User talk:Kjohnson101

Diigo: Diigo is a research based tool. It also has the availability of networking. It is very easy to access and is free to users. The ease of use can be determined by the amount of time you have been using the tool. Obviously the longer an individual has been using diigo, the better that individual will be at navigating through the website. There are three main areas of diigo; research, share, collaborate. Also included on diigo is your library, your network, groups, and community. There is a tour that you can view before you get started that highlights the 'cool' areas of the website. One thing I was not too sure about was the availability of assistance. There is a tool bar, and settings but that was all I could see, so assistance on the website of diigo may be questionable. I actaully created an account and would rank user interaction at a high level. There is so much for the user to do. They can make book marks, add their own ideas called 'sticky notes' to the web pages that they wish to save under bookmarks. You can also search under all your archived webpages by entering a search word and you can store web pages under different names; this way you can section things out for your convenience. Diigo is a reliable tool and has the advantage of things being saved in a back up mode by the website. As far as spell check there is none for the message type area for the social networking spot. The quiality of audio/video was pretty good on the ones that were available. Since it is a research tool you will be finding information not so much using information that they actually have. It is a search tool that allows you to save areas of interst to you. Your account is paassword protected and in case you have lost or forgotten your password it can be emailed to you, which can be convenient at times. Once you have saved/bookmarked something you can always revert back to it and in a sense look at the past of your research time. If you are ready to be organized and want easy access to saved webpages, and even access to other collaborators or friends this is an excellent website.

Google: There are new safety modes with google that give you more control over content that your students will see. That is awesome because as you may know there are dangers on the internet for kids no matter how much we try and educate them. Since it is google and I am familiar with google, I find the website easy to navigate through. Now as with any other site usage is key and the more you use a resource the easier navigating through the site will become. The google site for educators can give you a quick and simple over view of the site before you sign up/commit to it. Also being google I am sure you will be able to find assistance when needed. The site has a lot of information on it and it can look confusing but also you can use these resources. There are different style documents that you can use, or have the kids use. As for saving information there is a blog and if you do engage in blogs with your students things can always be saved onto that, however you may want to save your information to your own drive. If you made your own website using google that could be a way to save information. There is a program that is called picasa that allows students and teachers to share pictures, find pictures, and edit pictures. These programs I have listed are only a few of what google ed has to share with educators. All the links seem to be in working order and the site has plenty of graphics to show you in addition to the written explanation that may be with a picture. Now in order to get all these great benefits, which you can share with your students as well as other educators you simply need a google account. This account is FREE, so we all kow that is great. Once you have an accoutn you simply find the educators group and join, easy as that. I acutaly joined and so now have access to all the wonderful materials. Once again if you are going to be using this resource to try and save things you may want to save it with your own personal things, i.e. Removable drive that you can carry with you. This site seems to be for communication through the web with other professionals and to give one another ideas. It also seems to be a resource site, where you can print things off, or bridge off of the google site onto something else such as a blog for more classroom interaction outside the classroom. Once you get the account you need to click on pages to get a look at the resources. It may be a little tricky at first, but using it and communicating with other s may give you the hang of it. It may not be for everyone but since it is free you may want to give it a try.