Monthly Archives: April 2008

Are You Getting The Most Out Of Your Web Browser?

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As part of my ongoing series on Best Web 2.0 tools, so far I’ve covered Google Tools and How to use Your Twitter Network For Help & Providing Recommendations. Web browser featured highly in my Twitter network and readers “best 3 Web 2.0 tools” so let’s talk about web browsers.

Web Browsers

Your web browser, originally called Internet Browser, is your window to the web and impacts on how effectively you interact with content, your social networks and websites on the Internet.

A common misconception is you can only run one web browser. Wrong! Web browsers are just programs; just as you can install/use several graphics or word processing programs on your computer so can you have several web browser without causing any problems.

Just because a web browser is incorporated in the operating system of your computer doesn’t mean you have to stick to using that one web browser. There are quite a few free open source web browser that can enhancing your browser experience.

Whilst Internet Explorer dominates, contributing 74.88 % of market share in February 2008, FireFox is increasing in popularity. Check out this article for a comparison of web browsers.

browser2008.jpg

web2008a.jpgStatistics used in graph above were taken from Market Share Report prepared by Net Applications. If you compared these statistics to results from Google Analytics, or similar application, for browser usage by visitors to your blog it’s likely that FireFox will feature highly (Note: Statistics for Flock are normally combined with FireFox).

FireFox

Firefox, a free open source web browser which runs on various versions of Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X and Linux, is very popular with e-learning professionals with most preferring it to Internet Explore. It was nominated 2nd top tool in the Top 100 Tools for Learning 2008 list by 155 learning professionals.

It’s regarded as the best Web browser in terms of add-ons that users can install to modify or add to existing functionality of FireFox. There are hundreds of FireFox add-ons which can be downloaded from here

firefoxadd.jpgEveryone who uses FireFox has their own personal favourite add-ons.

My favorite add-ons include:

  1. Del.icio.us Bookmarks add-on – great for adding the sites I bookmark to del.icio.us plus excellent for searching my bookmarks in del.icio.us
  2. CoComment add-on – automatically activates coComment when you write comments on all major blogging platforms, on services like Digg, Flickr or Youtube and some Forums making it easier to track responses to comments you leave on other people’s sites.

Glen Gatin nominated Zotero add-on in his top 3 tools because it’s easy-to-use and helps you collect, manage, and cite your research sources. Zotero was nominated 72nd top tool in the Top 100 Tools for Learning 2008 list by 155 learning professionals.

Flock

Image of Flock LogoFlock is another free open source web browser that also runs on various operating systems and is based on open source FireFox’s code. It’s becoming increasing popular because of the social networking features built into it’s interface.

steph.jpgDean Groom, John Larkin and ozesteph1992 all twittered that Flock is one of their 3 favorite tools. Ozesteph1992 says “I feel like sitting in planes cockpit where I have all ‘controls’ on my fingertips, just a few clicks” when I use Flock.

One cool feature of Flock is once you’re logged in into your favorite sites such as Flickr, Facebook and Twitter the far left side of your flock browser window becomes a mini-people’s feed showing the latest updates from these sites by your friends.

Check out this excellent video by Liz Davis on Figuring Out Flock.

[kml_flashembed movie="http://ca.youtube.com/v/crB8CcYBnBQ" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

Liz Davis has created an excellent range of videos on “how to” use a range of web 2.0 tools and she has located them in this post on her blog.   Make sure you take the time to watch her three video on how to use Google Reader if you are still trying to set up a feed reader.

Blogging and Web Browsers

People’s decision to read and/or subscribe to your blog is based on appearance. The various web browsers display your posts differently so every now and then it’s important to check what your blog looks like in various web browsers.

I’ve had my posts display lovely in FireFox only to be upset to discover they looked terrible in Internet Explorer because my image sizes where too large for the web browser making the posts untidy.

FINAL THOUGHT

Other posts from this Best of Web 2.0 series include:

What’s your favourite web browser, and why? What’s your favorite add-ons, and why? What tips and tricks do you have for using web browsers?

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Using Your Twitter Network For Help & Providing Their Recommendations

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So how can you feel the true potential and benefit of using twitter? And how can you fully realize it’s impact on your personal learning?

As Frank commented “the secret is to create a sizable enough network for twitter to make sense or to “get” it”. Unfortunately most new users don’t have the sizable network, established personal connections with followers or skills at using twitter clients to leverage twitter power.

Yesterday Linda, one of my new twitter followers, asked:

meeko.jpg

Realizing responses would be limited and not show twitter power I decided to utilize my sizable twitter network to show her and convince others of the value of twitter. Plus it’s an excellent idea for a follow up to Are You Twittering? Here’s How I Use Twitter post.

