Thing 17

Social bookmarking is a new term to me. I explored http://delicious.com/ and had some interesting discoveries. It actually took me a while to figure out how it works. I clicked on the tabs on the top for different categories: fresh or popular. The Explore Tags tab shows many top rated sites including Flickr. I did a search with term "ESL teaching" and it returns many useful bookmarks. I think it definitely can be used for ESL teachers for social purpose or knowledge share. My experience is very enjoyable.

Thing 16

I added and re-arranged widgets on my new iGoogle homepage. I set up a Calendar with MSN calendar. I like iGoogle because I already tried this tool before and I have it integrated with my gmail account. It has so many useful widgets I can customize. I think online calendar may help me organize things, make schedules, and track due dates. To do lists should be combined with calender. I will definitely recommend MSN online calendar to my friends. I will encourage my students to try it as well. I know some of them already have iGoogle set up.

Thing 15

I followed the instruction and added some comments at apsu23thingssandbox. The following is the link. http://apsu23thingssandbox.pbworks.com/Blogging%2C-Avatars%2C-and-Commenting
I have used Wikipedia for a long time. At the beginning, I don't really know that everybody can add and edit Wiki, which may make the information unreliable. However, I still think it is a good idea to share the knowledge and collaborate online. I looked some web sites of schools and libraries using Wiki, for example, Westwood Schools and I was impressed how they have been using Wiki in teaching. The current site has classes for 8th, 9th, and 10th grade. It has a well organized calendar which is updated with current event. I'd like to try this in my ESL reading class some time. I believe my students will like it since most of them are active learners and I am sure they will enjoy writing their own Wiki and share their knowledge with others.

Thing 14

I created a simple flowchart with Gliffy which has a very simple user interface but a large collection of shape library. I think flowchart can be used in my teaching to show order of selecting the reading strategies. Many of my students are going to take TOEFL later and I think a guideline shown in flowchart may help them to remember the key steps when working on a reading question.

For mind map, I enjoyed using mindmeister. It's a good to have ideas connected in a way. I checked the examples for the education category and found many interesting mind maps. To me, this is a great tool to get my "thinking" organized, get my ideas laid out and connected, and help to discover some surprising patterns. I will ask my students to try this tool when they take notes or make a plan, either for study or for fun. I think it will help my students to be more active about the topics, and I may ask them to share their drawings.

Thing 13

I opted to explore Google docs instead of Zoho Writer. I am writing in Google docs now. Google docs uses an interface with a menu and a toolbar. which allows users to access standard document editing features such as font type, size, and style. It can insert image, table, drawing, link, and even equations like MS Word. It supports CSS and HTML too. Above is a screen shot of what I typed in the Google docs editor.

The presentation is easy to use as well. Above is a sample I created with Google docs. I can pick up different themes and add multiple slides. It can be shown in full screen similar to PowerPoint except it sis done online. It allows me to add speaker notes too. I will let my students try the presentation some time.

Finally, I imported a sample Excel file to Google docs Spreadsheet and created a chart from the data as shown above. It surprised me how much features Google docs has integrated into this online spreadsheet application. It is not as powerful as Excel but it gets the basic things done quickly and easily.

Thing 12

I have set up Google alerts with search term "ESL Reading" and have it delivered to my gmail. I will see what I may receive and how relevant the emails are. I also created a personal search homepage with iGoogle but I haven't figured out how to share it. It seems I need my friends' gmail addresses.

I also followed the link to Google Notebook but found it is being phased out by Google as it says "Google recently stopped development on Notebook, which means it's no longer open to sign-ups by new users or being improved." I think it is replaced by a better tool - Google Docs.

I think all these tools are useful in an education setting. I will ask my students to try iGoogle and we may also use Google Docs for presentation, group discussions, and the built-in spreadsheet feature is awesome!

Thing 11

I explored more blog searcher engines like Google Blog Search and Technorati. Both have great features to help users to locate the blog/RSS feeds they are looking for. I also played with some other tools and here are the answers to the following questions.

• Which method of finding feeds did you find easiest to use?
  Through the search engine, e.g., Google search in the Google reader.
• Which Search tool was the easiest for you and which was more confusing?
  Although I am a fan of Google, but I like Technorati better because it seems to be more organized with topics and it has ranking of popular blogs.
  
• What kind of useful feeds did you find in your travels or what kind of unusual ones did you find?
  Well, I found very interesting (and amazing) pictures and useful articles for my teaching. I believe there will be some more discoveries when I keep exploring this new way of collecting information.
  
• What other tools or ways did you find to locate newsfeeds?
  I haven't had chance to try other ways or use tools besides those given in the instructions. I know there are a lot more out there. Right now, I think looking for the RSS feed icons is one of the most efficient ways.