archived copy for later use if they are taken down.  The ability to access your bookmarks from any device is also helpful.

Online calculators: http://pbskids.org/cyberchase/games/calculator/ 

http://www.softpedia.com/get/Science-CAD/Big-Simple-Talking-Calculator.shtml

1.	Describe what you learned from exploring this resource.  Be thorough in your response.
	Both of these resources are calculators which are essentially text-to-speak utilities which “talk” the entry back to the user.  The first resource is geared towards children, with a fun animated calculator and a clear and easy to understand voice.  The second is a downloadable calculator which takes up the entire screen of the computer when it is being used.
2.	How could you use this resource in a school setting?  It does not matter if it is in your field or level, you need to understand how the resource might be used in educational settings.
	I could see this being used by students learning early math.  The second, downloadable calculator could be helpful for those with vision problems as it fills the entire screen.
3.	Would you recommend this resource to other educators? Like/Dislike; Ease of use, fee or not, and so forth.  Why or Why not?
	I personally do not see the value in these calculators… for young children this might be a novel way to teach them how to think about math problems, but for high school (which I will be teaching) I do not see the benefit.  Quite honestly, I find the talking part of the calculators annoying!

Math wiki example: http://2write4math.pbwiki.com/ 

1.	Describe what you learned from exploring this resource.  Be thorough in your response.
	This wiki is a guide to combining writing with other content areas, specifically into the mathematics curriculum.  This wiki has resources for teachers to teach them how to integrate writing objectives into the math curriculum, resources and suggestions for student activities, as well as other resources.  This is also a good example of how to set up a wiki.
2.	How could you use this resource in a school setting?  It does not matter if it is in your field or level, you need to understand how the resource might be used in educational settings.
	I would not use this resource for more than anything other than an example of how to lay out and create a wiki page.  I will be teaching science, not math… however a few of the assignments suggested in this could be utilized in a science class (like a weekly journal activity).
3.	Would you recommend this resource to other educators? Like/Dislike; Ease of use, fee or not, and so forth.  Why or Why not?
	Honestly I do not know.  I wouldn’t use much from this resource because I don’t feel like it is applicable to my content area in high school science.  However, math teachers (and English) may find it useful.  I also feel like there are better examples of wiki pages available (I do not like the way this one is arranged and organized… it feels very busy!).

PicLits http://www.piclits.com

1.	Describe what you learned from exploring this resource.  Be thorough in your response.
	Piclits is a site which combines photography with literature to create “meaningful” pieces.  The idea being that piclits’ database of pictures will inspire users to caption them with interesting text…
2.	How could you use this resource in a school setting?  It does not matter if it is in your field or level, you need to understand how the resource might be used in educational settings.
	Supposedly piclits encourages and helps teach literacy…  I would assume that English teachers could use this resource to encourage students to be creative in their writing, using the photos as a starting point.  An interesting assignment could be choosing a photo for all of the students to use, and having everyone write a story or caption based on the same photo and compare the results.
3.	Would you recommend this resource to other educators? Like/Dislike; Ease of use, fee or not, and so forth.  Why or Why not?
	Honestly I do not like this resource.  The captions do not appear well on the photos, many of them feel too busy and formatted strangely.  My OCD kicks in when I see poorly designed material like this!  The text should never cover up key parts of the photo, and the text should be uniform, not random…  this may work well for some people, but I did not enjoy it.   The other issue I have with resources like this is the limited database of photos to pull from.   I also do not see any use for this resource in teaching high school sciences!