Week Four

The decision we made last week was that everyone would like to discuss "the Internet." That could take weeks, but, for now, we'll look at some search strategies, discuss the differences in search engines, I'll show you some ways to decide if a website is authentic, we'll talk about Web 2.0 (don't worry if you don't know what that means - you will find out tonight) and I'll show you some of the more popular Web 2.0 tools. And, as usual, I'll leave you some time for working on your own with whatever tool you wish to explore. You are welcome to go back to working with Word, doing some more with with pictures, work with Excel, or explore the Internet.

Here are some resources we'll look at tonight:

Searching on the Web:

• Video:  Web Search Strategies in Plain English: http://www.commoncraft.com/search
  
• Search Engine Comparison:  http://www.infopeople.org/search/chart.html 
• Choosing a Search Engine: http://www.noodletools.com/debbie/literacies/information/5locate/adviceengine.html 
• Tricks when searching; 

How do I know the page is accurate?

• Tree Octopus:   http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/
• How to Read a Web Address: http://novemberlearning.com/resources/information-literacy-resources/iv-how-to-read-a-web-address/
• Domain Name Extensions:  http://www.cesu.k12.vt.us/pdresources/internet/domainextensions.pdf

My workshop page of links includes the above plus more!  http://www.cesu.k12.vt.us/pdresources/internet/internet_integration2.htm

Web 2.0?  

• Blogs In Plain English http://www.commoncraft.com/blogs
• Wikipedia:  http://www.wikipedia.com 

 Great to have you here and I hope you are finding all of this helpful!

Week Three

Last week we worked with digital cameras, downloading pictures, putting pictures into Word and doing some minor editing. I also gave you a practice Word document to create.
This week we will take a quick look at Excel and talk about what you might use it for. We may get to a practice spreadsheet. I'd also like to show you Photostory which is a great tool to make a presentation of your pictures. Lots to do! Happy to see you back in class!