Eye of the Tiger

“I pledge allegiance to Google of the Search Engines. And to the…” Yes. I am a Google person. Not Yahoo, Ask, or Bing no offense or disrespect). Honestly, I have nothing against them…but Google all the way (Cue: pep rally band). It suits my purposes, has so many features, and I am completely partial to it: it’s my go-to. I have been using Google Drive for a while now, so I’m excited to experience Google Sites. Now, from what I have seen, Google Sites isn’t as pretty as WordPress. Frankly, through my constant blogging, I have found WordPress to be extremely accessible and efficient. It’s basically second nature to me at this point. So! I am remaining optimistic about Google Sites, and what it has to offer. I know that when I am teaching in the future (and for my Spring Student Teaching Placement), I will have my own website. Through this project, I will decide who it will be: WordPress vs. Google Site. Who will be the winner?! (Cue Eye of the Tiger music please… Dun. Dun, dun, dun. Dun, dun, dun).

I think it’s only fair to familiarize myself with Google Sites, and its possible uses. Chances are, if you are reading this blog, you’re comfortable (or at least know) the possibilities of WordPress. Here are the Top 5 Ways to use Google Sites!

Use Google Sites as a…

1.  Wiki (Here’s a FUN FACT 🙂  I recently found out is a Hawaiian word for “quick quick” Credit: Dr. Mirliss)
2.  Digital Portfolio
3.  File Cabinet (for a future teacher, this will DEFINITELY come in handy!)
4. Blog (yes, I am partial to WordPress at the moment…but we will see who wins the battle)
5. Website (I am also partial to WordPress for this too…but we’ll see!

So…who will reign supreme? You’ll have to check back to find out!

 

Hear Ye, Hear Ye!

For the final for my webpage technology class, we have to create an educational website on…something! Webpage technology = creating a website, surprise, surprise! I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this, but I am originally from Brooklyn, N.Y. Granted, I was only a toddler when we moved to NJ…but my whole family still lives there. All of the “-er” endings in words are (still) “-a”s. Needless to say, the influence is still there even though I’m a Jersey girl. Regardless, I’ve always felt the most at home in the south. We have a humble house in North Carolina that we go to all the time. Throughout my time there over the many years, I have found a love for fishing. My family from Brooklyn and Queens make fun at me enough for the way I talk (my -er’s are actually -er’s…), let alone finding my spirit in the south while fishing. No matter what they say, I love it.  My proposal for my final project is to create an educational tool about fishing on the Atlantic coast, with a concentration of pier fishing in North Carolina. I want to focus on pier fishing, as this is my favorite. I plan of explaining all a person needs to know about pier fishing: gear, accessories specific to pier fishing, types of fish, plenty of how-to’s, differnt types of bait/lures, tackle/weights, and more (all with a personal flare)! Stay tuned for “Hook, Line, & Sinker”!

Who Are You? Who, Who, Who Who?

 

 

A magnifying glass is hovering over three fingerprints

License: CC0 Public Domain; Free for commercial use / No attribution required

Was it just me… Let’s be honest, everyone read the title singing along to the song. Almost synonymous with the song is the show CSI, so in my mind it’s a song where I think about piecing together information to come up with a conclusion of “who done it?!”. I promise I have a point here, I swear! This week, we explored how to evaluate websites, how to tell which sites are reliable, and how to deem if they are not. See, now I’m getting to my point… Evaluating websites is a game–not too different from CSI (ok, yes, nobody died a tragic or gruesome death)–where you need to find evidence, piece it together, and see the big picture: Is this source credible?  Should it be used?

Going through these steps takes a little practice because it is so easy to judge a website based on its overall appearance. This is BAD; don’t do it. You have no idea if the author or company has reliable credentials (if any), or if the information is remotely correct. Once you get into the habit of evaluating websites, it becomes second nature. There’s a whole extensive process, but I’ll break it down nice and easy (and in a list) so it’s quick…

Here’s how to be a CSI (minus the gore) Investigator of the Web!

1. Look at the URL. Is it appropriate?
   • Is it a personal page?
   • What type of domain is it? Commercial? Educational? Government?
   • Does the publisher “make sense”?
2. Take a look around the webpage.
   • Read the “About Us”, “Philosophy”, “Background”, or other key words that look like these
   • Who wrote the page? Was it an Author? Was it an organization?
   • What is the date on the page?
   • Does the author have credentials?
3. Look for quality indicators
   • Keep a look out for links, additional sites, related links, and/or footnotes.
   • Are the sources documented?
   • Do the links work?
   • Is it cited? Forged?
   • If there are links, are they valid?
4. What do other people think about this website?
   • Use Alexa to find our details, ownership, related links, etc. on this particular website.
   • Do some background check work on the publisher in a directory and the author in Google.
   • Who links to the page?
5. Put all the pieces together!
   • What is the purpose?
   • Could it be a satire?
   • Is it available through a library?

Congratulations! You’re now officially a Professional CSI Investigator (of the Web)! And you didn’t even need to find a dead body.

Or, if you prefer, you can be Sherlock Holmes. Either way, get detecting!