Sunday's Simple Subject: LinkBacks

Silver Links by Jimby K
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License

Are you using linkbacks, also known as trackbacks, to help track your blog posts?

Last year, I discussed an issue of concern among our professional learning network It's the issue of people not referencing someone else's work and calling it their own.

Many of you commented on this topic, so I've investigated some processes that can help the author minimize these problems.

While I discovered many blog authors who have trackback urls, I learned that Blogger doesn't. They do have a linkback procedure. Google Help refers to backlinks that you can set by going to the Settings on your Blogger dashboard, under Comments. There are many caveats, so I would recommend that you read the help reference thoroughly before you try to set up your back links in Blogger hosted blog posts.

If you are looking for linkbacks or trackbacks on other blogs, they may also be called pingbacks or, rarely, refbacks. I also look for these at the end of a blog post. I use these urls when I link the blogs in my post, so the author can actually see how their blog post was referenced.

What is your procedure for trackbacks?

Saturday Specifics: VOKLE

Recently, I subscribed to the Huffington Post online, as many of my PLN were quoting their articles. I also signed up to receive email notifications, and that is how I found out about VOKLE.

While I enjoyed Huffington Post's Washington Bureau Chief, Dan Froomkin's, online live interview of Janine Wedel about her new book, Shadow Elite, I was even more impressed with the web application that they were using for this online event. Vokle has a smooth, crisp picture with a clean interface. The sounds are clear and full. There is a back channel that's easily viewed.

I learned there are some host safeguards for comments. You can see them before they go out, just in case there are any off topic participants. This is important to plan for ahead of time, because it's too late when they are there. I was in an online conference when someone arrived just to make off topic remarks and disrupt the session. It's very unsettling for both host and participants, so this is an excellent control feature.

I plan to use this new web application, VOKLE. How about you?

Other Reviews On VOKLE!

VOKLE Goes Public!

Vokle.com: Live Video Communication

More about Vokle's Free Web Conferencing Service

Vokle.com - Live Unmuted!

Friendly Friday: Organizing the Blog Roll

Wishing for a blog roll? Hoping to compile a list of blogs from friendly colleagues that you want to share with the world?

If you do, you know that it's always a work in progress. Sparking my action here, Amy Palko in Bye Bye Blogroll - Hello Links! explains how it quickly becomes a very long list on your blog page. You can organize them under one link where people can view and explore.

While you're at it, you can even provide a tiny blurb about each blog or website that you include in this link.

Check out my burgeoning Blog Roll.

Blog Roll

Here is a list of blogs that I follow:

2Ms Gems
A GeekyMomma's Blog
A Year in Photos - 365 Day Challenge
All in Bits and Pieces
Andamiada
Blogger in Middle-Earth
cmay's pic challenge
Educational Discourse
Junkfood Science
Karin's Daily Photos
Lulu's 365
Marks 365 for 2010
Martha's 365 Challenge
Mr. C's Class Blog
My Blog
My Languages
New Zealand and Brazil Tour Blog
On a Limb with Claudia
Shell's Daily Pictures
SparkleBox
The Power of Educational Technology

Defend Your Avatar!

What do you think of avatars? Do you have an avatar? If you do, can you defend it? Can you explain what it is and what it represents?

Over the years, I've heard and told various stories of how students created some project, including  avatar development. It's an act of creation from ideas built from prior knowledge and ongoing lessons. If you have an individual avatar, you created it or described how it should be created.

If you don't have an avatar, I'd like to suggest what I consider an appropriate place to begin, no matter your age. The Bronx Zoo website is a wonderful place for teachers and their students. There are the obvious lessons about habitats, with images and lesson plans, but the Avatar Generator, BuiLD YouR WiLD SeLF is not one of the traditional lessons. Making an avatar with this web application provides an opportunity to learn about habitats as you learn to use online web applications, technology and group interactions.

WORDLE: President Obama's 2010 State of the Union Address

Use WORDLE to summarize important speeches, like President Barack Obama's 2010 State of the Union Address to both houses of Congress given on Wednesday, January 27, 2010.

WordSift: VOICE

What's more powerful than WORDLE or Tagul? What's able to access related images altogether on a single webpage?

Well, it's WordSift, an ELL resource, created by a research team at Stanford University. The image to the right is a representation of the WordSift of my blog post, Tuesday Trait: Voice

This web application was created to enhance student opportunity in learning English, yet WordSift can make a wonderful addition to any classroom, from kindergaten to college. This web application contains various tools you can use to more effectively teach lessons using the strategies discussed and explained in Classroom Instruction That Works: Research Based Instructional Strategies, written by Dr. Robert Marzano and his research team.

