Thursday, September 24, 2009

Task 9

I'm not really a fan of this virtual reality and have some real issues with people not dealing with the real world. I can see some applications - e.g. using it as a test environment for sociological situations etc but really isn't it better to have a real dinner party, with real people in your real world?? Maybe I'm missing the point but I feel it is a sad situation when we see our society heading in this direction. I'd rather help people deal with their issues in this world.

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Task 8

I've created a Igoogle home page - it was definitely an easy task but I'm not sure I like the content that you can choose to use. Seemed too USA oriented e.g. the cooking section and didn't look like you could customize this aspect. If I feel inclined I might play around a little more and see what else can be placed there.

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Task 7

I think there is great potential for Google Book Search for a Librarian. I used it to find a title that a teacher was asking for that we didn't have. I was able to send him an email with a link to the book and where he could buy it. Also used it to find reviews for my google doc used in an earlier task.

Task 6

I've been using Googlemaps, google-earth and whereisit? for quite a while and find it very useful from a personal point of view. I have seen google- earth used to good effect on a videoconference between schools throughout Australia and Canada to show the participating schools and how they relate to each other on a geographical level. It worked really well.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Task 5

I've managed to post a googledoc onto my blog but somehow I've copied the heading twice? It doesn't show in the preview so not sure what has happened.

RECOMMENDED READING - WHAT'S HOT!

RECOMMENDED READING - WHAT'S  HOT!

SENIORS

The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo by Stieg Larsson Click for review
The Build up by Phillip Gwynne Click for review

Sunday, September 6, 2009

Task 4

Having read some of the links about Web 2 I agree that the difference really is in the way people are using it rather than that it is a whole new thing. I do have some reservations about my students using some of the feedback and discussions they find as authoritive. It's the same problem that I have with Wikipedia (the start of the Web 2 technologies in practice??) Even the senior students go straight to it and don't question what they find. My job is increasingly getting them to question what they find and confirm it from other reputable sources.
The other side of Web 2 that I do like is the interaction between students that it encourages. The discussions and sharing are great. For those of you who aren't familiar with the "book raps" idea - this was an early step towards getting students to share opinions and ideas online.