Activity 8 iGoogle

This was the first time I have actually taken the time to have a good look at iGoogle. It has some interesting widgets to put onto your homepage - a lot of time could be wasted I think just searching through everything. I also found some widgets interesting tho such as having the weather radar and news updating regularly. Could be useful for a quick look during the day. The games could also be fun. iGoogle is very simple to use and I do like the fact you can customise it to whatever you want and update it with ease.

Activity 7 Google Books

An interesting Google tool that I guess over time will continue to be developed. Allows you to view many books online and gives you a summary of different books. Some I believe you have to purchase while others are free and can be viewed on line. I think this is a tool that will become increaingly important as its developed and as e books are used more and more.

Activity 6 Goolge Maps

This is an application I have used in the past on both a personal and professional level. I have used it to organise holidays and to find directions to certain destinations and also as a teaching tool when looking at certain aspects in SOSE lessons. I have always found the students have enjoyed using this application and can get carried away looking for many different places. Thae part I find most interesting is how you can add places to the maps of interest to you to help with finding directions. This is an application that I would like to use more in my teaching however sometimes fail to do so due to time restrictions. A better effort will be made again after loooking at it and being reminded of just how powerful it is.

Activity 5 Google Docs

Wow! I sat down with a group of colleagues and had a look at Goolge Docs. We played around with different templates and editing each others work. I was surprised with how easy this was and how you could see what each other had changed. I can really see the practical uses for this in Education. I could see it being used for planning documents when ocllaboratively planning with colleagues as it would ensure everyone always has an up to date version as well as a collaboration tool for students to use during group work. It definitely beats emailing new versions backwards and forwards. Thumbs up for this application!

Activity 4 - Web 2.0

Web 2.0 is all about the particpant as a creator. Web 2.0 applications involve the particpant actively updating and creating information to be added to a particular site. Without the involvement from the particpant, Web 2.0 would not be anything. From looking at the link and further research there seems to be alot of acronyms involved with Web 2.0.

Activity 1 - 3

Well I am finally making my very first Blog. After some trouble with the computer freezing I finally managed to register and here I am. Whilst reading about the course and looking into a few of the links it reminded me of some of the great Web 2.0 tools that are out there. I had a look at Tom March's link through the Lucacept Link in Activity 1. SomeWeb 2.0 tools that I knew of but had forgotten about that I can see a great use for in the classroom include Tubechop and Exploratree. I also enjoyed the video's on Blogging in plain English and I also found one on Wiki's. I am really looking forward to the rest of the course and getting new and practical ideas of what can be done in the classroom to make the teaching and learning processes more engaging. Blogging, if used appropriately, seems like a great way to share ideas and if the computer works properly, quick and easy to set up and manage.