Try out WordSift! Only your imagination can limit your uses for this application.

Winsome Wednesday: Marsha! Marsha! Marsha!

Your regularly scheduled Winsome Wednesday will be interrupted by the overwhelming news of the day: the introduction of the long awaited Apple iPad.

While the Apple iPad's name is already generating some discussion, overall the reviews have been very positive. It appears that most Apple lovers are glad to finally see a touch screen tablet with the Apple name on it.

What struck me immediately is that it's taken over a quarter of a century to even get close to the appliance that the technology gurus predicted we would have. Yes, it's the history of the joys of the free enterprise system. We were able to put a man on the moon within 8 years of predicting it, yet it's taken all this time to get here.

Well, here we are....a nice little appliance that you can purchase, so you can purchase more stuff from the Apple store. You will need to have an iTunes account when you buy the iPad.

Don't worry about not being able to take pictures or use a webcam, because you can use your iPhone for that. Oh yes, you won't be able to use this iPad as a phone, so I guess it's really not the appliance that was predicted in the 1980's. No worries, there will be an upgrade.

Tuesday Trait: VOICE

hacia dónde? by movimente
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License

VOICE! Mine or yours? Immediate or Distant? Weak or Powerful? Voice is as potent as Venus when she took pity on Pygmalion. She spoke and brought his beautiful sculpture to life.

What awards such cachet to VOICE? A colleague's blog, of course. While reading Ken Allan's blog, Blogger in Middle-Earth, I found his first-class blog post One Voice? A Post for Bloggers. Teachers can be guided by his ideas and tips as they develop their lessons on Voice. I'm sharing this post for them, especially secondary teachers who may be looking for ideas for writing in the content area.

Over the years, I've written essays and guides, as well as shared professional development about the Six Traits of Writing. I've discovered that many teachers would like to know more, so I'll focus on the traits in the future. For now, I've found two posts from my blog. One is Six Traits Still Rule, while the other is It's delicious.

I hope these will encourage your thoughts on the topic. I believe you can provide expanded opportunities to help your students find, define and refine their Voice as they develop their writing.

Saturday Specifics: Brainology

Daydreamer by h.koppdelaney
Attribution-NoDerivs License

When life and learning seemed overwhelming, I can still hear my parents saying such things as, "Can't never did anything!" "You can find a way!" "If at first you don't succeed, Try, Try again!" and "Tell yourself: 'I think I can!' and you can."
What my mother and father were telling me, "To Try is part of To Do", is the profound philosophy of the motivational aspect of learning in my family.  It's the real world manifestation of the plasticity of the brain. What education researchers, like Carol Dweck and her colleague Lisa Sorich, are now calling "The Growth Mind-Set". Dr. Dweck created an online web application called Brainology to "gain confidence and motivation to learn by teaching them about the brain, how to strengthen it, and how to apply brain-friendly study skills."

The basic idea of her research and other similar research is that there are two mind sets about the brain and learning. One is that the brain is static that there is very little chance for changing what people think of as potential. The other mind set is based on the idea that people BELIEVE the potential of the mind is always changing, growing.

To explain the practical applications of her research, Dr. Dweck wrote the book, Mind Set. The website that describes the book, the research and their implications also has a mind set test. Try it, then share it with everyone you know!

What the research is showing that each of these mind sets can affect resilience, the ability to reach for more, to try more and achieve more. Only the growth mind set affects resilience in a positive way. This recent research has been around for almost a decade now, and it looks like it may be gaining ground among school leaders. It's about time.

Effective Schools: PART 2 Positive Communication - School, Home, Community

Free 2 Run by Ozyman
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License

Developing the Effective Schools Correlate: Positive Communication within the School, Home, and Community depends on how we view positive interactions through our understanding and development of compassion, forgiveness and altruism. 

As you, your peers, parents and community members discuss ideas about the core of what makes a positive professional learning network of school, home and community, please consider these questions.

As you answer these questions, analyze your uncensored ideas. You will help yourself learn your strengths and weaknesses as they relate to building positive communication.

1. Are you more or less likely to listen to a differing opinion from:

• a teacher?
• an administrator?
• a parent?
• a student?
• someone with less education than you?
• someone with more education than you?
• someone younger than you?
• someone your own age?
• someone older than you?