Disclaimer:

  • Be very, very careful; use the force wisely.
  • Don’t use twitter for only asking questions — you need to build rapport with your twitter network by balancing your tweets with mundane/absurd aspects of your life while also making an effort to help others.
  • Asking her question, following up responses, is something I limit to “Once in blue moon” because you can incur twitter penalties and friendly remembers to consider others.

The Results

favorites.jpgOf 560 followers I received 24 responses to “What Web 2.0 tools (apart from Twitter, delicious & Flickr) people find indispensable? Name your best 3?” which I added to Favorite to make it easier to compile the results.

Best part of this question is everyone has different favorite tool so you’re introduced to new ones or ones you haven’t paid enough attention to.

Downside for people new to Web 2.0 tools is too many choices is overwhelming — my advice — take your time, pick and choose, learn when you have time and don’t be afraid to ask advice from people like me.

My twitter network named so many free Web 2.0 tools, from various tool categories, as their “best 3″ that I’ve decided to break the results into a Best of Web 2.0 series to make the information more manageable.

Google Tools

Google has so many great tools which so many people are totally unaware of; tools that are incredibility useful for increasing work productivity, collaborating with others and using with students.

John H. Curry teaches preservice teachers about Google Docs, Gmail, iGoogle, Google Calendar, Google Reader, Google Apps etc and said they freak out because they had no idea Google had so much. Like so many people, his students thought that Google was a search engine only.

Here are the Google Tools recommended by my Twitter network:

1. Gmail

gmaillogo.jpgGmail is a very popular web based email that you can access from any computer. Besides being easy-to-use with massive storage (6591 MB), Gmail includes search which means you can search emails and chats for particular words/terms.

Graham Wegner, Jo Mcleay and John H. Curry all included Gmail in their 3 best tools.

2. Google talk (Gtalk)

gtalklogo.jpgGoogle Talk is Google’s tool for instant messaging (chatting with others) and talking to people (VOIP) using the Internet. If you don’t have a VOIP application, like Google Talk or Skype, on your computer this is a definitely a must – means you can talk or chat to anyone, anywhere, using the Internet, at no cost.

Jo Mcleay also included Gtalk in her 3 best tools. Features I like about GTalk include:

  • Ability to search gmail and chat messages for previous conversations
  • Integrated into gmail so you can access gtalk using your gmail if you’re another computer
  • gtalk client that you can download onto your computer.

3. Google Docs

googledoc.jpgGoogle Docs is a free, Web-based word processor, spreadsheet, and presentation application provided by Google. Users can create and edit documents online plus collaborate in real-time with other users.

No more emailing documents back and forth then forgetting who’s done or where you’re all at; it can now be done online.

Use of Google Docs for your work and with students is only limited by your imagination; this is why Jo Mcleay, John H. Curry, Awyatt and Ken Pendergrass are all included Google docs in their 3 best tools.

Check out these video tutorials on how to use Google Documents (link twittered by Liz Davis) or this how-to guide (link twittered by Kate Olson). Here is Tom Barrett’s post on how to embed Google presentations into an Edublogs blog.

4. Google Reader

googlereaderlogo.jpgGoogle Reader is Google’s RSS reader (i.e. takes the RSS feed from a site and present in a readable form for the user). Instead of visiting numerous sites the RSS feeds from these sites comes to one location — your feed reader, where you read the information.

Sue Hickton, Awyatt, Britt Watwood, Chad Lehman and Allison Miller chose Google Reader as part of their 3 best tools. It’s a popular feed reader because it’s fairly easy to use, can be accessed online anywhere, provides options for tagging and sorting RSS feeds into folders, provides search facilities so you can search for specific terms within your RSS feeds, and has excellent tools for sharing your favorites posts with others.

Read these posts to learn how:

5. iGoogle

igooglelogo.jpgPersonalized Start Pages are homepages on your web browser where your information is brought to you via RSS and where you can check all your important bookmarks/links. They normally have options for embedding widgets or gadgets onto the page. iGoogle is Google’s personalised start page.

Sue Hickton, John H. Curry, Awyatt included iGoogle as one of their 3 best tools. Check out what an iGoogle page looks like on John Larkin’s post.

6. Google Earth

Google Earth puts the world’s geographic information at your fingertips by combining the power of Google Search with satellite imagery, maps, terrain and 3D buildings.

Sonja selected Google Earth as her top 1 best tool because:

has to be one of the best tools out there that I can think of. There are so many ways this application can be utilized for just about any class and learner. There are also many, many resources out there showing you the golden brick road to best useage of Google Earth.

Check out Sonja’s post for links to help educators use Google Earth with their students and Tom Barrett’s excellent Google presentation on Eighteen Interesting ways to use Google Earth in Your Classroom.

FINAL THOUGHT

Twitter can save lots of time searching for information; because your friends help you find it and are able to give you their recommendations.

