idt516faq wiki / Current Student Questions

Create a new page
Create a classroom
Create a syllabus
Create a group project
Use another template

Web Searching

What is the difference for the student before taking the course and after when searching on the web?

The class teaches how to use advanced search features, which can improve the quality of the information found on the web. The top 100 alternative web sites are introduced and explored, which increases the awareness of the student to additional search engines beyond google, yahoo and ask. Websites are then evaluated for relevance and reliability, improving the quality of research performed. The student then learns about the invisible web (see below) to increase the quantity of information available in researching. This class makes a difference by improving the quality and quantity of results when researching online, and the advanced search features help to narrow the quantity to the most relevant, improving the efficiency of the search.

I already know how to use Google. Why is web searching included in this course?

Although many of us use the web daily to find out information, there are many ways to use it more efficiently. Using truncation, boolean searches and search engines beyond Google will yield quite different information in some circumstances. The search methods discussed in this course will help you, not only with this course, but probably all others that you take through the Western Online system and the IDT program.

Before this class I also knew how to use google, and pretty much limited myself to just that. I have learned there not only are there so many more search engines available on the web, but I have learned more effective ways to use them which save me time when I am using the web!

What are some of the best methods to assure the validity of information found on a web site?

The following questions need to be addressed with checking the validity of a webpage:

Is the information well-documented? (Look for a list of sources and contact information)
Is the information authoritative? (Look for a list of sources and contact information)
Is the information useful? (Look for links and appropriateness)
Is the site well-regarded and reliable? (Again, look for a list of sources and contact information)
Who is the information for? (Look for the site's purpose - does it contain biased editorials, ads, or agendas?)
Does the webpage contain up-to-date information? (Look for when the site was last updated)
What is the information architecture? (Look for functionality and mission/vision of the site)
Does the webpage contain un-biased information? (Look for advertisements that may indicate the website is for commercial purposes, rather than educational)
What is the educational value? (Look for learning and performance objectives that must be met)

What is the best search engine to use? Did this class help you decide which one is best?

I would have to say I have learned through this class there isn't one specific search engine that is best. This class has helped me to learn there are so many search engines available, and different search engines are more useful than others depending on what you are looking for. There are also techniques, such as using advanced online searching, that can allow you to access different information that you are able to find with a basic search engine.

Before taking this class I had a strong opinion that there are only few search engines like google, yahoo etc; where i can search for the information i need. But this class helped me to know about various search engines and to know which search engine is useful for us to search. There really isn't one search engine that would be the best. It really depends on what is being searched and how much information is needed to be found.

Why is the Invisible Web a secret? Shouldn't more people be taught about this?

It would just be too overwhelming for some, if it were out there for everyone to see. Yes, more people should be aware of it. Another reason it is such a secret is because there is relevant information that is trustworthy. This information is therefore protected in a way because not just anyone can create a website and post false information within the invisible web because there are more people looking through the information. Many times only published articles and books are accepted because people need to rely on accurate information.

The information is deep and detailed, it seems silly to not share with others the benefits of using the invisible web. It is of great value to use this resource??? Why a secret?

I'm not so sure it is really a secret as much as it has just recently been discussed or named. Databases, found in the Invisible or Deep web, have been used in domains, such as libraries, as an efficient and effective reference tool for quite some time or at least individual databases libraries subscribed to have. An analogy might be with the Roman Catholic Church and their approach to Bible study. For centuries the Roman Catholic Church never had Bible studies. The Roman Catholic Church believed that only the priests could interpret the Bible. It wasn't something that lay people were capable of doing or so they believed. About 25 years or so ago Bible studies started occurring within Roman Catholic Church congregations. Bible interpretation became more a thing of the masses rather than limited to just the priests. Perhaps with libraries, librarians, and their role as what we now call Knowledge Managers, they had a parallel concept or thought line. Now with the information of how to search the internet and the databases out there, and the widespread use of the internet by the general population, that knowledge is being spread to the masses.

Another way to look at it might be that the Invisible Web is just beginning to come of age, so to speak.

Another thought line might be that the term "Invisible Web" or "Deep Web" is a more recent nomenclature used as an identifier for that aspect of the web.

An excellent answer to what the invisible or deep web is and why we need to know about the invisible web can be found on the other page of this wiki, Prospective Student Questions. Check it out.

I have heard of WebQuests before. What are they and how do they work?

