TopSite Essay

     TopSite is a Web 2.0 Tool. It helps with research by bringing up several websites when you type in a search term, similar to Google. It offers a simple an effective way to improve the quality of research you do. Rather then bring up thousands of useless websites you won't need, it only brings up 10 of the best sites, or "top sites".

     Whats good about it is that it only gives you useful websites. you don't have to waste time trying to find out if the given website has relevant and accurate information to your topic, because TopSite does that for you. It is also fast and easy to use. You just type in what you are looking for, and the tool does the rest.

     This web 2.0 tool isn't perfect though. It gives you 10 websites, but sometimes if you have a lot of research to do, 10 websites might not be enough. It also doesn't give you pictures, and sometimes for research you need to find pictures, especially if you want to make some sort of presentation.

     This Web 2.0 tool has the potential to be very useful to both students and teachers. Both often have to do research, and it can be done much more efficiently with TopSite. The fact that it only shows what you need is its biggest feature. It keeps you from wasting time looking at websites that won't help you. It is also very easy to use.

My Cooliris Wall

1. Computer Screen/Monitor( Output)

2. Keyboard( Input)

3.  Mouse( Input)

4. CD/DVD Drive( Input)

5. Headphones( Input)

6. USB Flash-Drive( Input)

7. Projector(Output)

8. Printer( Output) 

9. Wireless Internet Hub( Input)

10. ActiveVote( Input)

11. ActiveBoard Pen( Input)

Today's Work 1-27-11

Today I wasn't chosen to do my presentation, so I just had to watch a couple of people present. Then I learned about Input and Output, which i made a post about. Maybe next class I'll have to present. I had also had to fill out a sheet for each presentation that someone else did.

Input and Output

An output device is any device that can display information. An input is something that goes into the computer.
Motherboard-Output   External Hard Drive- Input   CD- Input   Ram- Output   Mac Comuter- Input/Output
LCD Projector- Output   Scanner- Input   Printer- Output   Digital Camera- Input   Hard Drive- Output  
Cell Phone- Input/Output   Tablet PC- Output   Docking Station- Output  Monitor-Output  USB Port-Input
Keyboard- Input   Mouse-Input   Headphones- Output   Digital Camera-Input/Output    
  

Today's Work 1-25-11

Today was simple, I just had to create a survey and embed it to my blog, and then email it to the teacher. I also did some finishing touches to my keynote presentation. I also did some APUSH, since I finished early...and the teacher showed me somethings with the projector.

Survey

Today's Work 1-21-11

Today I continued working on my Keynote Slideshow Web 2.0 Tool Presentation. I managed to finish it. I added some effects and pictures and finished adding the last information. That pretty much filled up the whole class period, and next class period I'm going to have to fill out a survey and put one on my blog.

Today's Work 1-19-11

Today I read an article with my partner Big Taco. It was about an Army Colonel who got fired for ranting about Powerpoint and discouraging people from using it. I think he should have gotten fired for it because he disobeyed some Military policy. He has the right to speak his mind, but if it goes against policy then he needs to got fired. After that I also continued some work on my Keynote presentation, and I think I'm making good progress. I might be able to finish it by next class.

Today's Work 1-14-10

Today I looked at some videos from lynda.com. They talked about Keynote presentations. I thought they weren't very helpful so I only watched one of them. Then I started working on my Web 2.0 Tool, TopSite. Keynote seems fairly straight forward, so I don't think it will be to hard to do this project. All I need to is to go more in depth with the pros and cons of the Web 2.0 Tool. Next class I might be able to finish it up

Today's Work 1-12-10

Today we learned about problems with Powerpoint. It started with a discussion about the whats good with Powerpoint, and whats bad about Powerpoint. Then we discussed what somebody has said that "Powerpoint makes us stupid". I disagree with that completely, I think that Powerpoint can make you smarter and are good for education. It only would make you stupid if stupid things are being said in the Powerpoint, so I think that the usefulness of a Powerpoint is up to the person who's making it. Then I looked a slideshow about why Powerpoints were bad and how to make it better. The slideshow made a lot of sense and I think he made some good points. And after that I had to post in my blog about some other problems I had found on my own about Powerpoint.

Problems in Powerpoint

Powerpoint is a program used to create Slideshow Presentations. It works pretty good, but it has some problems, not just in the way that the program works, but in the way that people use them. A common problem that we discussed earlier in class was that people were putting too much information a Powerpoint presentation, and making it boring. People who were listening to the presentation wouldn't be able to follow it because it was boring. Also, some people would use too many fonts and use too many colors to decorate the powerpoint, but all that decoration would become distracting, and it would make it hard for people to follow. There are also some problems with Powerpoint that don't deal with how a person uses the program, but how the program was made. For example, if you try to put music onto a Powerpoint, it will work fine until you email it to somebody or until you try to open it up onto another computer, then it will start having problems and might not open up at all. Also, if a computer is being shared with somebody and a password needs to be put on a powerpoint, it is hard to do so.

Today's Work 1-5-11

Today I came to class late because I was on a field trip, so I didn't have as much time to work on the assignment. The teacher told me that soon we were going to be doing a project over Web 2.0 applications, so today I had to choose 2 applications. I chose "Draw To" and "TopSite". But the one I'm going to be working on is probably 'TopSite". I also had to post on my blog about what a Web 2.0 site is. It is a Web 2.0 tool is a web application that can facilitate systemic biases, interoperability, user-centered design, and developing the Internet. These sites can allow users to interact with each other through a social media.

Web 2.0 Tools: What they are, and the 2 I'm considering

A Web 2.0 tool is a web application that can facilitate systemic biases, interoperability, user-centered design, and developing the Internet. These sites can allow users to interact with each other through a social media.

I decided to have 2 choices for my Web 2.0 Project. They were "Draw To", and "TopSite".

The one I will do is "Draw To".

Here are the links to the two Web 2.0 applications:

"Draw To"-  http://www.go2web20.net/site/?a=Draw_to
"TopSite"- http://www.go2web20.net/site/?a=TopSite