Reflective Blog #3

MAPping Information Activity - This activity opened my eyes to the fact that some of the ways I looked for and got information on the Internet is not as reliable as I believed. I admit that I am a creature of habit. If it works, I don't change it. I have held fast to websites like Google and Wikipedia when looking for information. I would not necessarily take the first hit as fact but if I found a couple of other sites that collaborated with what I'd find I would stop there. Through this exercise I learned what makes up a URL and how each link can give clues to its credibility. I am fairly confident of the information I have used in the past but after this week I will definitely look for information differently. For starters I will look at the URL first and break it down for realiability before reading the article. I believe this is a very important skill to know and learn. Students should be taught MAPping first before we let them loose to search for information on the web. Think of all the frustration we could spare them and their teachers if they learned to research websites correctly. It's hard to undo learning so getting it right the first time is best.

Del.icio.us Activity - I had not heard of Del.icio.us before doing this activity. Up until now, I had used 'favorites' as my way to bookmark the sites I most frequented. I can see advantages such as organization, utilization of time, and being able to locate information from any place and computer in using an account like this. As I was setting up my account and on step 2, I was unexpectly kicked out of the site. So I don't know if I properly installed the browser buttons. I never saw a confirmation page but I was able to add a contact and bookmarks so I think I did this activity correctly. I really didn't have many bookmarks to begin with so I started with some from my favorites list. As I continue to learn and grow, I plan on adding websites that are more pertinent to what I am doing in school and at work. This is a good way to help students be organized and start tasks quickly and efficiently.