Last Week of Internet Resources Class

I'm going to keep this short and sweet, just so I have a nice record of what we did this week.  As a group, we looked into copyright issues on the Internet.  Looked at some of the things that are allowable to do and somethings that could get you into hot water.  We also learned about online privacy.  After looking into this information, I have noticed that I am very open when it comes to Internet personal information, but also I know that I protect myself with strong passwords and constant checking of my online financial information.  Also, as a team, we looked at safety for children on the Internet and the different products and laws that are set to help protect children from material they should not be looking at on the Internet. 

Week 3 of Internet Resources

This week I learned about a couple of different options for online collaboration.  Currently, I have been using Google docs for my documents, spreadsheets and presentations and have been using Eluminate for my online meeting space.  We were instructed to look at a few different types of products that do similar things.  I investigated Adobe Buzzword, which is an online word processor.  It seems to be user friendly and has a lot of the same options as Google docs.  I don't think I am going to use this though, because I have been getting used to Google docs and did not see any huge difference that would make me want to stray away from Google docs.  I also started a free trial for Adobe connect.  This is an alternative to the Eluminate room.  I have to say I didn't get the whole fee for it because I didn't run a class on it, but it seems to that it would be a good option if I every wanted to try something new or if I got a job in the future teaching online classes and the platform used is Adobe connect.  If anything, I think it was good to get a feel for this products, in case I ever encounter a time where I would be mandated to use them.  

What I did this week

This week, one of our assignments was to react to the usefulness of Wikipedia.  Basically, at this point in time, I do enjoy it and feel it is a good resource, but it shouldn't be the only resource you use for information.  It can be a great tool for getting a general idea about a topic, but if you really need specifics, you should have cross checks with other forms of information.  I also learned how to use a Google Alert this week.  Basically, in your Google Account, you can set up specific terms.  If those terms come up in the Internet, you will get an email informing you where it is from and directing you to the site where it came from.  This can be a really handy thing if you want to get a lot of knowledge about a certain topic.  Another thing I learned this week that I can see as very useful in my personal and professional life is noodletools.com.  This site has a really great way of helping you find what you need.  It asks you what type of search you are doing and then gives you a list of websites that would best help you get where you need to go. 

New class...new ideas for Blogging

During our first class session for "Internet Learning Resource"  the instructor asked us if we enjoy and thing that our blogs useful.  I do think that they can have some value to them, but I wish we had a different way of setting it up.  We were asked if we can think of some way to do our blogging differently.  I do like this site, but I wish I had more immediate feedback as well as the ability to see many of my peers posts at one time, rather than having to click on their link.  I know that clicking on a link isn't hard, but since there are ways of sharing information, such as Facebook, this way just seems to be a little "old fashion."  I am very use to going on Facebook and seeing the live feed of all of my friends.  If somehow our blogs could be intertwined with some presentation software like that, I think I would enjoy it more.  I really am not sure how this could be done, but if anyone out there has an idea, I would like to hear it.  It think a lot of my peers would like to hear it as well.

As for what I have learned this past week, I really liked being introduced to Wikis.  I have found it very easy to enter my assignments and the Wiki in general is easy to use.  If you are unsure of what a Wiki is, it's just a site that is set up that can be edited by many people.  You have an area that tells you what you need to type about and you just edit and post your ideas under it.  I have used Wikipedia before and understand that is how Wikipedia works, but I haven't actually ever changed anything on that site.  It's fun to experience something similar to that in class as well as getting to use something different in this program than the Angel program and Google docs.  Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy those two programs, but I do like learning about other options.