2. How do you react when someone in that professional learning network disagrees with you?

3. Should teachers have the locus of control in parent communications?

4. How do you analyze your own biases and stereotypes?

5. If there are disagreements within the complete communication connection, which method would be most effective when resolving conflicts that relate to learning.

6. What questions, about this topic, would you ask?

Orange mood by Pensiero
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License

Please consider these ideas as you qualify your own position in the positive communication connection.

What makes communications positive may flourish in an environment that focuses on the quality of relationships, not the power of individuals.

Effective Schools Correlates: PART 1 Positive Communication - School, Home, Community

OR by johnwilliamsphd
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License

What thoughts can you express that evaluate your philosophy of the Effective School Correlate: positive communication in the professional learning network of school, home and community?

Do you agree that Positive Communication between School, Home and Community is a major correlate of effective schools?

Can a school be considered effective without a complete communication connection between school, home and community?

How do you feel when someone in that professional learning network disagrees with you?

These are some preliminary questions that teachers, parents, administration and community members should ask as they work through their positive communications within their professional learning network of school, home and community. What other concepts could be considered?

Winsome Wednesday: Share with SynchTube

mirrors06.jpg by joshstaiger
Attribution License

What is Synchtube? A beta web application that can be used to create a synchronous, virtual group that can view and interact about the same YouTube video.

It's a way for a group of people to synchronize the way they view YouTube videos. Invite a group to watch a YouTube video at the same time. It's an opportunity to discuss, enjoy and elaborate on any video available on YouTube.

Will you try it? What do you think of SynchTube?

I think it could be used for many professional development opportunities, as well as class discussions and projects. The beta project has a bright future. Just use it.

clipped from www.synchtube.com

synchtube is the only place to watch YouTube videos with friends in real-time!

Simply paste a YouTube link and create a room. You can share this room with others, and watch videos in real-time... well enough talking, just try it already!

Simple Subject Sunday: Weed the Garden!

Colorful Garden by Hamed Saber
Attribution License

How often do you read through your archives? How do you check for broken links? Do you edit your tags? If you caught a grammatical error in a blog posting from your archives, would you fix it?

These are all pertinent questions to think about when you write a blog that you hope people will follow. Weed the Garden if you want to keep it looking good. If your links are dead, your article loses some of its meaning. I recommend checking archives, but I know that is time consuming.

Here is what I do: When I'm writing an article about a particular topic that's related to early works, I check out the links in the archived article BEFORE I include a link in the new article. This is a great way to find dead links. It's surprising how many websites change their actual names for their web pages.

Checking this links is very important for another reason. It is the way that you cite your sources, so it's critical to keep these citations current.

I wish there were some dynamic agent or web app that could check links, but I don't know of one. Do you? If so, it would be wonderful if you would share it here.

Effective Schools Correlates: A Teachers' Life for Me!

Urucum (bixa orellana) seeds by árticotropical
Attribution License

What is the core of teaching? What will make all the ideas, activities, books and lessons fall into place in the service to the education of students?

When I was a young teacher, I yearned to have THE answer. It seemed to me that there was an elusive ingredient to being a great teacher. In my mind it was like the golden ring at the merry-go-round. If I just worked, studied, and learned enough, I could grab the golden ring of education. As often happens with young people, I doubted myself. Even though I had wonderful grades, experiences and references, I was seduced into believing that there was ONE answer...a magic key to teaching.

Why did I search for the magic key? I wanted to be the best teacher in the world. I didn't want to doubt. I wanted to KNOW.

Being young, I thought there was always something else, some magic idea out there, that I didn't know, but there wasn't. Yes, there was plenty that I didn't know, but I hadn't figured out that there was no magic bullet that can replace the effective basics that help people learn well. It took some time for me to stop looking for something that I already owned. It took some time for the competitive energy of the student to be replaced by the collaborative efforts of the teacher.

When I was a new to teaching, I had already experienced the positive impression of learning that is based on the Effective Schools research model, encompassed by the SEVEN CORRELATES OF EFFECTIVENESS. I had learned them at the knee of all the effective teachers, community members and family members who taught me.

I also knew what a good teacher looked like as they worked in the classroom. Others might agree that they have had some great teachers, good teachers and not so good teachers, while some who attended the same classes might disagree with their list. What I didn't know, what I yearned to know seemed an elusive ingredient.

