BP3_Diigo Group (Screen Shot)

 

Link to our Diigo Website: http://groups.diigo.com/group/the_team

Here is the screen shot of my group's Diigo page.  The Team is composed of Ginny Holm, David Hotler, Jerusha Hufstetler, Dennis Woodward, and of course your blog host (Michael George).

 

In addition to having a group page where we can share bookmarks I have created my own personal Diigo page to track bookmarks for the research articles for my action research project and have invited my critical friends to join.

 

Link to my ARP Diigo Site: http://groups.diigo.com/group/mg3s-action-research-project-bookmarks

BP_2_iGoogle Screen Shots

Here is a screen shot of my HOME iGoogle TAB, you can click the image to SUPER-SIZE.

FSO TAB Screen Shot (Click Image to SUPERSIZE)

My FSO Tab has mostly links to FSO, Viddler, and Team Paged e.g. (Facebook, Diigo).  This is a great way to organize all the various resources and URL's for quick access. It also has the required Diigo and MyListy search boxes.

AR Screen Shot (Click Image to Supersize)

CBL/ETC TAB Screen Shot (Click Image to Supersize)

The AR/CBL area of my iGoogle contains all the required elements, links, and gadgets.  I substituted social photos gadget for the Flickr gadget since the gadget can also access Picassa.  I am a heavy Google Docs user already. Also, I prefer the free form sticky notes over an advanced project management calendaring gadget for simplicity.

BP_1_Google Reader

image courtesy: http://0at.org/blog/free_rss_icons

RSS (Real Simple Syndication) Feeds

I have been using RSS for many years starting with a PC application called RSS Reader.  Thanks to Google and Web 2.0 technology you can configure Google Reader as your online RSS reader which is much more convenient because you can now access your feeds from any computer.  As a teacher I primarily I use RSS for deal shopping and this means taking advantage of websites like:

• Fatwallet.com
• Slickdeals.net
• Cheapstingybargains.com

Being able to aggregate all of the deal sites is great for finding stuff that is free, close to free, clearance, or a really good deal. It is especially nice around the holidays when the Black Friday deals start to leak. However, I must give you a word of caution about these sites.  Deal shoppers have a saying, "I'm saving so much money that I'm going broke" so please deal shop responsibly.

Next up on my RSS feed lists are sites that I pull technology education material from:

• TED
• Lifehacker
• Slashdot
• Tom's Hardware

On Friday in my classroom I have "Big Idea Day" where I typically show a TED video then have a followup activity like a debate, journal, or hands-on activity.  Lifehacker is great website for random tips on everything from working more productively to fixing electronics to staying healthy.  Slashdot is a website with the tag-line, "News for Nerds and Stuff that Matters"  and if you want to be a geek, you have to read Slashdot every day or hour.  Slashdot used to be one of the biggest blogs on the Internet and posting a link to a website on Slashdot would generate so much traffic that it could crush any website and the term "The Slashdot Effect" was coined.  Tom's Hardware is a great blog for learning about new technology and the relative price performance of the new technology.  I rely on Tom to guide me to the best hardware and then provide a guide on how to overclock or modify it for even more performance.

Two of the heavy sites on my list are:

• MIT's Open Course Ware
• Experimental Theology

MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) started putting all of it's courses online way before the idea was en-vogue and you can now experience nearly any MIT course online for free.  This is a great website for learning and reteaching even though YouTube Channels like Khan Academy have stolen the limelight in recent times, MIT was "kicking it oldschool" using RealAudio and RealPlayer before YouTube even came on the scene.   Another topic I follow is religion and the Experimental Theology blog is in my opinion one of the most thought provoking Christian blogs on the Internet today. One of my favorite blogs posts is The Bait and Switch of Contemporary Christianity.