Really delicious

I am absolutely loving delicious..! (Easily pleased) but love the way you can just update existing tags so easily as well. And it's great fun to see what links people send you. I'm sure there's loads more i will find out about using it!

Photo

I still haven't got a pic of the Alice dress to show you, seems no one has managed to upload any pics of the wedding yet; some people are so out of touch with technology ;) (rolls eyes) hoho.
I have one of the course tutor but dont know if he'd appreciate that - here is one kind of connected to the course - some sweeties. Just to show i can do it! Ooh doesnt it look nice!!

mind meister task3

Phew there is a lot to do this week! I've had a quick play with mindmeister and it's not bad, easy to use, eye catching. Saves scrawling things on bits of paper and then losing them like normal. And great to share ideas - I emailed a document to my team and asked them to add things - seemed totally archaic and silly when we could all be using a shared doc somewhere!!
If we can all add to a mind map for our presentation, we should be able to see what we want to do for it.
My first thoughts are a quick run through of what tools we've met, and perhaps each choose a favourite or say pros and cons of them. Or maybe focus on ones that could help in work? Looking forward to sharing thoughts.

wk3 task2

Wow this delicious tool is (yeh you guessed it) delicious! I really like it ... lots to explore. I have moved my bookmarks over and had a look at the other sites in my network, and also the popular and "all" parts. Tagging is a simple but great way of grouping sites together, so that if you want to see all your sites on one thing eg volunteering, then you can.
I have directed my sister to it. She and I are planning a trip together, and it would be a perfect place to save sites and share sites that we wish to visit. Perfect timing!
Delicious would be brilliant, nay, perfect, for students! Instead of photocopying loads of handouts that students currently have to borrow from the office, taking it in turns - they could access all the material online, simultaneously. Students could share resources they find themselves with fellow students and tutors. It would make group projects easy, as students could work together from wherever they were, learning to collaborate with others!
For research, it is perfect - you'd store your own sites together by area, share sites with people who you think might find them useful, and see what other people have found on your research areas. You could develop a really valuable list of resources. Sharing sites by simply sending them to someone is quicker and easier than emailing them the link. All good stuff!!

tuesday

Slowly things are beginning to tie in together - I'm beginning to see how all these new technologies fit together - I quite like how on igoogle you can see your reader and inbox at the same time (plus facts about leeches (today's fact ugh) and my horoscope ;) for spiritual guidance!)
Looking forward to exploring del.icio.us and seeing what other fab links people have as i never seem to find any myself and my sister always does. must get her onto it.
More later but am proper dreamy today.

New tools

I think we could definitely make use of Google docs at work. Someone said to me yesterday they'd lost a document and they came to me cos they "knew i'd have it" (misguided person...) I said, "I might have a solution to that!" because imagine if all our shared docs were in one place... great.

I went to a presentation on Wimba voice tools, which can be used in WebCT. Voice recordings are embedded in WebCT and can be used to practise oral and listening skills. Staff can record tasks, and students can record their answers, listen to others' answers and respond to them, and listen to themselves, which helps them improve their accents. Students on the pilot scheme have responded really well to it and have done additional work independently, which must show their enthusiasm for the technology. I thought it was great: really easy to use and really great to get students practising their languages. For more info see Clelia Boscolo in the Italian dept.

Themes - wk2task2pt3

I was thinking the other night (it was 5am, that's how keen I am!) how about a dream blog? I could record my weird & wonderful dreams (I had a strange one about having to sing a song but not knowing the words… I was making it up as I went along...hm… not difficult to see how that relates to reality). But would anyone actually be interested?? Possibly not!! You could link it to dream interpretation sites... nah...

What else? Travel blogs are popular and look flash with all the photos of temples and spice markets. Probably most interesting if you're related to the traveller. And of course you have to be going somewhere! My sister and I are planning a small trip (a “Trip Lite”!) in July where we're going to visit interesting places in the UK - it'd be great to blog it all. If she’ll let me take her computer.

But if I’m going to have a new blog to keep up after the course (which I must!! and so must you!) then I need to think of a theme (after all, rambling on wouldn't necessarily be great reading).

