Set-Up

Today I hope to get all students set-up with an iGoogle page. This will be your homepage and will contain your calendars, notebook, bookmarks, and assorted other widgets. I think it will increase your productivity to have all your information in one screen, accessible from any computer, and you can share this information.

Why is that last part most important? Lets say you are all in AP History. If you create ONE calendar and share it then you do not have to individually enter assignments, it only has to be typed in by one person. In addition you can discuss and comment on any item ("What do you think will be on the test?...."). We will work on how to use these tools effectively.

We will also experiment with the Class Ning which is a social network. I think we may use this to post our work during the semester. In the past we used blogmeister but I think this gives us many more capabilities. The ning is semi-private. Anyone can see the intro screen, but you have to be a member to go past that.

This all relates to our Standard 2 and Standard 6 of the ISTE standards: Collaboration and Communication and Technology Operations and Concepts. We want you to understand the basics of how to set up an account, how to manipulate it, and how to share this information. I will assess this by observing that you post the correct information and log-in effectively.

Appropriate use will start all of this off. We will review the rules for Internet use in the school.

I will probably adapt many of these items as we move through the day. This is an experiment.

Update: Well...the ning isn't displaying correctly. I'm working on finding a solution.