WebQuest is an inquiry oriented online tool for learning and used as a class room based lesson in which all the information that students explore and evaluate comes from the world wide web. The link below demonstrates how webQuests work and are used in classrooms.

http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/webquests/index_sub2.html

When searching for information, how far into the invisible web is too far, to retrieve actual/creditable information?

Depending upon how much information one needs, one can never go too far into the invisible web for valid data -- it just will be more time consuming to:

1) find the information and

2) answer the questions accurately from the post above this question!

I know the Invisible Web is very trustworthy, however many sites cost and they are often harder to locate for my elementary students. Is there any type of rating system using a star or number method for regular Internet sites (outside of the Invisible Web) that are in place to check for reliable and trustworthy sites?

Wikis

Why is it that every time I cut and paste through Word and then through the wiki that it places my information at the top of the page even though the cursor is near the bottom?

What would you consider to be the advantages of a Wiki rather than a Blog?

One of the advantages of a Wiki is that, as a 'living document,' it can be added to with more current information as that information becomes available. Wiki's also allow others to edit current information within the document thus eliminating having to read through all the individual posts as in a blog.

A well done Wiki exhibits authenticity and credibility with links to documents where the information came from and a resources section that is hotlinked, when available, allowing readers to access the information that the Wiki contributors used.

What would you consider to be disadvantages of a Wiki?

A disadvantage exists with a Wiki that allows open access, thus creating the possibility for fictious, urban legend-ish, false information to be published which can be misleading to readers, researchers, and students. Due to this reason sometimes wikis do not have quality information.

It is for this information that some schools block student access to Wiki sites thus preventing students from adding false information or "vandalizing" other's work.

One class project involves collaborating on a wiki, and the instructions suggest we should "edit our group mate's work". I'm uncomfortable changing work submitted by my group mate. What are some suggestions or strategies for overcoming this hesitance?

Collaboration beforehand is always the best practice. However if that option is not a possibility, which it sometimes isn't, due to lack of immediacy in communication, my suggestion is just go ahead and do it. You should always have some valid reasoning in hand to justify the action. If the originator disagrees too vehemently with your arguments, s/he can always change yours.

Confidence in your work or research will help you to overcome hesitation in editing. I was once hesitant to critique someone on an online class and tried to nicely suggest he/she was doing the wrong. The Professor criticized me for not being direct and lowered my score. From this point on my confidence grew. Edit what you feel will improve the work and be confident.

What is the best way to track who has made what changes in a wiki such as this? The History only appears to display a "snapshot" of the entire page. Is there an easy, efficient way to trace specific posts and/or changes to a certain author?

As changes are posted you will be alerted to those changes through the e-mail address you used for logging into the wiki page. The e-mails use color highlights so you are able to view the original text and the edited text.

I am interested in using a wiki for my lesson plan final project. What is the best online wiki to use? Are there other wikis available besides pbwiki? Is it possible for more than one user to edit a wiki page at the same time?

One that I'm familiar with and the first I ever attempted to use is Google Documents . The log in/create account page can be found at http://google.wikia.com/index.php?title=Special:Userlogin&type=signup. It was definitely a learning experience. In the Google wiki, more than one person could edit simultaneously. I'm not certain if it was our group inexperience using the wiki but when people edited at the same time, some edited material didn't turn out the way it was intended. It was the group concensus that probably more than one person was trying to edit the same material at the same time. With practice and directions for use, especially in a classroom setting, those problems could surely be solved. Our IDT group finally decided, since time was an issue, it was more efficient to use two browsers, email and synchronous text chat.

Blogs!

How does one go about uploading music to a blog?

You first have to click on custimize your page, then click on your layout, then the page element tab. after that at the bottom of the page is a add page element link and that opens up new window allowing a user to add the HTML widget then enter the link from the music that you found.

You can also go to the help link on the blog page and it is explained there how to do it since every blog page may be different.

What would you consider to be the advantages of using a Blog rather than a Wiki?

Blogs that are used as knowledge management type tools or discussions area about specific subjects can be a great vehicle for answers input by subject matter experts on the specific subject being discussed. A Wiki doesn't allow for this feature as it is like an encyclopedia...a 'living encyclopedia' at that.

Is there a way that blogs can be incorporated into a mathematics classroom?

Since blogs are used to share information in a post mathematics is actually an ideal subject for a blog. The instructor can post lesson plan schedule, formulas, or examples on how to solve a problem. The blog can function as a chalk board for teaching the various lessons.

