Journal #5

     Initially, using Diigo was a little confusing. Some of the aspects were hard to navigate/figure out such as how to upload something to Diigo successfully for the group to see. I do like that it allows us to make comments and annotations directly on the websites/pdfs for everyone in the group to see. It makes it easy to communicate and share ideas or important information with the entire class and the teacher. Overall, I can see the usefulness of Diigo, but I personally didn't like the website because the formatting of it was a little hard to navigate as I mentioned earlier. With use, it became easier to navigate and understand, but I don't like that there were difficulties to begin with because as a new user on a website, it should be understandable from the beginning.

     I like that I can share my thoughts with everyone who knows about my blog. I think it's a great way for people to communicate with each other and share ideas. I also really like that you can make it individualized to your personal aesthetic, and that you can create a layout that you understand and think others will too. I don't like how I have to pick from a template with this website to create my blog, because I would rather be able to make it more unique than this website allows. So far, I have learned how many different ways there are to post your material to a blog. For example, you can link your Twitter to the blog if you want, you can create a section where people can leave comments and questions, and you can upload videos, links, and pictures to the blog to enhance your topics.

     A Web 2.0 tool I would use in my classroom when teaching would be Animoto. It's a website that makes creating and sharing videos easier. As a teacher, I will use this to create lesson plans and share presentations from class to be reviewed later at home for the student's availability. Animoto is extremely useful as a teacher because it makes sharing resources with your students so much easier and more efficient. Even people who struggle with technology can use this to successfully share their videos, presentations, and lessons with their students. I would highly recommend this to teachers because it can make their jobs a little easier, which is always a good thing.