Friday, February 1, 2008

Week 4: Tools we love!

We all have our favourite tools and widgets.
You might ask yourself, WHAT´S A WIDGET?

WIDGETBOX gives the following definition:

"A widget is a little mini-application that you can put into your blog or web page."

Widgets are fun and really bring life to your blog. Some of them are more than fun, they´re actually useful, for example they can show you who the visitors to your blog are, they can bring updated news or even provide a free space for chat.

This is a video which shows some widgets you can use.


When creating a new blog, what are your favorite tools or widgets? And why? We posed this question to bloggers around the globe via Twitter, and here are their replies. After reading these, let´s share our favourite tools in the comments area!


Blogging4Educators announces a Twitterpoll




carlaarena @BlogEd08 Hard to decide...but I'll go for http://voicethread.com as you can embed it in a post or in the sidebar with audience interaction 10:31 AM February 01, 2008 from web in reply to BlogEd08






fceblog @blogging4educators Hmm hard to choose a widget...http://tinyurl.com/2qcgpq 12:04 PM February 01, 2008 from TwitterFox





englishstudio
@BlogEd08 My favourite tool is Pownce http://snurl.com/1yr82 12:48 PM February 01, 2008 from twhirl in reply to BlogEd08




Durff @BlogEd08 favorite blog tool? Statcounter 11:26 AM February 01, 2008 from web in reply to BlogEd08






anamariacult @BlogEd08 My favourite blog tool is a geovisite globe counter which tells me how many daily visitors my blog has had and where they´re from 02:00 PM February 01, 2008 from web in reply to BlogEd08



csessums in re: favorite blogging app-- Twitter! 3:53 PM February 01, 2008 (Direct message via Twitter to Carla Arena)





susaneb I like wordpress -this is my blog http://susaneb.wordpress.com/
I also like blogspot and PBwiki....all fun (Direct message via Twitter to Carla Arena)



Dennis_Phoenix Favorite blog tool (blogs for students): onelook.com Explanation following. 04:46 PM February 01, 2008 (from direct message to BlogEd08)




Dennis_Phoenix Why onelook.com? Besides Encarta, American Heritage, Mirriam-Webster, Cambridge, Oxford, others, also phrasal verbs & idioms. Very useful. 04:47 PM February 01, 2008 (from direct message to BlogEd08)




cristinacost
@BlogEd08 so many: iPod player 4 fun; clustermaps 4 visitors' locations & twitter 4 micro communication.can't pick just 1!thanks Mary ;-) 06:58 PM February 01, 2008 from web in reply to BlogEd08



alicebarr @BlogEd08 Favorite Blog Tool: EduBlogs Favorite Widget http://www.dbachrach.com/sh... 08:12 PM February 01, 2008 from Snitter in reply to BlogEd08




cheryloakes50 My favorite blog too,is how I can blog right from my browser in FLOCK.
My favorite widget is the weather widget so I can see when it is snowing.
Next favorite widget is any twitter collector. 9:24 PM February 01, 2008 (E-mail message to Carla Arena)



Vicki Davis My favorite blog tool is the Firefox tag generator found at - https://addons. mozilla.org/ en-US/firefox/ addon/1384




It is very important to generate technorati tags for your blog if you want to be part of the conversation, this tool not only tracks your previously used tags but generates them automatically for you. Vicki Davis 9:36 February 01, 2008 (E-mail message to Carla Arena)

joaoa @cristinacost Not a very easy question for me but at the moment I am loving the Flickr widget. 09:04 AM February 02, 2008 from Snitter in reply to cristinacost





illyac @BlogEd08 I'd choose cocomment: http://www.cocomment.com/ which lts me know when someone responds to a comment I made on another blog 12:14 PM February 02, 2008 from web in reply to BlogEd08



gladysbaya @BlogEd08 IP2 maps - anonymous for visitors, yet encouraging for bloggers" 12:08PM February 4, 2008





Now it is YOUR turn! What is your favorite blog tool or widget and why?

Thursday, January 31, 2008

Week 3: Tagging




Rashmi writes in the blog post A Social Analysis of Tagging (or how tagging transforms the solitary browsing experience into a social one)

"I strongly believe that all good social systems need to serve the individual motive. Tagging works because it strikes a balance between the individual and social. It serves the individual motive of remembering, and forms a ad-hoc social groups around it. If you are designing a tagging system you need to understand how it serves the individual and what sort of social formations it supports."

In order to profit from tagging, folksonomies, you need to understand the concept behind it and the reasons for doing it.

This is your place for asking questions or just speaking your mind on the topic of tagging. We'll all be here to discuss it with you.

The Blogging Team