Web 2.0!

What the heck is Web 2.0?

Web 2.0 isn't a "thing." Web 2.0 describes how people are using the web to share and collaborate, using technologies such as wikis, blogs, social networking sites such as MySpace, and more.

Web 2.0 is a term that refers to web related tools and services that are designed to facilitate collaboration between users. A few other web 2.0 applications are RSS feeds, Youtube, and Net vibes.

Can you sum up the advantates of Web 2.0 applications?

Try looking at this demonstation which explains wikis, RSS feeds, Social networds and Social bookmarking.

Intellectual property is a focus of many institutions of higher learning. How does an academic institution protect its intellectual property in the Web 2.0 environment?

E-learning and Web 2.0

MySpace and Facebook are two types of Web 2.0 applications. Do you feel these web sites are safe for teenagers to be using or do you think more could be done on these sites to help protect their privacy?

Including personal information, no matter what age, is not safe. There are restrictions put on these tools to keep teenagers safe, but there is always ways around the system. More should be done to protect privacy, however, I don't know what that could be.

The most dangerous aspect of sites like MySpace and Facebook is that it gives sexual predators the opportunity to strike. However, these sites also allow teens to prey on each other. Cyber bullying has become a huge social concern since the popularity explosion of these sites. Teens are capable of making life miserable for a peer simply by typing and posting rumors or secrets.

Young people need to act respectfully, responsibly, and with discretion. This should start at home. Unfortunately, it doesn't.

A measure of discretion could be exerted over MySpace and Facebook by having all posts screened for malicious, ill, disrespectful, and irresponsible behaviour. This costs money and takes time leaving little likelihood of this occurring.

I caution my students to be careful what situations they put themselves in because once a picture is taken and posted those pictures may tell a different version than the reality of the situation. Administrators have acted on what they saw on those pages.

Do you think that it is right for the police or school administrators to go to a 'MySpace' or 'Facebook' page and look at someone's information ?

When people post on any social web site, they should realize that what they post is there for the whole world to see. There have been many cases where underaged students got into trouble because they posted pictures of themselves drinking alcohol or doing some other illegal activity. There have also been cases where people who wanted to go into a branch of law enforcement were refused because they had pictures of themselves posted doing things that the police found questionable at best.

I feel it would only be right for them to look at someone's information if it was necessary for a safety reason. If the person has their information set so the administrators cannot look at their profile, it would be invasion of privacy to look at it if it was not for a security reason. We all have to remember that anything posted on the web is available to the world ... think about the "wayback machine." Documents created years and years ago are still available through that site. If you post it on the web, you need to be prepared for any consequences, even the unintended ones.

I think a general rule of thumb is if you want it kept private, then you better not post it. Anyone, including bosses, administrators, co-workers, or students, could find it, even by just accidentally stumbling over it. As for intentionally looking up someone's information, if they have probable cause or suspect safety or misconduct incidents, then they might be justified in "snooping". Before posting, users might want to ask themselves if it's worth losing their job or losing respect. Also, it might be a good idea to view your friends' pages. If they have posted something that you feel shows you in an inappropriate light, you could ask them to remove it (of course, a good friend would).

How do you think the information on social networks will be used in the future by potential employers or college admission offices to judge candidates?

I don't believe when judging candidates or students for a job or appication for school will go any farther then it is right now. A social network is for people to interact without traveling too far or the ability that they can't reach one another at the moment. The future for other technologies like blogs, wiki's, and other Web 2.0 will grow into more, but I believe social networks will be what they are now. A way to communicate with someone else.

In the employment aspect, I believe you need to truely meet someone then judge them from the first impression, not over the internet or a social network. This is the same way I feel for a student or when judging potential political candidates.

However, not everyone feels the same way that the above respondent does. There are cases where employers have searched MySpace for job candidates, only to find photos of questionable behavior, which led to them being dropped as a viable candidate. Social networks should not be representative of the complete "package" of the candidate, they can give employers a glimpse into the private lives of people and alert them to things that might negatively (or positively) affect the workplace.

A worthwhile read http://blogs.saschinaonline.org/kpower/2007/11/04/creating-your-online-profile/.

