Time-Saving+Tools

Tools are helpful only if they save you time or energy. . . here are some that will save you!

** Social Bookmarking ** Use social bookmarking to bookmark webpages to a website instead of your computer. Now, you can see your bookmarks from any computer--and even share your bookmarks easily! How/why would you use social bookmarking?

Two easy-to-use social bookmarking sites are Delicous and Diigo. Both of these require you to create a free account. You may have to download/install a user toolbar "add on"--and then you are up and running! One of the most useful things about using these is the ability to "tag". Create tags for each site to later help you sort/search for websites. Remember that the tags are "categories" if you will, so make sure they are specific enough to help you pinpoint what you are looking for--but broad enough to allow some room in finding something.
 * share a list of websites with your students
 * collaborate with co-workers to share informational websites
 * join a "group" and receive the bookmarks of others who have a common interest

Diigo has some added features, including highlighting on webpages and placing post-it notes (to which you can comments). Check out my Diigo bookmarks here. Try searching by typing in a topic (or a tag--the tags I use are displayed at the right side of the screen). Shorten a URL ** Need to give your students a URL that is long. . . you know it will take time for them to type it and half of them will misspell it? Try [|TinyURL.com] -- copy the long URL and paste it in the text box -- click a button -- receive a shortened URL to give to your students.

Other URL "shortening" sites are [|SnipURL.com] and Bit.ly (do the same thing as Tiny URL).

**Lengthen a URL**

Want to lengthen a URL? Someone sends you a link. . . and you aren't sure if you want to click on it--it's shortened, and you don't know where it will lead. You can "undo" the shortener by using LongURL.org. This website allows you to paste in a shortened URL and "expand" it to the original long link so you can see exactly where you are going by examining the entire URL.

Need to take a picture of something on your screen? Use Command-Shift-4. Your pointer will change to a cross-hair which you'll use to "capture" whatever you want. . . the picture will go to your desktop (titled Picture 1, Picture 2, etc.) Drag the pictures to a document or embed in your wiki. ..
 * Screen Shot **

RSS stands for "Really Simple Syndication" -- it's the Internet way to subscribe to news "feeds", blogs, podcasts -- anything that gets updated regularly (or irregularly!). You can tell if something is available for subscription when you see the orange symbol shown above (next to the word aggregators).
 * RSS Feeds and Aggregators **[[image:Picture_2.png width="22" height="22"]]

You will need something to "receive" your subscriptions. Google has a Reader, which lists the things you subscribe to on one page; you can also create and customize a iGoogle page to display your feeds. Follow the steps below:

1. Go to Google.com 2. Click the iGoogle link at the top right of your screen. 3. Click on the link "get started". 4. Follow the steps to create your iGoogle page. You select the appearance and what "gadgets" you would like to display. Make sure to add your ZIP Code in the text box. Now, click View Page to see what your page will look like. Don't like a particular gadget? Remove it! 5. Click Add Stuff to view more gadgets you might like to add to your page.

When you go back to your iGoogle page, you will see a message at the top to sign in so as to save your page--click the link to continue. 5. Click "Create an account now" and follow the steps to create an account. You can use an existing email address (you don't need a Gmail account). Your iGoogle page is done!

6. When you visit a website that allows you to subscribe, click the RSS icon to view subscription options. Click to choose Google. Select Add to Google homepage. Your "article" will appear in your iGoogle page and you will receive updates automatically. 7. Now that you have customized your iGoogle page, you can set it to be your home page in your browser. That way, you will see your chosen gadgets and feeds each time you open your browser--making it easy to stay up to date on the topics you choose.