Over the years, as I gathered more knowledge and experience, I learned that what I really wanted was to evaluate the effectiveness of my teaching. I discovered that the Effective Schools Research movement could serve as a core set of organizing principles for my educational philosophy.

What are the Seven Correlates of the Effective Schools Research Movement?

1. Instructional Leadership
2. Clearly Stated and Focused Mission
3. Safe and Positive Environment
4. High Expectations for ALL Students
5. Frequent Monitoring of Student Progress
6. Maximize Learning Opportunities
7. Positive Communication - School, Home, Community      

Are these ideas that people could define or describe? Are these ideas that you want to see in your school? In your teaching? In student's learning? Isn't this a support base for effective student learning? Isn't student learning what it's all about in our world?

Winsome Wednesday: The Plurk LIKE Button

When I first learned of ARPANET in science education groups, I wanted to be a part of these online interactions. When I participated in NSF programs, I began to use online interactions like email and forums. Over the past six years, I've moved on to the semantic web. I can't even imagine not having access to interactive applications such as Plurk.

I'm actively committed to include interactive web applications and networks in my professional development and teaching. Just as the Graphic User Interface, GUI, changed the way I "see" programs, the World Wide Web changed the way I interact in the World of Electrons.

At the core of all this online interaction is the ability to acquire a vast amount of information. What we do with that information, data, has been at the core of our quest to improve the interactive life. For that, we have data mining which is performed by various programs that have improved greatly over time. Data mining has been the impetus for the birth of the semantic web which has improved the way we visualize data.

Programs, sometimes called applets, turn a set of words (data) into lists or "clouds" that vary in size by the amount of time they appear in the set, like WORDLE. Other applets use lexical databases to create nodes based on the relationships among words, like VisuWords. Other programs or applets are tiny, yet powerful, like the new search capability of Plurk as it's presented through the new LIKE button.

The LIKE button is a way that anyone can mark and monitor a particular Plurk conversation by clicking on the LIKE button. While I've previously discussed the reasons why Plurk can be more effective for professional development or any other ongoing conversations on a particular topic than Twitter, I was a bit disappointed that there was no way to mark the Plurk Stream. Now there is. Use the LIKE button.

The LIKE button is very much like using a hashtag, only better. The main advantage is that you don't have to type a hashtag in every time you tweet on a topic. In Plurk, all you have to do is click on the LIKE button to put a particular conversation in a special collection that you can check to find out if the conversation has continued. You can also use the LIKE button to find the Plurk when you want to access the conversation for any other reason. The LIKE button is a magnificent data mining tool.

Those of us who use Plurk as the main source of our professional development know how great it is. If you aren't using Plurk, what's stopping you? Join me!

Simple Subject Sunday: WORDS Have Meaning!

Do you believe that words have power through the meaning they convey? If you agree, I think you understand the power of learning.

After noticing that unfriend, was selected by the New Oxford American Dictionary as the 2009 word of the year, I decided that I need to put my oar in the water to row the learning boat to a more conciliatory island. What should we call people with whom we work, learn and share in our professional social networks?

For instance, I know the default word choice for associate is called "friend" on .nings, yet it seems to me the term "friend", has become such an overused term nowadays, it doesn't always accurately portray the professional relationships of those who are learning and working together online.

A few years ago, when I first joined Classroom2.0, I always referred to the people that I "friended" as colleagues, as did several other people in that network. As time went on, Steve Hargadon change the term "friend" to COLLEAGUE. I was very happy with that decision. I felt that "colleague" more accurately described our professional/learning relationships. Many people had mentioned that they were hesitant to agree to be "friends" with another person on CR2.0, but they would become "colleagues". Some of us ARE friends, but most are colleagues because we work together in groups or teams that are not related to our age, gender or other defining concepts.

After seeing many learning networks use the word "friend", as I see on personal networks like MySpace and FaceBook, I would like to suggest that teachers, parents and other community members who interact online with students,  MUST consider investigating the use of some other word.


What kind of a message are we sending to students if we want them to participate in these online networks, but we make then run gauntlets like friending people they may barely know or even tolerate at school? Or worse, what kind of message are we sending if these students are not friended or unfriended?

I'm hoping that you will agree, and consider using another word, besides friend, on your networks. A friend is a person that you build a relationship with, not someone you just met....online or in the World of Matter. Personally, I like the word COLLEAGUE, but I would suggest that you might use VisuWords to find a better synonym.

Thanks in advance for considering this idea!