A new one I’ve seen is someone posting what birds they see http://jenkarpers.blogspot.com/ - suspect title but nice pics, more info would be nice. I could do this as I love my birds and many come to the garden: you could record the changing seasons, baby birds developing, exciting sightings etc. Potential for photos, video clips, links etc. Get people interested in wildlife!

addict

now i've discovered when you're not blogging ur checking ur reader for new stories! and reading them! addictive personality? me!?

top blogs

Just wanted to add, have been trying to filter thru all those blogs by googling "top blogs" and seeing what's recommended. Says this is a mega popular one - has links to other places.
http://www.boingboing.net/
And there's ones with awards
http://www.metro.co.uk/yourmetro/article.html?in_article_id=36648&in_page_id=54
I guess you've got to find your own favourites, really!

Task 2, part 2

This week I've added some feeds to Google Reader and have read thru the webct info - lots of useful stuff about what you can do in the Reader tool. Naturally you can do just about everything - seems this is the way with all new technology. (Does that make me sound old!?) I've just seen, it even selects other sites for you based on what you've already registered!

It feels good learning all this new stuff. If i was telling someone about starting a blog, I'd recommend they have a theme, as the blogs i've seen with themes are better than random postings about nothing. I mean, you could have an online diary where you just say what you're thinking/doing, but if it was centred round something, people interested in that theme might read it regularly http://thesecretlifeofamanicdepressive.wordpress.com/

Does it matter if no one reads it, or is it the blogging itself that is important?

I think it works better if you post regularly (some blogs look interesting and then you see the last post was months ago and it feels out of date). And you're more likely to post regularly if you're reporting on the progress of something like a project (I saw one on the construction of some building, it was boring but hey. Can't find the original but here is another: http://3a-construction.blogspot.com/).

Plus you want a clear layout, not too many patterns, and some photos! (to be added, to enhance this blog!) But not ALL photos! http://thecrazyneoprintgal.blogspot.com/2008_05_01_archive.html

I was really into the Alice theme at the weekend - realised that the dress I wore to a wedding looked a bit like hers (cept in red n white, not blue - should post a photo really haha)!

Wk 2 Task 1: RSS Feeds and Readers

Well, here we are again! So much to catch up on. Suppose you don't all want to hear about my weekend but I can always start a new blog about that kind of thing(!) Complete with photos of people you are never likely to meet, ever.

Have started this week's task, (done little other work today, this stuff is pleasantly time consuming!). Have signed up to some blogs (Russell Brand included, bless him) and have a few thoughts arising from this.

What I like is how you can just go to one place quickly to see when there is something new to read - so I can see at one glance when you have all updated your blogs! - altho for things like the bbc there'll be lots of updates daily ... not sure I like the idea! I am confused because it also seems to list the same items more than once, does anyone know why?...
I also like the way you can see on the top of the tabs whether a new item has appeared in the reader.

And you know what I don't like - Google Reader keeps signing me out!
I'm more generally confused and having a few dizzy moments trying to remember the quickest way to get to things (my own blog included) and the best way to navigate round. Of course these things take a while to get used to.

At work Google Reader would be good, if you had a lot of online learning sites ;) which related to your job. It's quick and easy to check for any new posts in one place rather than in several.

At home the same applies, you could check your favourite sites easily - if like me you forget to look you may not miss out on important info like when Russell or the Young Knives are next touring.

oh!

Oh! I see they've changed the confusing background already! so you won't see what i mean...!

dazed and confused

Finally, a blog that's confusing:
http://keithandjilllobdell.blogspot.com/
(Check out the course docs FAQs for helpful linking-to-blogs info!)
It's confusing cos the background makes it hard to focus on what's been blogged!! I haven't found anything I really dislike - I'm too chicken to blog for anything about spiders, heights, butchers shops etc(!)

spots before the eyes!

http://choosinghapiness.blogspot.com/
This is a blog I don't like, purely because of the background!
I feel a migraine coming on!

tabbed browsing

Love this tabbed browsing!

My experiences of blogging this week

There are so many blogs out there, on every single thing imaginable, you can spend hours looking at different things. Who is reading them? Who is writing them? Why are they writing them? What would I write about? It is nice to read about things you like, such as (ahem) knitting, and I think it'd be really useful if you can share ideas and learn stuff off each other. For people who feel isolated about something, like a medical condition, it could be a great way of finding out that others share your experiences. I'm not so interested in baby photos or travel pics but pet photos are always entertaining!