Many students do not realize that they can change who looks at their social network pages like facebook, myspace, yahoo personals, etc. Students or anyone that has these blogs can change exactly who see's their pages, they can be able to restrict so only people who are their friends can look at their blog. But the point of these sites are to share with a large amount of people your life, and pictures and statements from these sites can be copied, and put directly onto the internet where anyone can look at them.

I believe every employer wants a trustworthy employee, and most companies are turning to alternative methods of finding out a possible employee's past history, and that includes whatever they may be able to find. Be careful what you post and remember it may come back to haunt you in a future job or position.

Excerpt from Searching for Entry Level Job Seekers on MySpace (http://www.collegerecruiter.com/weblog/2006/08/searching_for_e.php)

So how can an employer effectively use MySpace and Facebook? Most of the press to-date has focused on employers excluding candidates from the hiring process and sometimes even terminating existing employees after finding information about them on-line at social networking sites. While that may be a legitimate use for the sites in some circumstances, what the media has not done a good enough job of covering are the potential ways for employers to include candidates in the hiring process.

MySpace and other social networking sites are valuable recruiting tools because they provide employers with acces to a desired demographic group: those who are searching for entry level jobs and internships. The sites also allow employers to connect with people who may not be looking for a job or who have chosen not to use traditional Internet recruitment sites such as CollegeRecruiter.com. These passive job seekers are often the most valued to employers yet few employers actively seek them out.

I am really interested in learning how to develop web pages. I know how HTML works and all that good stuff. So one of my questions is do any of you have your own web sites? If you do, what programs do you use to create them? Which programs do you think are the more efficient in developing web pages? I have a older version of Dreamweaver that I am learning to use; it seems difficult, but I think I am getting it. I am curious to to find out how many programs are out there just like Dreamweaver.

I don't have a personal web site. I've just never gotten that done. In my job as a Visual Communication specialist, I have used Dreamweaver, Photoshop, Fireworks, Live Motion, Flash, HTML, and am trying to get a handle on CSS. It's hard when you have interruptions during the work day to stay focused on the task.

Dreamweaver, in my opinion, is the best of the available pieces of software for website development. Since you have an older version of Dreamweaver, it would be well worth your while to upgrade to the latest version. Adobe CS3 has come quite a ways from the days when Macromedia and Adobe were separate companies. The integration between and within the Adobe software products is getting smoother with every new version. I'm not sure whether you consider yourself a programmer or a designer, but Dreamweaver allows options for either the developer, the designer and even a combination of the two.

A recommendation would be, if you were to upgrade (students can get a tremendous discount on software), I recommend you get the Classroom In A Book for Dreamweaver published by Adobe. There are plenty of books on the subject, but the Classroom In A Book series is pretty straightforward with lesson files provided on a CD- or DVD-rom. (Plus, if software certification is an objective, the Classroom In A Book series is what the certification test will be based upon.)

Another good resource is Lynda.com. Lynda.com produces a lot of good learning material in print and web delivery formats for a wide variety of software. I dare say that Dreamweaver is pretty much in a class by itself. This article will provide you with a pretty good picture of other available pieces of software for website development...http://www.consumersearch.com/www/software/web-design-software/index.html. It wouldn't surprise me if there's a few other pieces of software out there I don't know about but I'm not sure they would come up to the level of Dreamweaver.

I also use Dreamweaver to create and update my web pages at school. I have taught other teachers in the district how to use Dreamweaver and in that workshop, we have started their own web sites. While it is more difficult to learn than something like Microsoft Frontpage, you can do more with designing web pages if you learn how. Adobe Creative Suites 3 also allows for a lot of creativity when designing web pages if you are familiar with other Adobe software.

I am ready to take the plunge and purchase a newer computer, mine is now two years old, with Windows Office OS in a Dell Inspiron 640m. I work in higher education in a distance learning program, and soon will be redesigning the website, along with virtual environment for advising. If I can choose any type of computer and software to use, what would be the best choice. I am not a Mac user, and have only used it occasionally in courses. I am wondering what the recommendations might be for operating systems and software packages. I plan on using video and media in much of the design of the website along with survey tools. Any suggestions and how steep will the learning curve be for someone if they switch from PC to Mac?

There are several reasons to consider getting a Mac for the work you describe.

1.) The learning curve in the switch from PC to Mac is not as high as the learning curve for using the various web development tools such as Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Flash, Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, etc. Personally, I find the Mac and the OS to be a very intuitive tool. I work on both Mac and PC platforms by the way.

