Websites

          Something we started to touch on it class last week were websites that helped with integrating social media in different ways. Websites like paper.li, ifttt, and buffer are very helpful in this way. Paper.li is a website that basically lets you create your own daily newspaper tailored just for you. This is cool because it is all news stories that you want to read. This will make it more likely you will read any articles. It is also possible to link it with your Twitter account. And if you were to miss something on your twitter timeline, it will show up on your paper.li account. You can also share your paper with both twitter followers or anyone else you want to share it with. The second website ifttt stands for If This Than That. It helps connect different channels together and set up updates among other things. Some of the channels are Facebook, Twitter, Evernote and Gmail to name a few. With ifttt you are able to create recipes that can do a number of different things. For example you can create a recipe where if your alarm goes off then your WiFi turns off. Its things like this that ifttt is good for. It can be a good remember for the little things that can make your day a little bit easier. You can also set it up to when you find an article you like it goes right to an app (like pocket) that saves that article for you to read later. Buffer is also a cool little website that lets you create a queue for your Twitter. A queue is a wait list of tweets that get tweeted at a time and date you choose. Say you know you will not have time to tweet something out, you can add that tweet to the queue and buffer will tweet it for you. This makes it a little easier to manage your twitter account without thinking about it. 

 

         Creating websites were something we also talked about for a little bit. The two main websites we talked about were Weebly and Wix. Both websites are simple and easy to use for beginners when they want to create their own website.There are plenty of styles and templates to use as a base for your website. You can add a number of pages such as home, weekly blog, and contact page. Also you can add and re-size any photos you wish have on your site. These are some of the examples that are highlights from the video below. 

         Some tips to keep in mind when creating a website would have your favorite website in time, have a good set of colors, and sometimes less is more. Your favorite websites are you favorite for a reason, it never hurts to draw inspiration from them. Your website should have eye catching colors but, not eye hurting colors. The color blue is always a calming color no matter what shade is used, however having bright blue polka-dots with bright red stripes running through your website may strain the eyes. Lastly, having less words and bigger pictures gives your visitors more room to focus on what you have to say, and not disinterest them.     

         About me is also something that should be on everyone's website. It is a webpage has your contact information, a little bio about yourself, and all links to any social media you may have. A couple basic things the about me should have is how can you help the person visiting your page, information they can contact you by, and something that will grab their attention and bring them back to your site. 

Untangling the Web chapter four is about social networking tools. The tools they talked about were TodaysMeet, Skype, Kidblog, and Edmodo. TodaysMeet allows a teacher to create a back ground channel that can used by students or other teachers. This back ground channel allows you to talk in real time, letting you focus on whatever topic you are talking about without moving on to the next. With it being real time teachers are able to give students a clear expectations on whatever the topic is. Skype allows educators to find each other and share their ideas via video chat in their respective classrooms. This would allow a classroom in the U.S. connect with any other classroom in the world. So students in Manahawkin NJ, can talk with students from a classroom in Japan and other locations. Kidblog is a blog for students that can be moderated by their teacher. It keeps children in a safe learning environment, allowing them to share their thoughts. Edmodo is one of the first social media websites designed just for schools. It has the same feel as Facebook but, is almost exclusivity for educators. Teachers can set notes, when assignments are due, and when tests and quizzes are; and all the students see is a notification like on Facebook. This makes it easier for students to use.