Timeglider

What I did:  Family history is one of my hobbies. I chose 1864 to chronicle because, like most US families, mine was in crisis.  The Little family lived in southwestern Pennsylvania.  They were ordinary people:  coal miners and farmers.  The cruel war hit them hard. Sometimes I think how hard life was for them.  Daniel Little, my great-great-grandfather was a soldier in the Civil War.  At the same time he was caring for his family and his brother Mathew's family. Mathew died in the war in September of that year, shortly before Daniel had to begin his service. No doubt Daniel was also caring for his elderly parents nearby and his sister's family.  Daniel's sister's husband was missing in action, never to be heard from again.

This was a fun project and I'm pleased with the way the presentation turned out.  As the year 1864 progresses, we can see these dramatic events unfolding and empathize with the family. We can see events overlapping, and understand how overwhelming it must have been for them.

What I Learned:  I learned how to use Timeglider.  It's a free program. I had never heard of it.  This was an orderly way of presenting historical information that I've been collecting. I chose to just do one year in the life of this family, but I could have made it much broader by changing certain settings.

NETS-T:  This project aligns with
-Standard 2a, which states that teachers are to "design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity."  This application adds an element of interest rather than just a presentation of "dry facts".  History can be very dry to students unless they are encouraged to think about human aspects.
-Standard 3a, which states that teachers are to "demonstrate fluency in technology systems..."  This is an application that the teacher should model for frequent use in the classroom, and teach students how to use.

How It Can Be Used:  3rd and 4th graders are required to make timelines, but they usually hate it.  It's fussy and cumbersome for them to handwrite. They would enjoy doing a timeline this way.  It requires them to research dates for accuracy and to prioritize events as to significance.  It is fast and easy.

To navigate through Timeglider:  Click the green start button.  Locate the double blue arrows to go through the presentation.    >>forward,        << back. Significant events are in bigger letters.  Hold the cursor over the event to see. Click and a text box will appear with background info. Click the X to close the box.

I don't think it's done yet, because I haven't figured out how to get images on the Timeglider  I'll work on that more tomorrow.  Also it's saying I don;t have the right Adobe.  I'll have to play with that..

UPDATE:  I downloaded the latest Adobe, hoping that would do the trick.  It didn't.  I couldn't get any images to upload, from my computer or from Google.  I do think my date and events look nice.

Use this link to learn more and get started in Timeglider
Use this link to view my Timeglider history:  Oh, What a Year! 1864

Diigo questions + Diigo posting + Blog response

I.  Responses to Diigo questions

1. Describe the 3 steps to recommend in the film to get started social bookmarking?

a.       “Driigo is a great tool while reading online.” Good for highlighting and annotating (adding comments to) web pages online.

b.      Has a new list feature to organize and display specific collections of bookmarks.  Sidebar helps you find things easier.

c.       You can maintain social contacts with friends.  Using social bookmarking, you can see what friends like and what they tag. Common interests can be noted.

2. Describe Web 2.0, and how it differs from previous stages of the web? It helps you connect with people sharing specific interests.  You can use it to check out what friends are looking at.  You can click “Communities” and “common stuff”.  There is a forum for group collaboration and discussion.  You can send messages to friends. It is more powerful tool than existing social bookmarking services for research and sharing with community. 
3. What is social bookmarking and what advantages does social bookmarking offer that traditional storage and retrieval of web sites does not? Driigo has added social network features and delivers content specifically tailored to interests.

II. Diigo posting

     1.   For a browser, I most often use Internet Explorer. I never liked Netscape Navigator. I’m not    very adventurous, and I haven’t tried many different browsers. I have recently downloaded Firefox for this class. It is good but I’ve had trouble with computer memory (leads to crashes).

     2. “Browsers add-ons” are added to the existing browser. Add-ons make it easier to access, read, organize and store information on the computer. They are very popular, because they are easy to install and to use. . I don’t have enough memory on this computer to run many add-ons.

     3. Of course I have Java, necessary to run FSU Blackboard.Safari is necessary to manage I-Tunes.  These seem to take a lot of space on my hard drive. I use Adobe flash for games. I think Google is an add-on. I use that extensively. Also Microsoft ClipArt gallery. I don’t do much adding on because I generally have a problem with memory on this computer.

III.  Blog response
What I did: I did the reading and answered the questions.  I registered for Driigo.I began building my Driigo library/archive.  There is now a toolbar on my computer for Diigo.

What I learned: I learned how to search for groups that are within my interest. I chose several groups to join and to read their regular postings.  I chose topics related to Education, Health and Wellness, Tech nology, Special Education, Music.

NETS- T: This activity is aligned with:
-Standard 3a, which requires teachers to "demonstrate fluency in technology systems and the transfer of current knowledge to new technologies and situations." This is a current technology system. We are required to learn about new technology and to use it in building our blogs.
-Standard 5d, which states that teachers are to contribute to the effectiveness, vitality, and self-renewal of the teaching profession..." Reading brings new and current thoughts and tends to re-vitalize me.
How It Can be Used: I will be adding to this library regularly.  The postings are brief, but very informative.  They add to my base of knowledge of current issues related to my field.