2.) The great thing about the Mac with the advent of Leopard (the latest Mac OS due out Oct 26, 2007 www.apple.com/macosx/) and the duo core Intel chip installed in all (?) the Macs now, is the ability to boot up both a Windows NT or XP and Mac OS Leopard at the same time. It used to be that web designers would have multiple versions of internet browsers along with a Mac and PC with various OS for testing sites design to see how they behave under multiple platforms and OS'.

3.) Macs are pretty virus free and resistant primarily because they aren't as prevalent as Windows OS PCs (thus they don't get the hacker attention) and the Mac OS doesn't seem to have as many holes in it as the Windows OS does.

4.) You can purchase Office for the Mac and it works as well on and in the Mac OS environment as it does in a Windows environment. Another option is to use Opensource.org's office software. It's free and pretty solid. Versions are also available for both Windows and Macs.

5.) The best software for the job of website design is Adobe CS3 Web Premium (www.adobe.com/products/creativesuite/). The integration of and flow between the various pieces of software is greatly improved. There's a lot of value in Cold Fusion programming as well as CSS (Cascading Style Sheets). Blending of the two within the Dreamweaver environment works very well. XHTML (eXtensible HperText Markup Language) is also important. But, first of all, a solid foundation in HTML coding is a must. Flash developer components, Javascript design and coding, and Dreamweaver extensions can be used effectively and efficiently to create surveys and evaluations for online application.

6.) If you're planning "on using video and (multi)media in much of the design of the website," Macs have this wonderfully easy, and fun, software for creating movies, DVDs, and multimedia CD-roms. It's called iLife and it includes iMovie, iPhoto, iTunes, iDVD software that comes with every Mac computer already installed! That's another nice thing about Macs. You take the computer home, plug in the keyboard, monitor and tower (unless you have an iMac the tower is part of the monitor), turn it on and you're ready to go right out of the box!!! Along with a piece of software called QuickTime Pro (www.apple.com/quicktime/pro/) you can save movies you create in iMovie in a variety of formats suitable for emailing, web streaming, CD-rom, and DVD-rom, etc. (It's not terribly expensive.) Add another low cost software called Flip4Mac (www.flip4mac.com/) and you can save out a QuickTime file in WMV (Windows Media Video) format that will play in Windows Media Player. If your school is really flush with cash, you could always buy the CS3 Master Collection and get all the tools for print, web, and multimedia but it runs about $2,500. Maybe a little less for an educational setting. (Actually, it's much less ... talk to your IT folk!)

You have a major task at hand in redesigning a higher ed (or any ed level) online learning environment. Because of the scope of the task just in what you mentioned in your question, the best approach would be for you to act as Project Manager and hire a team and/or outside firm to provide you with the environment you want based upon a good, solid task and needs analysis, a study of products available, what the instructors require and desire, what the budget will afford, what the learning environment is, and what the learners are like. Then you build a team that can fill the scope of work and/or find an outside firm that can provide the required materials. It would most likely be a more effective and efficient use of your time in the long run.

At the very least you need to talk to the people in your distance learning department, the instructional technologists. They may have ideas from other faculty members at your institution that you could incorporate. They may have a better handle on the technology because they work with it every day and try to keep up with new developments. Your job is to be the subject matter expert; theirs is to help you convey your message to the students.

Whatever route you choose, don't go it alone!

I am also interested in creating a webpage. I believe my district would like for every classroom teacher to have a website that can be accessed from the district homepage. I honestly don't have any idea of where to start! Do I create my own page independently of the district, or is this something I need to do through the district and with the district's computer programs?

I think that it depends on the resources that your district provides. If they provide each teacher space for a web page, then I would suggest using it. Usually they provide web page space and you have the option of manually creating a page or using Microsoft Frontpage or Macromedia Dreamweaver to create it. The first place I would start is speaking with whoever is in charge of your districts website. I would suggest you go with your district for your page. That will be the easiest way for your students to be able to find it. If you go with an outside source, students may have difficulties finding it. If you do go with an outside site, you have to find a way for all of the students to find the address for your site. One exception to staying inside your district is if you wanted to create a blog or a wiki. These require server side software and it may be difficult to get your district to run them. If you want to have a blog or a wiki, you may want to look elsewhere. You can create a blog in HTML, but it is nowhere near as simple as an already existing blog. Some districts, you give them what you want on your website, and they put it on their for you. In the end though, I would say to stick awith your district, and go talk to them about your options.