Other posts from this Best of Web 2.0 series include:

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Are You Twittering? Here’s How I Use Twitter

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Do you use Twitter? Perhaps you’ve not heard of it or tried but didn’t get it? Let’s be honest, watching from the outside, Twitter like the the dumbest thing you’ve heard of “Why would anyone want to tell others what they are doing in 140 characters.”

And yet to dismiss Twitter is a mistake because it’s an incredibly powerful tool for your personal learning, connecting with others and complements your blogging. Twitters way more than telling people what you’re doing!

The key to “getting twitter” lies in using it effectively. Fortunately besides being a RSS power user I’m also well known as a Twitter-a-holic so let me share my tips on how I get the most out of using Twitter.

Disclaimer: Twitter is personal; it means different things to different people and there’s various ways people use it. Like blogging, my focus for using twitter is the conversations and connections. These are my personal tips and not rules for using Twitter :) .

Getting Started With Twitter

Go to Twitter.com and click “Get Started-Join.” Think carefully about your username; I personally recommend use your real name. If I could wind back time I’d use Suewaters, and not dswaters, because branding with one unique and recognizable online identity is better.

Make sure you upload a picture; people connect more when they can visualize the person. Also very important you complete your “Online line bio” and add your “More Info URL” (for a link to your website) because people check these out carefully when deciding if it’s worth following you.

Image of twitter settings

To gain a deeper insight into the value of twitter check out:

Effective management of twitter lies with:

  1. Processes i.e. how many people you choose to follow, how you choose who to follow and your purpose for using twitter
  2. Technical i.e. the tools you use to manage twitter

Adding Followers

How many people you follow, and who you follow, influences what you get out of twitter and to some extent how you use twitter e.g. how effective you will be at maintaining conversations.

When you follow a person you will receive their tweets. You get their tweets when they follow you; but not necessarily their replies (tweets that start with @) to people they follow but you don’t (unless you have @replies set to “all @replies” in Settings>Notices — this is not something you want to do if following lots of people).

Following too few people with too few following means you’re less likely to see the true power of twitter for connecting and providing assistance. Follow too many people makes it harder to maintain the conversation.

Image of how to add twitter followersMy magic number of people to follow is between 100-200; that was when life was easier. Once you’ve set up your account check out the twitter accounts of some of your favourite bloggers (most have a link on their blog)– go through the people they are following to choose people to add to your account. Remember to follow Edublogs twitter account so you get the last news on what’s happening at Edublogs.

Personally I avoid choosing higher profile people, as they often have too many followers, are less likely to engage in conversations or follow you back — however do check their @ replies.

Using A Twitter Client

The power of twitter is in the instant notification/response to tweets of people you follow.

Image of snitter interfaceA twitter client is a MUST; using the web interface isn’t the way to go. They provide instant notification of the latest updates. Which to use is very personal however my favourites, at the moment, are Snitter and Twhirl.

Twhirl is really nice which I equate to a lovely sports car; has a beautiful interface. Definitely a good choice if you aren’t following too many people. Unfortunately I follow too many people and find the way Snitter displays notifications of new tweets is better for maintaining my conversations.

Snagging Link URLs From Twitter

People are always sharing fantastic links in twitter that are worth checking out. I use Twitter Link Monitor to collect these links and feed them by RSS into my Google Reader so I can check them out at my leisure; also handy for grabbing links tweeted when I’m offline. Note — doesn’t display links from people with locked accounts.

Tracking Terms in Twitter

I use TweetScan all the time to effectively manage conversations in Twitter that I want to track e.g. replies to my twitter name dswaters and any other variations people have used e.g. suewaters and tags like Edublogs.

With the number of people I follow I need TweetScan as my eyes and ears. By subscribing to the RSS feed for the tracking term using my feed reader I’m notified through Google Reader whenever anyone, anywhere, tweeters that term. Here are my instructions for setting up TweetScan. Note — doesn’t display terms tweet by people with locked accounts.

Applying A Bit Of Twitter Karma

There’s nothing worse than having a conversation and not realising you’re having it with yourself which is why I use:

  • Twitter Karma – displays whom I’m following and who’s following me back; I’ll often unfollow if they’re no longer following me.
  • Twitter Board – Gets love and Gives love gives shows how much a user is into conversations

And Then There’s The Cool Stuff For Fun

Occasionally you’ll just want to have some fun which is why I use:

And Let’s Not Forget The Classroom

The uses of Twitter in the classroom are really only limited by our imagination. Tom Barrett’s been writing some excellent posts on what his Twitter network means to him in terms of his classroom practice and the best ways that twitter can be utilised in your own classroom. Check out Tom’s posts:

FINAL THOUGHT

I’ve shared my tips for using twitter but everyone has their own secret ingredients –what are your tips for getting more out of twitter? Do you have any favourite applications?

If you’ve tried twitter and it wasn’t working for you — what did you like/not like? If you haven’t tried twitter and you now plan to — please let me know how you go and don’t forget to follow Edublogs on twitter.

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