Thing #4 questions

1. Which customizeable homepage did you use? Why did that appeal to you? Will you make it your permanent homepage?
I used igoogle. I choose it for two reasons. One, it is private. I am not sure of the implications of not being private on the other sights, but I do know that I have no desire to share or give access to this to anyone else. I know there is nothing on there that is in any way objecionable or "private" to me, but I prefer to keep as low a profile online as possible. It was also the most logical to me to use another google product. It will be easier for me to remember and access, it think. I liked how easy it was to set up, but I am not sure if I set up the homepage address correctly. I am going to try to ask for assistance on this at the next Wednesday meeting. I also liked the overall look and information that I choose to display. I really would like to have this homepage.

2. Did you find a tool that has some uses for you at school or home?
I am not sure what kinds of tools you are thinking of, but I did find a few that will be helpful. I like the to do list that is going on the igoogle homepage. It looks like it is very easy to use. I find that when I write things down I have a much greater chance of remembering it. I also found a number of feeds that will let me know what important events happened in history each day. I think that could be helpful to me as a U.S. History teacher. I want to tell students what was significant about certain days during the year, and this will be a great source and handy reminder of these events. Some of the feeds also offered videos relating to the event as part of the feed. I didn't have time to explore this as well as I would have liked, and I am not sure if I have the capacity to download them on my home computer, so I am going to try when I return to school.

3. How can the online calendar be useful to you?
I think this could help me remember what obligations I have on a given day. What I need to do is to commit to adding in the events each time I need to and then checking the calendar each day. But definitely a good organizational tool.

4. What about the do do lists. Helpful or too much work?
The one that I added to the igoogle homepage doesn't look very difficult or time consuming, but knowing myself, I may not remember to use it as often as I should.

5. How would you compare and contrast the use of paper-based assignments and assignment notebooks to the potential use of online assignment calculators and to do lists for students?
I think the online assignment calculators have the greater potential of giving students access to their work more efficiently than paper assignments. Most students are so connected to the web that they would have no problems accessing the assignments and would appreciate it. It is also helpful if a student is not in class on a particular day and wants to see what assignments they missed, etc. It would not work for all students, however, especially those who do not have computers at home. This is important to remember. Computers and Internet access cost money!! The economy is down, and I read recently that many people are cancelling their high speed Internet access to save money and are lining up at the doors of libraries in the morning to get access to Internet service offered there. I know that many teachers are already doing this for their students and I am sure it will be required of teachers in the near future.