It's definitely easier if your district has something in place already. A template for every teacher's webpage, perhaps. But if they don't you could build your own page and burn the page file(s) to a cd-rom and take it in to your district tech folks to upload to their server.

Another possibility is to purchase a tmeplate or predesigned web page(s) from places like; Cool Home Pages (http://coolhomepages.com/store/), or Steve's Templates (http://www.steves-templates.com/templates.html). There's a lot of internet sites that sell, or provide for free, web templates. The templates are pretty easy to operate and input data. I think in most cases, especially if you purchase a template, you can download it to your computer, or upload to an external server where you want it to reside. That could be your district's server.

If your district's website is external, you could also have a web page posted on another hosting provider like Go Daddy.

and give your district tech people the web address so they can place link to it on a teacher directory page, if there is one.

I created a web page for my classroom. It was a great tool of communication for parents and students of my classes. If a student had been absent they could check the daily calendar to see what had taken place in the classroom that day. I would also post major assignments and important due dates. Again, this was an important tool if a student would tell a parent they did not know the due date, I had confirmation. It was also a tool that facilatated my oraganization. I spent hours on the web page offered by our school district. The next year they changed to a different program and all my information was lost...standards, benchmarks, course sylabus, course outlines...If you are unfamiliar with how to construct a web page use the district page. Your technology coordinator can assist you with any questions you might have, otherwise you may be on your own. It is also, I believe, beneficial to the students and parents to navigate the same web page process for each teacher within the district. We had a teacher go outside the district web page, and they would not allow him to keep it.

Do you think a class like this should be taught in a more general sense to more students? Should this class be taught as a general class for all majors and be available as a undergraduate class as well? Information such as the invisible web and using Web 2.0 websites would be good for all students to learn not just IDT students, do you agree?

I believe this course could and should be taught on a curriculum wide level. Most online degree programs have some type of orientation to online learning which is usually required for graduation from the program. This could be taken even further with the addition of a course with objectives similar to this course.

I agree. This course definitely increases one's approach and evaluation of what's available on the Internet.

I am actually taking this class as an undergrad, after filling out papers for the university. It was the only of a few classes that would be informational to my minor in Computer Science. This class has helped me develop better searching skills to be able to find new information for anything that I am trying to find when researching things. I would not suggest that this specific class be offered to undergrads but something similar to this. This class is geared towards teachers and trainers but not everybody is a teacher. Each major could have their own Internet Resource class that is directed towards improving the students skills to be able to find information about their major.

Web 2.0 will certainly have a huge presence in many higher education courses. A course like this would eliminate the need to teach how to use these tools so other courses using Web 2.0 can focus on just teaching their own objectives. Using Web 2.0, however, is increasing in high school, and even some middle and elementary school settings. As the use increases, most students in a higher education setting will have had prior experience with Web 2.0. Like using any technology, how much needs to be learned may vary greatly among learners.

I am a Law Enforcement Major and taking this class as a elective in my LEJA masters degree program. I think this class is suitable for all majors, and as technology increases and crimes increase on the internet this is a great class to learn how the internet is set up, and how to search for things much quicker and easier. I believe that IDT students and any other student in any program can learn this information, and this information can be used in most settings or careers.

Internet Resources for Teachers and Trainers is an excellent course for any person that is going into teaching. Education today is not the same as it was 20, 10 or 5 years ago. Educators and trainers have aligned their teaching methods with current technology based upon research and experience. Children as young as pre-school are exposed to computers in the classroom. Educators have a vast resource of information via the Internet and publications to enhance their teaching.

Examples:

I think Netvibes is awesome. I am so glad we have to make a portal for part of our assignment. I use it for everything now. I do have a few questions regarding netvibes.

What is the difference between universes and widgets?

Universes are a set of tabs composed of RSS Feeds, Blogs, Websites, etc. Universe creation is not an option to Netvibes members yet.

Here's a Netvibes Blog that talks about Universes, http://blog.netvibes.com/?2007/08/01/130-enter-the-netvibes-universe. Look at the Universes you can access via Netvibes, they'll help clarify the concept. This one, http://www.netvibes.com/francois, is pretty cool.

Widgets are the little icons on your module bars and tabs that represent RSS Feeds, Blogs, Websites, etc.

How much is too much with putting feeds on the Netvibe portal? Meaning would too many feeds make surfing the web a slower process?

