Thing 11. Google

Here is a new Google feature--Power Tip of the Day. New products and updates to Google features can get lost, they come so often. Add this gadget to your iGoogle homepage and get a new tip each day. Handy.


If you haven't subscribed to the Google Friends newsletter, I recommend that, too. It is a good way to keep up-to-date and learn what's happening with Google. This month it describes updates to Google Notebook and Google Maps, among other things. This is where I learned about the Power Tip gadget.

Thing 17. One Cool New Thing

Picture Trail lets you create 28 different types of slide shows (the one above is called Magnifier) from your pictures. You create the slide show--or Flicks, as they call them--by uploading pictures from your computer or Web site. Once you have your Flick, save it and then you can automatically upload it to various sites including Blogger. Or get the code to use in another service. Picture Trail hosts the pictures and provides image URLs so you can post the photos to blogs, Web sites, MySpace, etc. It offers other typical photo management site features, including the ability to order prints & share albums with others. There are privacy features, too. Explore the Help and the features tabs to learn more.

There is a community feature--with "friends," etc.--which I can happily avoid. And I'm not interested in the "Bling" feature, either, which apparently lets you add sparkle and text to photos, but the slide shows offer new ways to display photos. It is easy to use, with a little experimentation.

While the service is free, you must register and then wade through multiple pages of ads to get to the Flick pages. I like photos on Web pages and since I don't have Photoshop or other skills to do this on my own, I'm willing to put up with the ads, at least once in a while. You decide.

Something of a toy, but it could be useful to add interest to your teacher page--share photos you've taken related to an event or project--or for students to use in a Web page for a project.

What Are These Tools For?

An interesting article (from a very useful site) on how the creation of online content using Web 2.0 tools is developing students who are active participants in the information society. It points out their need to receive guidance and understanding on how to act responsibly in this environment. In order to provide that guidance, teachers and information professionals need to understand the tools and how to use them and to then create assignments that address the 3Rs (they didn't use that term, but that's what it means!)--research, reliable resources, and responsible use. We can't dismiss Web 2.0 tools--whether wikis or online photo editors--as toys. They are tools for content creation, collaboration, research presentations, and more. All part of the 21st Century skills. Read more about it: Student Content Creators: Convergence of Literacies.