Saturday Specifics: VisuWords

Have you ever had to search for a definition, antonym, or synonym while you are working online? If you have, consider using VisuWords to quickly search in your browser navigation toolbar. This online web application will speed your research, so you can quickly return to the task at hand.

The most effective way to use VisuWords is to add its search engine tool to your Firefox browser. All you have to do is click the link on the VisuWords website that says "search tool" and it places the VisuWords search engine on your Firefox Navigation ToolBar. Yes, it's that easy.

VisuWords is an excellent example of a web application, or applet, that draws its information from metadata sources also located on the World Wide Web. I believe this application represents what Sir Tim Berners-Lee described as he imagined the semantic web, part of the natural progression within the World Wide Web.

This particular application, VisuWords, works by analyzing clusters of words based on specific algorithms that derive what the VisuWord developer, Paul Dunn, calls "synsets": sets of synonyms. The term "synset" was coined by the Princeton research group who developed the lexical database named WordNet that is the source database for VisuWords.

Some of the "synsets" that support VisuWords relate to the grammatical connections of the search target, such as nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc. Other associated "synsets" are also derived and presented in the resulting graphic organizer of the word you select in your VisuWord search.

The source code for VisuWords is available for download. so the applet could be a valuable learning tool for all the teachers, students, and community members who access your server. The VisuWords applet is based on the open source work of Princeton University's WordNet, an English language lexical database. You will also need to download WordNet. As always, please read and follow all licenses if you expect to use these effective online tools.

Did You Nominate This Teacher?

On January 6, 2010, President Obama met the small group of teachers who were awarded the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching. These teachers were K-6 teachers recognized first at the state level and later at the national level based on an extensive application process evaluated by prominent mathematicians, scientists, mathematics/science educators, and past awardees. They were selected as those teachers who provide a high quality math and science experience for their students.

This teaching award began in 1983 when the US Congress created the Presidential Award for Excellence in Math and Science Teaching. Each year, the president is authorized to provide as many as 108 teaching awards to eligible candidates for the highest national recognition for science and math teachers.


These K-6 teachers, pictured with President Barack Obama received the latest PAEMST Awards. Following that is a list of their names and the locations where they teach.

President Barack Obama poses with Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching winners in the State Dining Room of the White House on Jan. 6, 2010.