Doesn't appear to make a difference web surfing speed. It's merely a place to place your favorite places, different from bookmarking them, allowing what seems to be easier access and classification of favorite websites, blogs, or RSS feeds, etc.

I really like the concept of a universe as an analogy for what a Netvibe tab represents. Perhaps a way to think of it is as a visual bookmark (The universe's name)? A visual, categorizational arrangement of favorite web locations one likes to visit like planets in a solar system, trip destinations on a vacation, etc.

The sky's the limit with Netvibes. There's probably a cache of cookies shared by Netvibes and your computer just like all websites create. Netvibes probably has a huge cache. I don't know enough about how web-servers work but that might be some of it.

Should I be concerned with security with Netvibes (especially with e-mail or using websites to pay bills that I have a link for on net vibes)?

Concern about security should always be uppermost in one's use of the internet for purchases, bill paying, etc. But as for Netvibes...it's a portal that you construct consisting of favorite places you visit on the web for a wide variety of reasons.

Compared with Google and Yahoo is net vibes in a class about its own?

Google and Yahoo are a different type of portal than Netvibes is. Maybe a good analogy is that of Google and Yahoo as a door that opens to one room (Yahoo may be a bit different, though. I've never been attracted to Yahoo as much as I have Google mainly because Yahoo seems too cluttered.) Netvibes is a floor selection panel on an elevator. Everything you want to see is at your fingertips all you have to do is open the site or the tab that the site you want is on. Does that make it a class of it's own? Hmmm...perhaps.

Probably a realization of one or a group of people's vision of what could be. Each one slightly different with many of the same objectives.

I am in the process of making my resume and want to post save it as a PDF file. How do I do this?

A lot of word processing software allow a user to save a file as a PDF file. I know that Word and InDesign have these "Save As" or "Export" options. Maybe only the Professional version of Microsoft's 2003 Word or Office.

Older versions of Microsoft Word required a third-party piece of software to convert a Word Doc into a PDF. Often times these third-party programs also had/have the capability to convert a PDF into Word Doc as well.

More recent versions of Microsoft Word or Office Professional has a button that allows you to save a document as a PDF document.

There's more specific information at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/word/HA011683331033.aspx?pid=CL100636481033.

In InDesign once you've completed the document, go to File and click on Export and a new dialogue will appear where you need to title your document, determine the document type (pdf, html, etc.) and where you want to save it to (i.e., your computer's desktop, a folder on your computer's hard drive. etc.)

When I get e-mails with attachments sometimes people put them in a PDF file when they made them in Word or Excel. Why do they do that?

One reason people put files in PDF format is to protect the layout and content of their document. By converting a Word or Excel document to a PDF format, outside users are not able to change the format of the document or the infomation that is included in the document. In order to alter a PDF document, the user must have a specific Adobe Acrobat Writer program on their computer.

Another reason is some people don't have Word, Excel, or any Microsoft software but do have Acrobat Reader (available as a free download at http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html) which opens any and all PDF files.

It seems that everything online requires a password. Obviously for security reasons this is needed and a good thing. I have a ton of passwords for internet tools such as my e-mail, access to my bank account, credit card account, wiki, blog, netvibes portal, and so much more. Is it a good idea to have one password that you use to access everything online? Why or Why not?

Having more than one password increases one's identity security when dealing with multiple transactions and/on internet sites. You could look at it like playing the lottery. If you play the same numbers week after week, the chances should increase that your numbers come up and you win. (we could only hope!) In a similar sense, if you have the same password for every transaction at every internet site you visit, if your password were compromised by hackers at one internet site, it would lay open all of the other internet sites that you visit, as well as your own assets, to the hackers/thieves plundering of you and the internet sites you visit.

Do you have any tips that can help one remember all the passwords they may have?

Write 'em down on a piece of paper and keep it in a safe place, may be one option. Personally I would go the sites where you must sign in, change your password on all of these sites to a "strong" password. Your password must be very unique, one with letters and numbers. Although it may seem tempting to do so, do not use the same password for all accounts just to avoid having to remember all the different passwords, for reasons outlined in the previous post. I also at one time created a page on my computer with all my usernames and passwords and locked that information, again this created another password I had to remember. The best passwords incorporates numbers and letters, and no persons names should be used in their passwords.

Rather than have the site you visit 'remember' your password, log in each time by typing in your password. It's tedious and frustrating when you don't get your password right, but it's actually a more secure measure in attempting to protect your privacy.

