Taking+control

The amount of information available on the Web is staggering. Even finding articles, blog entries, announcements and the like is difficult and, mostly, overwhelming. In just 10 minutes, you can start to take control. You can manage the information in such a way that it will actually become useful to you. We'll discuss three must-use tools that will allow you to overcome the madness and actually use today's web. These tools are Feeds (we'll learn about Google Reader), Personal Start Pages (iGoogle) and shared bookmarks (del.icio.us). We're not kidding here, these three tools will change the way you use the web. If you learn nothing else this summer, you need to learn these tools. It's that simple.
 * Tech Summer Session 1** - **Taking control - Three tools that you need to use (Google Reader, iGoogle, del.icio.us)**

Schedule
 * Topics of the day - RSS feeds & readers, "personal start pages" and shared bookmarks/favorites
 * Purpose - skills for you to use to help manage the staggering amount of information coming at you
 * Information R/evolution video http://youtube.com/watch?v=-4CV05HyAbM
 * RSS in Plain English http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0klgLsSxGsU
 * Discuss RSS - what is it, how to use it
 * Create Google account (if necessary)
 * Create Google Reader account and add feeds
 * How do we organize this? - iGoogle (Personal Start Page)
 * Create iGoogle page
 * Social Bookmarking in Plain English http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x66lV7GOcNU
 * Discuss del.icio.us - show - sharing (with class, others)
 * Discuss Tags (why this is important)
 * Create del.icio.us accounts
 * Add to iGoogle!

Recommended Blogs to Subscribe to:
 * [|Dangerously Irrelevant] (21st Century, Technology & Leadership)
 * [|Weblogg-ed] (21st Century Ed-Tech)
 * [|dy/dan] (Upper School Math, new teachers)
 * [|Beyond School] (21st Century) "Waging war on schooliness since 2006."
 * [|The Elementary Educator] (Elementary)
 * [|Creating Lifelong Learners] (Elementary)
 * [|Stop Trying to Inspire Me] (Upper School) "The opinions, rants, and observations of an already-jaded teacher trying to cut through all the crap and get to what's really useful in the American public education system."
 * [|Thoughts on Teaching] (upper/middle school)