# 10 Again

Am trying this again to see if there is a better way of linking this image to my blog.
ImageChef.com Poetry Blender

# 10 Image Generators

No idea what I am supposed to be doing here. I seem to spend hours going the long way around things. Hope this works. I've made a word mosaic.

#9 Virtual Worlds

MMM not really sure where to begin here. I visited Second Life. Whilst it was fairly easy to check out what was involved and the various choices on offer (ie billions), I started getting more and more stressed about the fact that soooo many people, especially young boys/men would spend sooooo much of their time in the virtual world. My husband reckons he has enough trouble dealing with the real world. I immediately thought of our 5 year old son who began Kinder this year. He absolutely loves reading (says it's his favourite thing in the world to do - which I can totally relate to), and is already reading chapter books. I had images of him as a teenager happily ensconsed in the virtual world creating multiple Avatatars, totally oblivious to anything around him. Where has my beautiful articulate little boy with the love and awe of everything around him gone???? Am I just being old fashioned here? Or am I experiencing technology phobia? I am a huge promoter of social skill development and I do question where social skills fit in to virtual worlds.

I can see the benefit to Virtual Classroom with online collaboration tutorials where educational institutions such as universities take advantage of this platform to deliver content to a world wide audience at low cost. As a primary school teacher I don't see the value in a primary school setting. Fortunately the 13yrs plus age limit negates this anyway.

I think it would be great if I was learning or practicing a language. I can see the value of Exit Reality. As I am planning the building of a back deck for our home I can see great benefits if you were an architect.

# 8 iGoogle

Well, I had a lot of fun with this one. My kids particularly liked the games you can add to your homepage. I really like the timesaving aspect of having lots of sites at your fingertips for regular browsing. I wouldn't actually use iGoogle as my homepage on this computer as too many people share the computer. However, I can certainly see the benefits in the workplace.

# 7 Google Books

Wow I love this site. I would most definitely use this from home. I buy quite a lot of books through booko.com and sometimes hope that what I have bought is what I really want. I tend to cross my fingers a bit and hope for the best. With this site I can now travel through content pages and even read parts of the text before buying. This is especially good when selecting a gift for someone. I'll be sharing this site with my friends for sure.

# 6 Google Maps

I love Google Maps. I have used it before. When we moved into our new home, I looked up the satelite pictures, which the kids found pretty exciting. We use the directions sections when we have to be somewhere unfamiliar in Sydney, though I must confess to relying on the Navman when actually driving there.

#4 Web 2.0

This adding a new post seems fairly straight forward. Someone told me this was not rocket science and that anyone can do it. I guess it just takes confidence and time. Whilst I don't profess to fully understand web 2.0 I was impressed with the line "it is what technology is allowing us to do". I am amazed by the ability to be able to tap into other people's research and ideas. I hadn't really thought about the ability to collaborate online before, but it has great appeal for me in a work environment. I can see great labour saving devices at work here.