Symbaloo for Education

At ISTE 12 in San Diego, I attended a party co-hosted by Symbaloo.  Symbaloo is another social bookmarking site, but not like any other I have seen.  It tiles your bookmarks in a more visual fashion.  In order to receive my pass to the party I had to visit their booth.  Upon speaking to a representative, they suggested to check out their site and my immediate question was, "Can I import my bookmarks from Delicious?" 

Today I tested that question by using the link that was given to me, and it was an easy 3 step process.  I was impressed, yet mad at myself for not tagging my bookmarks better in Delicious first. It organized my bookmarks without tags alphabetically.  So now I feel the need to go back and reorganize, but I don't know how time consuming that will be!

The great thing about Symbaloo is that you can create a Webmix, or list of bookmarks and share easily through email, Twitter or Facebook.  I can see many uses for this in the world of education.  A Webmix of links for students on a specific topic to research, or one for teachers to share among one another.  Again, the thing I like most is how it is represented visually and has a Google search built in.  I haven't played with the bookmarking tool yet, but it seems similar to the Delicious tool I was already using.  Lesson learned: tag your bookmarks!!!!

One of my Symbaloo Webmixes

The Basic Version is Free and they offer premium packages for school districts and teachers.
Follow Symbaloo for Education on Twitter @symbalooedu

Returning to the Blog Scene

After connecting with so many great people at ISTE 12 in San Diego, it became apparent that I need to begin blogging again to stay on top of all the latest in the Ed Tech world. So here I am starting my journey again. I have recently moved to South Carolina from New Jersey, leaving my tenured position behind for a great job offer that my husband received. I would love to connect with educators and help develop them with technology. I figured blogging was a good way to start after the advice I received from my new PLC friends. Networking at the Ed Tech Karaoke party was a great place to meet new people.

The View from the San Diego Convention Center

This was my second time at ISTE and I was able to present a poster session with my fellow graduate classmates, which was great! We had exceptional feedback and learned a ton from other educators. The best session I went to was a BYOD hosted by Chris Fitzgerald Walsh (@fitzwalsh) from the New Tech Network titled "Even More Google Geekiness". The time seemed to fly as he amazed us with geeky tech tips for using all sorts of Google Apps including spreadsheets, docs, and the new Google Drive. I was so happy that he shared a Google Doc with us that linked us to all the goodies! I know I will reference it often.  Check it out!