Bog Journal 5

My initial experiences using Diigo were pleasant. I was skeptical at first to use this new technology because I have never even heard of this website before. After downloading the gadget to my home page with the extension I had to figure out how to highlight information and create group sticky notes with the resource. It was little confusing in the beginning because I did not know how to sync my sticky notes to the whole class but eventually I overcame this challenge. The resource makes annotating and commenting on pieces of text on the Internet easy and simple. I like how accessible this technology is to students because all they have to do is download the extension and then they can sign in and highlight any piece of text they wish to. I do not like how one-dimensional this technology is. I wish there were other functions than highlighting and commenting on the resource to make it more exciting.

I have come to really enjoy blogging. I loved how we were able to design and create our own blogs at the beginning of the semester. Creating weekly journal entries has become one of my favorite homework assignments because it is self-explanatory and independent. I like how there are prompts we are given and must answer within each blog post and how thoughts can come and ago as this process occurs. I however do not like how strict our writing must be with a certain amount of sentences and paragraphs. There are times when I feel like I do not have enough information to give a substantial paragraph but in the end it all works out. Thus far I have learned how to use Blogger and know the ways that I write best. This is usually once all of my classes are done in the afternoon when I begin working on schoolwork for the day. The blogging process is time consuming but rewarding when I see my blog post on my Blogger home page.

An interesting Web 2.0 tool that I found is called 'Poll Everywhere'. This educational tool allows teachers to create polls for their classrooms that can be comprised of any question and options. There are multiple choice polls, open-ended questions, Q&A style polls, and even clickable images through this site. Educators can create an activity and select the kind of polling style they would like. When they are ready for the poll to go live, they activate it so the students can engage as well. Students can respond to these polls through text message responses, web responses through the polling page, as well as web responses through a private link. I would use this tool in my classroom with middle-school or high-school aged students because it would require the use of a cell phone or computer of sorts. This is a great new tool that allows students and educators to connect through instant messaging instead of verbal communication.
Poll Everywhere