Thing “14″ Tool
Posted by arlieosborne on February 25, 2009
K12 Learning 2.0: Tools for 21st Century Teaching & Learning
THING “Fourteen” (Session Six) :
Task Part 1: Explore an Online Tool. . .
30boxes
Online tools are numerous to say the least and new ones seem to be popping up continually. As I explored each of the tools in our list, I noticed 30boxes, an online calendar. The idea of using an online calendar in the classroom is excellent. Calendars can really help co-ordinate all of those different activities and projects throughout the year. The features of 30boxes are very directed toward sharing and connected to many of the social sites. It is very social network oriented in its accessibility. I have used other great online calendars such as calendars.net very successfully as well. 30 boxes is rich in features and is a great online tool. All of us that have Google Email accounts already have access to a very nice online integrated calendar that interfaces with our gmail account. Yahoo users have a similar integrated online calendar as well.
The calendar tool can assist organizing all of the sports functions at our school as well as many other type of activities. With different levels of access and use, the calendar can be made available to those that need to add content while others are “view only” users. This releases the stress of a single person trying to administrate all of the additions and modifications to the calendar. This is the great thing about shareable web tools. It gets people to go online, if nothing else. The first step in getting people to use online “things” is to get them online! If they need to go there to check the calendar every day or every week, then we have established a “habit” to get them to look at other tools.
The social aspects of 30boxes is quite extensive which include tags, simple sharing, RSS, tracking, link sharing and reminders. A online calendar tool is a definite plus in the school environment and has great practical value.
Other Very Good Online Calendar Tools:
Google Calendar – integrate with Google Email account.
Yahoo Calendar – integrate with Yahoo Email account.
Calendars.net – very customizable calendar which can be embedded in your website.
KeepandShare – share calendars, files, documents, photos, bookmarks and to do lists.
