Janaury 30

Today we are going to explore Google Products!


Please finish your blog post about Blogger Gadgets!

We will visit your classmates blogs and the other Computer Essentials class to see what gadgets they added.

Google Products

Today we are going to explore Google!  Google is more than just a search engine.  Google offers a variety of products for FREE!!! which makes searching the Internet for information or items to purchase more efficient! Time saver!

Please go to Google.com and wait.

Are you a Googler?

With Google you can: Search, Explore, Communicate, Show and Share.

How do you use Google?

Today we will discuss ways in which students use Google. Search, images, chat, etc. We will browse the other products that Google offers. We will explore the products.

If you are like most people, you use Google's products several times a day to search for information or to check email. Most people don't know, however, how many useful tools Google has to make research and time management much easier.

Google Products

Activity: Explore different Google tools using the websites listed below. Find at least 3 to explore in more depth and add a post to your blog describing the tools that you chose. (Include pictures!) Some tools, like Google SketchUp, require a free download.

Website that include lists of Google Tools:

Wikipedia

EduTecher

TeachWeb2.0

You already utilize gmail and blogger and I am sure you use google as one of your search engines. 

Google Products - Examples:
Drive
Blogger
Books
Maps
News
Product Search
Web Search Features
Translate

ASSIGNMENT - Explore the following gadgets - amount was given for each tool.  Make sure you take screen shots, etc.  You will be creating a post in the future about Google Products.

TOPICS COVERED:  
Google Maps
Google Books
Google Bookmarks

Google Gadgets

Google Gadgets For Your Blog! 

Click here!

Blogger Gadgets

Today we are going to explore Blogger's Gadgets.

Anywhere you see Add A Gadget on your layout view - you can add a Gadget.  So what Gadgets can you add?  Lets find out!

ASSIGNMENTExplore Bloggers Gadgets and identify what types of gadgets are available.  

• What did you find?  
• Create  new blog post showing examples of gadgets that you added to your blog, or ideas/examples of gadgets a person could add.  

• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• What are the benefits to adding this gadget to your blog?
• Take screen shots
• Explain how to add a gadget to your readers/followers
• Discuss five gadgets
• Discuss the gadgets that you added to your blog.

Friday, January 24

Please scroll down and read the Symbaloo post and wait for directions.

Today's Topic:  Social Bookmarking Website:  Symbaloo


ASSIGNMENT 1:

• Create a Symbaloo Account
• Create a blog post:  Title it Symbaloo
• Summarize what Symbaloo is - explain. - SOCIAL BOOKMARKING WEBSITE/TOOL
• Take a screen shot of your finished Symbaloo page and add it to the blog post.
• Benefits of using Symbaloo, etc.
• Add a link to Symbaloo - so your readers can access
• Add a new page - to Symbaloo to the top of your tabs page and create a page of your favorite websites!  HAVE FUN

Add Symbaloo Book Marker

Google Drive - Share - bookmark file

Symbaloo

Symbaloo's - Motto - START SIMPLE!

Visit Symbaloo today - click here!
Abilene has its own Symbaloo page!!!
or you can just use Symbaloo.com 

Symbaloo is social bookmarking website that utilizes icons.  I love this simple to use social bookmarking website.  Today we will visit and start utilizing Symbaloo.

abilene.symbaloo.com - which is a customized symbaloo education account with our school logo on it.  Symbaloo was generous enough to give us this account to utilize the school year.  Thank you Symbaloo!

Students and I will explore Symbaloo to see what other types of web mixes are out there that we would benefit from - adding to our Symbaloo page

A simple way for students to share and organize what they have found on the Internet is for them to use a social bookmarking website, Symbaloo. Symbaloo - is an icon bookmarking page - which is most commonly used as a personal start page. By setting it as your homepage on your browser, you can start with your online favorites everyday.

You can create your own "web mixes" of your favorite websites - or create them by category. You can conduct a search on Symbaloo to find web mixes that you can add them to your account. When you create a Symbaloo account, there are webmixes already created, such as, major news stories and news highlights from the NYTimes, Washingtonpost, CNN and Wallstreet Journal.

• Discover pages with the best links about a subject
• Create your own pages with favorites
• Share your page with the rest of the world
• You can share it with just one person, or publish it in the Symbaloo Gallery!

