The other day I was listening to a college professor who stated that high schools really AREN’T training students in technology. He stated we do a great job teaching word processing, powerpoint, google searching and some excel. But there are so many tools out there that high school teachers are simply missing.
One of those areas is “Social Bookmarking”. Similar to social networking (places like facebook and myspace) but a place to organize your bookmarks (websites) in such a way that you have access to them no matter whose computer you’re on and can share bookmarks with others with similar interest. For example the Language Arts department could have a set of bookmarks that all English teachers had access to. They could add or delete as a team.
Few weeks ago I introduced Diigolet. I really like it because it allows you not only to bookmark your sites but highlight/place stickies on that site as well. This week I want to introduce you to http://simplybox.
NOTE: You must use FireFox with simplybox at this time. They are currently working on it for Safari.
On the intro page of simplybox you will find the following descriptions. 1) Visual Research … it allows you to bookmark a site by choosing a section of the site (photo for example.) and placing it into a “box” that you create (create as many boxes as you want). 2) You can share your box with others with same interest. This way they can place links in that same box for you to see. 3) You can create a box for photos, videos, etc that you may want to use in class. Whether it be on a powerpoint or simply a click and it appears in your browser. 4) You can setup a whole class where you share bookmarks, photos, videos, etc.
The best way to get a feel for this is watch a very short video click at http://simplybox.com Before you write this off please watch the video.
I RECOMMEND YOU WATCH THIS CLIP OFF YOUTUBE … http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKbmETeuN68 How to use simplybox in the classroom (8 minutes long)
If you decide you want to give this a try the first step will be to create a “FREE” account. Locate where it says “Simplybox for Educators” and click. Then click on “Sign Up Now”. I would suggest you place the username and password somewhere you won’t forget (again, I recommend “Pastor“). Once you create this account you will need to visit your e-mail and locate the e-mail from simplybox (check your junk box if its not in your normal e-mail box). Click “Verify and Confirm” in your e-mail.
Now you have an account … log into http://simplybox.com. Remember you need to use FireFox for this. The first thing you will be asked is to install an update for the browser. Do as instructed. Once the download and update is complete. You will need to quick FireFox and reopen it before the changes will take place.
Once you reopen FireFox notice the NEW buttons near the top of your browser. 1) Simplybox (when you click this it will take you to your simplybox website). 2) Box and Save (this is how you choose a part of the site, photo, video, etc. to place in the box. 3) Box and Send (this is how you choose part of a site and then e-mail to a friend.
To get started I would recommend you try it first. Locate a website you like a photo from.
Step 1 .. Click Box and Save (Notice the screen is darken and you now have control of clicking with the mouse and highlighting what you want within a box. Click highlight.
Step 2 .. Once the object is highlighted drag it to the box(s) that appear at the bottom of the screen. If you like to create new boxes simply visit your site and create the boxes. Or click “New box” to create a new one.
Ok .. thats enough to get you started good luck.
