Thing #10

Ok. That was kind of fun. The final product wasn't exactly what I was looking for, but this definitely has potential.
I used Flickr to make a magazine cover for the book I just finished, Vampire High, by Douglas Rees. Now I can see all kinds of copyright issues with doing it the way I did, but students can have much more freedom with this. Even if you just get a cheap digital camera or a scanner, you can have kids do projects like these to use as visual book reports. This, in conjunction with programs like AR, can not only demonstrate that kids read books, but that they understood them... without the work of reading a book report!
This can also be a great way to highlight student achievements. Who wouldn't want to be able to have their face on a magazine cover to show off to their parents? People could use this as a way to reward the student of the month. This, along with other image programs (like the trading cards to name one), could really help to boost morale among students, teachers, staff, and parents.
And it's FUN!

Week #4 - Thing #9

I have to say it... I think this assignment is already out of date. While RSS feeds are handy, they are becoming unnecessary in light of iGoogle. Basically, with iGoogle, you can create tabs that contain items (or "gadgets") of your choice. Personally, I have a standard tab with a number of different items on it, and I have a blog tab that is exclusively blogs and my Google Reader. As I go through the reader each day to clear off the mess that comes in from sites I chose months ago, not realizing that there would only be 1 or 2 gems in and among the less quality things they put out, I find it cumbersome and annoying. I sometimes get 50+ items a day on my reader. But with iGoogle, I can create a gadget that links directly to the blogs I prefer. Then they are on my iGoogle page, they are organized however I see fit, and they show me only the titles. If I choose to go beyond that, I can click the title, link directly to the page, and see what's there. Then I can hit the back button and repeat the process as I choose. No more sifting through other items.
It's quick. It's painless. And it's much better for me than RSS. So, although I still have my RSS up and running, it's not where I spend my time anymore. However, it may still be the better way to get news on one topic, so it's still a viable option in certain contexts.