Smilebox

Obviously, this is not Monday.  Mondays have become pretty hectic for me, so I am now posting whenever I have the time.  I have reclaimed my blog from students since they now must keep their own blog, and I have decided to try to post something once each week.

My fifth grader's teacher uses Smilebox and creates the cutest reminders ever.  Since I love cutesy things, I created a Smilebox account and began to play.  This site is not only free (which I love with every thrifty bone of my body; however, you can upgrade--I won't be--for $39.99 per year) but is EASY (which I love with every lazy bone in my body) and awesome.  I showed Smilebox to my middle-school teacher hubby who is contemplating using it in his classes for a poetry journal.  As a teacher, I can see hundreds of ways to use this app for everything from poetry journals to electronic newsletters for a certain business and technology teacher's assignments to recipe cards for elementary school students to practice writing and sequencing.

So, what exactly is Smilebox?  Smilebox is a form of multimedia that allows you to share text, pictures, movie clips, etc. in a photo album, newsletter, greeting card, etc. with lots of different designs, some background music, etc. and allows you to e-mail them or post them to Facebook or a blog for free or pay the yearly fee to burn them to a DVD or print them at home.

I know I am not the first person to find this creation since it has over 328,000 likes on Facebook, but if it had not been for my fifth grader's teacher, I would still be in the dark.  So, I decided to bring it to light on my little blog.  Happy creating with Smilebox!

Social Networking

I think that Social Networking is great, you can keep up with friends and family that you haven't seen in a long time.

Just remeber, to keep in mind that what you say can hurt others, and sometimes it can backfire on you. When you put your status, remeber who is reading it.

There is also a time and a place for you to view your social network, respect others if you are at school, and of course don't do it while you are driving.

Monday Mania from a Business and Technology Teacher: E-Readers

Monday Mania from a Business and Technology Teacher: E-Readers: "Did you know that Amazon will sell 7 to 9 million Kindles in 2011? The Kindle is Amazon's highest selling item."

E-books are playing an increasingly important role in the book world today. The Amazon Kindle is the latest best selling e book device. Software such as Mobipocket or eReader allows e-books to be accessed on different devices.

There are several pros and cons to using e-books. One of the pros that sticks out in my mind is that e-books are often cheaper than paper editions, and are instantly available for download instead of having to wait for delivery. One of the cons is that some people when they read a book like to snuggle up in their bed as they read. Unfortunately, snuggling up to an electronic screen does not sound like a good idea to me.

As technology is constantly changing, the Amazon Kindle is the newest device on the market. Not only can you read e-books on the Kindle, but you can also read magazines, newspapers, blogs, and other media. If you're like me, I always want the latest up to date technology, and I believe that is why the Kindle is Amazon's hottest selling item!

Learning to Type Numbers and Symbols

Since I teach keyboarding and hear constantly how much pain I inflict upon students when I assign the numbers and symbols keys, I decided to give a hint on learning these:  choose a password to an account you use at least once a day . . . like Facebook or an e-mail account . . . and then pick two numbers or symbols to put in your password.  Leave them in until you learn them and then change to two new ones, etc., etc., until you learn them all.

Happy keying!

Thank You Letters for a Job Interview

According to www.careerrush.com, only about 10 percent of people send thank-you letters to potential employers after an interview.  Employers do notice!

A thank-you letter can make you stand out above other applicants (especially if only 1 in 10 send the letter).  The first paragraph should thank the interviewer for the time spent speaking with you and anything you learned or enjoyed during the interview.

The second paragraph is where you convince them you are the best person for this position.  List your strengths, experiences, qualifications, etc.  You can also address possible issues a potential employer raised during the interview (such as lack of experience) and offset the possible weakness with a positive (such as your desire to work hard and learn new things).

The final paragraph ends with your contact information, including e-mail and phone number.  This letter should be sent within 24 hours of an interview. Send the letter through snail mail unless you are told a hiring decision will be made before the letter can reach the interviewer. In that case, send an e-mail. This letter could be the deciding factor in obtaining this job so PROOFREAD, PROOFREAD, PROOFREAD!

I hate when Word automatically hyperlinks!

Many times as you are keying, Word will recognize  hyperlinks and e-mail addresses for what they are and automatically hyperlink that information.  To remove an automatic hyperlink using your keyboard shortcut, click on the hyperlink and press CTRL+SHIFT+F9. Happy keying!

2011 Emerging Technologies: Wikis

A wiki is server software that allows users to freely create and edit web page content using any web browser. Wikis are created mainly by a collaborative effort of site visitors. An excellent example of a wiki is Wikipedia, a free encyclopedia in many languages that anyone can change alone or together as a group. The first ever wiki site, WikiWikiWeb was developed in 1994 and installed on March 25, 1995 by Ward Cunningham. Wikipedia was launched on January 15, 2001 by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger. Wikipedia includes 15 million freely usable articles in over two hundred languages worldwide, and content from a million registered and anonymous contributors. Most wikis are open to the general public and there is no review before modifications are accepted. Many edits can be made in real-time and appear almost instantaneously online. Three characteristics of wikis include: pages and editing, linking and creating pages, and searching. Wikis influence millions of people worldwide. Wikis can be used to produce the following: to-do lists, operation manuals, event planning, storing contacts, solving FAQ's, and to collaborate with various people.

Skype Video Chat

Rena and I found out from our research on Skype that they really don't have a very good online reputation. They don't have a good customer support system, even for the paying customers. You have to enter your complaint for a 'claim ticket' which they will then get to...when they get around to it.

It's great for video chatting and business collaboration, but paying for the upgrades isn't necessary for the best experience.

Social Networking

While researching Social Networking we found out that there are over 350 different sites. The majority of Facebook users are women forty to fifty-five. Social Networking today has became almost a daily ritual for most people. Most Social Networking sites are free and open to just about everybody.

SharePoint 2010

Carrie and I had Hosted Sharing Tools- SharePoint 2010. It is interesting that you can access SharePoint on your mobile device and access calendars, messages, etc. There are many versions and the most recent was released in April 2010.

Emerging Technology- Tablet Devices

Tablet devices make up a big part of emerging technology in the future. In 2010 it was predicted that an estimated 54.7 million tablet devices will be sold in 2011. Goldman Sachs estimates that sales will grow to 79.2 million tablets to be sold. There were 12 devices that were announced at the beginning of 2011 out of those we looked at the Apple iPad, BlackBerry PlayBook, Motorola Xoom, and the Asus Eee Pad Slider. All four devices are expected to have an outrageous amount of sales.

E-Readers

Did you know that Amazon will sell 7 to 9 million Kindles in 2011? The Kindle is Amazon's highest selling item.

How do I keep people on the Internet from right-clicking and taking my pictures?

One question that turns up occasionally in class is "How do I keep people on the Internet from right-clicking and taking my pictures?"  One way to do this is to place a transparent image over the image you want to protect.  Whenever someone right-clicks your picture, the transparent one will be the one that is pasted.  Unfortunately, some picture stealers are persistent, and there's no way (that I know of) to completely prevent someone from taking your pictures.  For that reason, be very careful what you put out there!