In the World of Work (a phrase they used at my school! ha!) there must be some use for them... I thought that our students on their year abroad (they go to France, Spain etc) could share their experiences with students back home - and not feel isolated - and staff could also learn more about how the students get on - which in turn ought to help us improve their experiences.

Collaboration makes it more fun cos people can share what they find and help each other do things the easiest or best way. Plus making new friends!

new google tools review

Loving the new google tools, feel well up to date now. Next I will be wearing black and hanging out by the cathedral.

What does everyone think of the new google family? (Faaam'ly, if you are in Eastenders). I like gmail - love the way it stacks your messages and replies up together. Really enjoyed trying out the Chat thing with Bill, you can see when the other person is replying and it is much quicker than email for a quick exchange of ideas (or gossip)- just like a conversation, but online! (making it cool). This is why it's important that everyone joins us at the bar this week, so we dont lose the art of spoken communication.

I like the Documents section, because it is clear. Everything is listed in one place, so you know where to find something. You can see which people have access to which documents, and it shows you the last person to update a document. You can sort the documents into folders.

I think that this would be useful for my Department, as we have lots of documents that everyone needs to read and refer to and perhaps update. It would be good if there was just one place where they could go to see everything. This would save emailing documents to people. I can never find emails quickly.

This could also be useful for students - we could put all their forms, or course handouts in one place. Would it be easy to give shared access to one place for so many students?

knitting bliss

I have found loads of blogs on craft and knitting and such like (a recent new obsession!)

including www.futuregirl.com/craft_blog/index.aspx

http://www.crochettogo.blogspot.com/

http://www.knittingplace.blogspot.com/ (half in norwegian but interesting!)

My sister sent me this "hilarious" blog with some really vile knitted things on it! Check out the "cute" jumpers for goats:

http://youknitwhat.blogspot.com/2005_07_01_archive.html

I am going to pick "Crochet to go" as Blog I like #2 - as is set out nicely with pics, and is easy to navigate - with plenty of links to related sites.

I scream you scream etc....

Just made the mistake of asking for a "coffee" in Mason Lounge and being given a full run-down of what a latte is, what a cappuccino is, etc... Ok, so it was stupid. People used to ask my mother for a loaf of bread in a bakery (there were so many varieties...) what is the world coming to?

I have stumbled on the most delicious (literally) blog! It's so hot in here (our week of summer, make the most of it!!) that my thoughts (naturally) turned to ICE CREAM! Yey! And by putting this in the search engine thingy (I like blogcatalog it seems clear) - I found this fab blog on an Irish ice cream maker. http://www.icecreamireland.com/
So this is Blog 1 wot I like.

Reasons being:

• it features ice cream.


• it features ice cream recipes!!! for yummy flavours such as mint ice cream with choc shavings


• it has pretty pictures of ireland in it (lovely)

There are some nice photos - always important, I think, and if you get really into the ice cream firm you can keep in touch with new developments! People have commented on different recipe ideas/ingredients to try etc....

OK so it's not that exciting but it's a start!!

exploring in wonderland

Hello again,
Well it is Tuesday and I am eagerly waiting to see what the rest of you have been up to so far - how are you getting on with your task? There's quite a lot to do and I don't really know where to begin. Well, I do, that is a lie - I am in the "blogosphere" (picking up the jargon!) and it's a bit overwhelming deciding which blogs to look at... there are so many! (Master of the understatement, me).

Feeling a bit lonely though, even tho there's millions of us out there - hoping to hear from one of you soon!

Week 1 thoughts

Well the first lesson in the new Web 2.0 course is over and I didn't realise there was so much to learn! It certainly beats putting marks in the database or putting staples in someone's stapler (I have genuinely been asked to do this).

I hope everyone else enjoyed it as much as I did - it will be really good if we all get involved and work on it between classes. It's finally time for me to join the 21st century and to sign up to broadband at home!

Naturally i ended up in the bar afterwards, which was great, and now we know there is a 22.05 train that bill can catch home...

Looking forward to reading about what weird and wonderful blogs are out there - i've updated my profile so check it out!

A new beginning!

This is the first blog