Firefox has a feature that remembers your password but I use it only for my home computer and not on my work computer or when I am working in the library. Is this a good feature that firefox has in relation to online security?

The password 'keychain' or features that 'remember' your passwords are very convenient and not as secure as logging in every time you visit a given site. Plus they're stored in your computer or the internet site you frequent and if the security of your computer or the internet sites you frequent is compromised (hacked, broken into, etc.), your passwords are the hackers' plunder.

Even though logging in each time you visit an internet location is more secure, it's still possible for hackers to obtain your passwords if your machine is compromised by interjecting a piece of software that captures your keystrokes.

Moral of the story: nothing in life is secure or certain except that as sure as we're born, someday we're gonna die.

Can someone explain media sharing and tagging?

I'm still learning at this stage of my life regarding how to use the "more advanced" features of the internet. Taking the IDT515 courses has increased my knowledge regarding this topic greatly. In a generic and basic sense, a procedure must be in place to locate information on the web. Information must be classified and or stored in a certain way to make it available for the end user. Search engines are introduced to obtain and locate that information. The search engine looks for certain words or phrases and then post several hits for the searcher to chose from. Tagging and media sharing is similiar to this.

Tagging in itself is a way to share photos and other multi-media. It's my understanding, and the easiest way to reply to this question, is by describing an example of how it is done. Say a person has a photo he wants to share with internet users. The first step is to upload the photo to an internet service designed for media sharing. One such source to do this is called (www.flickr.com). This site is mentioned in the course module #4. Once done the next step would be to assign a word or phrase to the photo. This is where the term tagging comes into play.

The person who uploaded the photo now assigns a certain word or phrase appropriate for the media form. If the photo was a picture of his best friend wearing a clown nose he may tag it with a phrase 'mike has a silly red nose". He can then tell his buddies to visit the site and look for photos with that tag. By having the tag the photo should be able to be located.

When developing the final project, do any of you in an educational environment find sites blocked and technology staff concerned with students using wikis and blogs?

I have a big issue with working on the project at school. There are many sites that are blocked at my school. I teach at an elementary school and the oldest grade is 4th. We mainly have sites blocked so they don't slow down the district internet. Some of these sites really slow it down. The site mainly blocked are the networking sites such as: Myspace, Facebook, & YouTube. There are also many others.

What kind of technical support do you have when working with your server and internet safety software? If there is a site blocked that we really want to use, we can contact our technical support and request them to remove the block. Most of the sites we use with younger students have been researched prior to using with them, so if something is blocked we know before students attempt to access them. Occassionally, students may conduct their own searches and will be blocked from sites. When this happens, I just tell them they cannot access that site and have to try one of the other links.

Do any school instructors have experience, either positive or negative, in using youtube as a teaching strategy, resource, or classroom assignment? I would use this activity in a classroom of junior and senior high school students.

Have you considered using teachertube? This site is set up similarly to youtube, only geared toward education. Some teachers I work with have used teachertube videos as an introduction to a lesson. I used it once to share the video, "Did You Know?" aka "Shift Happens". This video is also available on youtube, but the database on teachertube is not as big to search through, and it all seems to be for educational purposes.

I am interested in creating a webpage that contains my resume, statement, and portfolio and give the URL to a possible employer in a paper resume for them to look at, what would be the best web page maker, or blog maker on the internet?

I used Frontpage to create my classroom website. It really is a great program. The only downfall is the price. I used the program through my district. The program is very easy to use. I didn't even have to read directions!

What is the difference between NetVibes& blogs?? They look the same to me. I see NetVibeshas more features...but they look like they have the same concepts.

The features are what make Netvibes more than a normal blog. Netvibes is a personal homepage where you can customize and access links, access email, have a calendar, list appointments, check weather, access news feeds, perform searches etc. Your customizable page can be accessed from any computer with Internet access . Many blogs have some of these atributes, but rarely all of them. This feature is similar to Google homepage

Will wikis like simteach become an important resource for educators in the near future?

SimTeach is managed by Jeremy Kemp, assistant director of the Second Life Campus at San Jose State University. The wiki is full of resources for educators and trainers who take teaching to another level. Law enforcement, the military and healthcare are a few of the disciplines that use simulated teaching on a regular basis. Visit the SimTeach website at http://www.simteach.com/.

idt516faq

Current Student Questions