Thing 14

I joined Facebook mostly to get in touch with old friends and colleagues. It is a quick and easy way to catch up and let them know I am thinking of them. I can see what they're up to and find out what we have in common. If there are common interests, and time avails itself, I might even find myself reconnecting with them in person.

I am very aware of the common mistakes people make with social networking sites like this, and I am vigilant about checking privacy settings that seem to change frequently without notice. I also make it common practice not to "friend" students or people I do not recognize as friends. Many people seem to go overboard with social networking, as if it is some kind of addiction, and share ridiculous personal information with the Facebook world. I find this appalling.

I really enjoyed seeing how the NHS library uses Facebook to their benefit. After seeing that, I can definitely see how I could use Facebook for my computer technology program. I could post tips and cool tech happenings on there. I could also share student created photos and videos (ensuring copyright rules apply!) on there. I like this idea!

Thing 13

I created my account with Delicious. I chose Delicious as opposed to Diigo only because this is my first time social bookmarking and the Diigo looks more advanced.

I chose to begin bookmarking all the great new technology sites I have been learning about. I am excited about this because I have written descriptions of what each does (since it is easy to forget if not consistently used), and I now have access anytime, anywhere and so do my students and colleagues. If I want students to explore some sites I have for them, I can direct them to my Delicious site. If I am at a workshop or a meeting with my technology colleagues and we are sharing ideas, these sites are at my fingertips. I see see so many benefits here.

If parents are interested in what I am sharing with students, and would like to explore as well, I can send them to this bookmarking site to take a look. I love this new tool!

Thing 12

I think it is extremely important to be able to organize all of these amazing digital resources. The Internet is so full of amazing resources, and some that are not so useful as well. When we find something that is useful, it is so important to be able to continue to use it, and to share it with others who can benefit.

I love the fact that I can bookmark something at home and have it at my fingertips at school. I love that I can work on it at home, and a colleague can do the same and then we can share each other's findings with ease. Being someone who has just had MAJOR issues with her PC, and junked it for a brand new iMac, I would be much happier if I had used Delicious.com to organize my bookmarks instead of my browser. You live, you learn. That is why I am taking this online workshop. I feel like I should have known all about these things, but I have not found the time to explore.

I will find this extremely useful to share the great sites I have already learned about here with students, colleagues and friends. I will also find this very useful to assist those students who need some extra help exploring resources that have been deemed appropriate and relevant to the research they need to do. I just need to be very aware of how I tag items, so that they are easily understood.

I should also remind students that they need to give appropriate tags to items so that they are not offensive or misleading.