Credit: Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy

2008 PAEMST Awardee Cohort
Vickie Ahlstrom (Pleasant Grove, Utah)
Charles Bertsch (Polson, Mont.)
Mary Black (Dubuque, Iowa)
Georgia Boatman (Kennewick, Wash.)
Michele Brees (Burien, Wash.)
Stacie Broden (Waterbury, Conn.)
Sharon Brown (Severna Park, Md.)
James Brown (Stillwater, N.Y.)
Jane Callery (Ashford, Conn.)
Susan Carter (Saint Charles, Mo.)
Cary Cermak Rudolf (Roseburg, Ore.)
Melissa Collins (Memphis, Tenn.)
Kathleen Conroy (Charlotte, N.C.)
Zan Coonce (Reno, Nev.)
JoAnne Deshon (Newark, Del.)
Jeri Doane (Edmond, Okla.)
Kari Dresow (Sedalia, Ky.)
Keri Dowdy (Kimball, Minn.)
Christa Duthie Fox (Essex Junction, Vt.)
Candy Ellard (Austin, Texas)
Amy Ellis (Starkville, Miss.)
Gay Erb (Boise, Idaho)
Kathryn Eyolfson (Aurora, Colo.)
Diana Fesmire (Alamogordo, N.M.)
Erin Flynn (East Walpole, Mass.)
Karen Fredricks (Newark, Del.)
Christi Fricks (Pendleton, S.C.)
Sharon Hall (Maineville, Ohio)
Lana Hansen (Littleton, Colo.)
Angela Hansen Cook (Fargo, N.D.)
Michelle Harris (Anita, Iowa)
Sherry Helus (Wamego, Kan.)
Kathleen Hill (Kalispell, Mont.)
Rebecca Holden (Harrison, Tenn.)
Laura Hulsebus (Chugiak, Alaska)
David Ireland (Hermosa, S.D.)
Dana Islas (Tucson, Ariz.)
Haley James (Madison, Ala.)
Kristen Jarboe (Frankfort, Ky.)
Linda Kehr (Klamath Falls, Ore.)
Sandra Kelish (Stafford, Va.)
Barbara Kelley (Grapevine, Texas)
Rebecca Kitts (Pierre, S.D.)
Amy Knerr (Carmel, Ind.)
Susan Kunze (Bishop, Calif.)
Anne Magaha (Hatboro, Pa.)
Mary Meggett (Charleston, S.C.)
Teresa Minogue (Webster, N.H.)
Patricia Morgan (Norman, Okla.)
Kimberly Mueller (Cinnaminson, N.J.)
Susan Naylor (Parkersburg, W.Va.)
Karen Nesbit (Franklin, Wis.)
Cathleen Newton (West Hartford, Vt.)
Jennifer Norford (Charlotte Amalie, V.I.)
Monica Norwood (Little Rock, Ark.)
Suzanne O'Brien (Washington Township, Mich.)
Halley Page (Athens, Ga.)
Sally Pellegrin (Avon Lake, Ohio)
Carrie Persing (Chester, Va.)
Jon Phillips (Grand Blanc, Mich.)
Suzanne Pilon (Hilton, N.Y.)
Sara Rebecca Pittard (Ormond Beach, Fla.)
Susan Poage (Berkeley Heights, N.J.)
Kendra Pullen (Shreveport, La.)
Amy Radden (Casper, Wyo.)
Charles Reynes (Castro Valley, Calif.)
Debra Reynolds (Denham Springs, La.)
Kamilla Riek (Saint Louis, Mo.)
Jennifer Rising (Lake Forest, Ill.)
Natalie Robinson (Pleasant Grove, Utah)
Patia Rountree (Statesboro, Ga.)
Regina Scott (Greenwood, Ind.)
Deborah Seaver (Milford, Mass.)
Wendy Shelden (Cocoa, Fla.)
Cheryl Silcox (Anchorage, Alaska)
Jeanette Simmons (Pontotoc, Miss.)
Kimberly Spencer (Yarmouth, Maine)
Barbara Stoflet (Minnetonka, Minn.)
Melinda Storey (Birmingham, Ala.)
DeAnn Swofford (Olathe, Kan.)
Liane Tanigawa (Waipahu, Hawaii)
Pamela Thompson (Industry, Maine)
Loreen Whalen McMains (Herman, Neb.)
Nola Wilkinson (Decatur, Ill.)
Carol Wooten (Cary, N.C.)
Seanyelle Yagi (Kailua, Hawaii)

Winsome Wednesday: Flexible e-Paper

Now, there is an e-book reader that is the size of a sheet of printer paper AND it’s made of flexible e-Paper. The dream of Roswell style alien technology is now a reality. Whatever we can dream, we can make.

clipped from www.digitaltrends.com The Skiff reader is noted for being the slimmest eReader device in the market. The Skiff Reader is a fully touchscreen capable device that features a large, high-resolution electronic-paper display measuring in at 11.5″ (diagonally) and a resolution of 1200 x 1600 pixels (UXGA). This device is also the first to feature “Metal Foil” e-paper technology, making it unusually flexible. This may be the only eReader the publishing world will get excited about—its claim-to-fame being its direct correlation with Hearst Corp. Newspaper, magazine and blog publishers will also be able to sell and integrate display advertising alongside the content that Skiff delivers, presenting a new feature to the e-reading mainstream market.

Simple Subject Sunday: Links and Tags

Doesn't each writer hope that people find their blog interesting and helpful? I believe the answer is yes. Besides writing an interesting article, it helps to make the blog posting accessible through the reader's use of search engines and access to related articles as they read your blog posting.

One way to do that is through the use of links. Links related to other posts pointing the reader to the topic of interest. Since time is of the essence, links need to be accurate.

The link in a posting should take the reader to the exact posting the blogger wants them to access. When reading your posts, a reader should not have to wander through the desert to find your blog posts related to the search topic, because they will often give up....due to lack of time to focus on this effort.

I also discovered, through my own research, that blogs need to have layers of organization for ease of access. Links and appropriate tag clouds can represent a necessary equivalent of an online bibliography.

Saturday Specifics: What Google Tools?

Google New Year 2010 by COG LOG LAB.
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License

How many Google Tools do you use? In this nicely written review, 57 useful Google Tools for education are discussed. This article could be updated. What tools would you list today?

clipped from www.collegeathome.com

57 Useful Google Tools Scholars, Students, and Hobbyists

If you’re like most people, you use Google’s products several times a day to search for information or check email. Most people don’t know, however, how many useful tools Google has to make research and time management much easier. Here are just a few of the products Google offers that may be worth trying whether you’re a scholar, student, or hobbyist.