Reflection

Since I began my study of Web 2.0 earlier this semester, my use of the Web has definitely changed. I had previously used various aspects of Web 2.0 such as Library Thing and Facebook, but I now use other tools and technologies that I hadn't tried or even heard of in the past. I now use Delicious to bookmark my websites. Using Delicious is much more effective for me because I am able to tag all of my chosen sites and even place them into various categories called stacks. Another tool that I plan on using is Blogger. Through my use of Blogger in this class, I have realized how much information and resources are out in the blogging world for teachers. I hope to create my own blog for this purpose very soon as well. Also related to blogging, I plan on experimenting more with kid-friendly blogs that i could potentially use in my future classroom. I find myself being constantly amazed at how the Web is ever-changing and always try finding ways that I can use the various aspects. The Web is definitely becoming more personalized, interconnected, and useful in my everyday life

Bing vs. Google

Once upon a time I was a die-hard Googler. However, at the moment I first used Bing, I was hooked. Sadly the thing that first got me was the home screen for Bing. I absolutely love the images they display and the facts/links. After using Bing further, I noticed that their image search really is a step above that of Google also. Some other features of Bing that I enjoy are their 'Popular Now' links and being able to connect to my search history. I do use Google at times as well. I feel that Google is ahead of the game with their various counterparts (Google Docs, Gmail, etc.). As far as searching with the search engines, Bing does a better job using semantics. After entering a search, Bing offers related searches as well, which I usually find very helpful on my quests for information. However, I don't think I could choose just Bing or just Google to use because they both seem to constantly keep improving to keep up with one another.

Meebo

To be honest, I had never heard of Meebo until today. From my experiences with client instant messaging applications, Meebo, a Web-based IM application, seems like they are a step ahead of the game. While Meebo has some features that are the same as other applications such as connecting through mobile devices, they have one feature that really sets them apart. Meebo has the ability to connect users to their friends by integrating thousands of social networks and communications channels into their one, easy-to-use application. Created in 2005, Meebo has now reached half of the United States' Internet population. Count me impressed.

Maps on a Spreadsheet

Google Spreadsheet

Searching for Myself...

Before completing a Google search on myself, I was thinking there would be absolutely nothing to find. Surprisingly, there were some search results.  The college website has information regarding me which makes sense. I also found sites that I had created in high school and had completely forgotten about. That was definitely interesting to see! I was also a bit creeped out by some random Web sites that have information about my family members and I. How is it that they have that?? Spooky.

Library Thing

I've been using Library Thing for quite some time and am constantly impressed by how efficient and easy it is to use. With the use of tags added by Library Thing members who have actually read the books, it is easy to search for and find books relevant to the specific topics you are interested in. When viewing the information page for a certain book, such as The Book Whisperer in the included link, I am able to determine what the book is about. The tag cloud, group of tags added to describe the book, shows what words the users have chosen and how many users chose those descriptors. The larger the font size of the tag, the more the tag was chosen. By looking at the tag cloud for The Book Whisperer, I am able to see that the top tags associated with the book are educationl, literacy, professional development/reading, and reading instruction. Having read the book, I believe that those tags would be appropriate for the book, but I feel as if classroom or children's books/literature could tagged more and, therefore, larger in font size in the tag cloud.


http://www.librarything.com/work/8040673

Feed Readers

There are many advantages of using feed readers. In my opinion the main advantage is having all of the subscriptions I am interested in in one place. This saves so much time that would have been spent jumping around from one blog site to another searching for relevant content. Another advantage is being able to 'star' favorite articles and posts. It's quick and easy to find your starred content in a feed reader, whereas in the past I had to save everything I wanted to access later in bookmarks in my browser.

The only disadvantages I see in the use of feed readers is that 1) it's very easy for me to spend WAY too much time browsing through all of the new content and 2) it's still a bit tricky for me to get used to using feed readers, but I'm sure that will pass in time as I become more used to the technology.