You can create a separate web mix for your different interest areas - games, travel, web tools, etc. To create a webmix, just click the Add a webmix link. Each webmix will have its own tab.

To share your webmix - just click share!

You can share it by email, Facebook or Twitter!

Other information:

• You can edit a webmix or tile. 
• Rename it
• Change wall paper to one of Symbaloo's pictures, or upload your own!
• When you update your webmix, be sure to click Update Webmix - otherwise your webmix will not be found or updated.
• Post the link of your webmix on your blog, facebook, website for others to utilize. If they have an account they can add your web mix to their Symbaloo account if they want
• Very user friendly social book marking site
• You can always stop sharing your web mix. By clicking stop sharing
• In the search box on Symbaloo, you can choose your search engine - you can search by the Internet, Images, or Maps.

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Here is an example of a Keyboarding Web mix I created for my classes.

As you can see I changed my background by uploading a picture of an iMac. You can also see the tab of web mixes that I have created.  To visit my keyboarding web mix click here. 

 Create an account to get started!

ASSIGNMENT/TODAY'S TOPIC

Please log on and complete your Welcome Voki!

Add your Welcome Voki to your blog - as a HTML gadget.

We will be looking adding traffic feed gadgets onto your blog!

ASSIGNMENT 1
Create a blog post about Voki - scroll down to previous Voki post for details.


ASSIGNMENT 2
Add a Feedjit live traffic feed counter onto your blog.


ASSIGNMENT 3
Add a flag counter to the bottom of your blog.

Flag Counter

Add a free counter to your blog and collect flags from visitors all over the world. Every time someone from a new country visits your site, a flag will be added to your counter. Not only will this make your site far more interesting, but clicking on your Flag Counter will reveal amazing information and charts!

Flag Counter Website

Add a flag counter to the bottom of your blog!

Feedjit!

Feedjit lets you see friends and visitors as they arrive on your blog or website. Know when your best friends read about your latest adventure. If you are a business owner, be alerted when your most important clients view your latest product offering. Feedjit lets you know, right now, who is visiting your site. Simply add the Live Traffic Feed and instantly start seeing who is visiting your site as they arrive.

See the actual identity of hundreds of thousands of Feedjit members when they visit your site including their photo and links to their website and social profiles. You can make new friends and leads by contacting the Feedjit members who visit your site. The Live Traffic Feed turns your unknown readers into real people.  Visit my blog here to see my FeedJit in action!  Click on the menu below FeedJit widget to see more details!

Visit Feedjit and add a live traffic feed.

How exciting!! It actually shows the country, browser, operating system and how a visitor arrives on your site!

How Do You Currently Utilize the Web?

Do you currently use the Internet?  Do you spend hours on the web, or rarely use the Internet? Please share how you spend your time on the Internet.

Please create a new post and share your favorite, or most common websites that you visit.  These websites could include gaming, social media, study, youtube, etc.

Include:

• pictures, examples
• brief description of each site
• Link to site

By sharing your favorite sites, this will allow others to see other possibilities and learn about other sites that they may have not known about before reading your blog post.

Voki

Get a Voki now by clicking here!

Voki enables users to express themselves on the web in their own voice using a talking character (avatar). You can customize your Voki to look like you or take on the identity of lots of other types of characters… animals, monsters, anime etc. Your Voki can speak with your own voice which is added via microphone, upload, or phone or you
can use the text to type function.

It will record up to a 90 second message.

Voki is a free service that allows you to create personalized speaking avatars and use them on your blog, profile and in email messages.

Create and customize your speaking character to express yourself, communicate and interact with your friends.

Also very useful to upload your digital voice recorder files to or podcasts!

Features: Change background - can be animated or still. You can upload your own picture for the background. Avatar speaks. Can use your cell phone or microphone to record your own voice.

ASSIGNMENT

Create a voki - with a welcome message to your blog
Add your voki's html code as a gadget - html on the right hand side of your blog.
Create a blog post - title it Voki
Your post should include:
What is Voki - Description - what can you do with your Voki? (background, speaks, 90 seconds)
A link to Voki's website so your visitors can make their own.
Explain how to add a Voki to a blog.
Overall thoughts on this tool
Take a snapshot of your Voki

Practice Blog Post

Web tool

• Description
• Features
• Benefits
• Picture
• Link
• How can a person use this tool, how will I use this tool.

Visit Abilene High School here!