Thing 19 - Research and Reference

Citations

Wow!!  I was floored when I saw this app.  I can't believe how easy it is to get your citation done so quick, easy, painless and correct!  This was always the most difficult part of a paper for me.  The only thing I see as a downfall is the fact that this generation of students isn't learning "how" to cite work, they just do it.  It's like having 100 contacts in your phone, but you can't call anyone when you can't access your phone--you don't know ANY of the phone numbers.  You know where to locate it, but don't know the actual number to dial.

Dictionary

Merriam-Webster

Dictionary.com

I would recommend the Merriam-Webster app rather than the Dictionary.com app. (1) I find the fonts used are easier for a younger child to view .  My other reasons seem more of why I wouldn’t choose the other app.  (2-3)The main screen of Dictionary.com has a lot of large vocabulary words that could be intimidating to the younger student and it also seemed cluttered to me.  (4) While I was trying to scroll through the choices on the main page I had ads popping up in the middle of the page(4).  I don’t mind ads on the bottom, top or sides, but across the middle of the page??  If I was frustrated, imagine how frustrating a 7-year old would be.  This is why I would recommend the Merriam-Webster app for my school.

 



Online Bookmarking

I am always seeing a website that I think, “I have to remember this when we are working on the ___________ unit”.  Then, I forget!  Having Diigo would help me to remember and organize sites.  Then I wouldn’t be looking for that little piece of paper that I’ve lost in the pile on my desk.  Increasing productivity for me is a huge need.  I think saving the sites, highlighting important parts and using the “virtual sticky notes” would keep me organized, and save me time and increase my productivity; which would be very valuable to me.  I used to save to flashdrives, but I have had too many get lost or go through the laundry.  I think a benefit is that you are saving important information to a different location and then your things wouldn’t disappear; like the summer our hard drives were wiped and we didn’t know about it ahead of time!  Many people lost tons of important information that year.  That was so long ago, but can really impress upon you to backup, backup, backup.  Thank goodness for Diigo and Evernote and other apps that save and save our “tail”.