Blog #6

I had never heard of Diigo before completing the assignments for this class. It is an interesting a cool tool to use in a classroom. It is very convenient for students to be able to share online resources and be able to annotate them in the same place. Something I didn't like was the inability to switch the sticky notes from private to public once they're typed. I wrote several sticky notes to annotate my article, but I didn't realize they were set to private. I tried to make them public to meet the assignment's criteria, but there was no option to change it. I had to go back and redo all of those sticky notes. It won't even let you change the availability if it hasn't been published yet. I would be redoing a sticky note and realize it wasn't set to public, when I went to change it I would have to delete everything I had typed to get the option to make it visible to the group. Other than that small hitch, I think this is a neat tool to use in the classroom.

I also like how this class uses blogging. I have had some experience in the past designing websites, and I love the opportunity to be creative while showcasing my work. Using a different platform than the one recommended has been a bit difficult. Sometimes there are specific instructions for how to apply different widgets, for example, and I have to figure out how to apply it to my platform. It hasn't been bad at all though, and I like exploring the different ways I can use my website. The blogging aspect is neat, too. The way we are blogging to show our participation in class feels less rigid and is a nice break from typical class participation assignments.

A Web 2.0 tool I could see myself using is Prezi.com. Prezi is a presentation software that includes unique setups and transitions. It is different from a traditional PowerPoint because instead of slides, students build diagrams and graphics for the presentation to move through, carrying them from one topic to the next. There is even an option to have none of that at all, but rather a video presentation of yourself, with helpful graphics popping up or sliding into view. I've used it several times over the course of my K-12 education and I think it's a creative and fun tool for students to use.