1. TAKE FIVE:
5 WEB TOOLS FOR
BETTER TEACHING
& LEARNING

2. CONSIDER...
"We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of
thinking we used when we created them."
Einstein

3. OR, IN OUR CONTEXT:
"We can’t research, learn, share, and teach by using
only the same kind of tools we learned in the past.”
Chillemi & Roden, 2009

4. WHO ARE CHILLEMI & RODEN?
Travis Chillemi and Normandy Roden work
together at the University of Colorado System
Controller's Office:
• Travis is a communications specialist (aka web
guy)
• Normandy is a policy writer/trainer (therefore,
someone who needs web tools)

5. WHAT ARE THEY TALKING
ABOUT?
It doesn't take a genius to know that we are
overwhelmed with a constant deluge of
information.

6. WHAT'S IN IT FOR YOU?
• Are you overwhelmed?

7. FACE IT:
HERE'S THE SITUATION
• Is it working for you?
• (If it’s working for you now…will it still work for
you next semester…next year…for the next
incoming class?)

8. HERE'S YOUR ANSWER
• Don’t just update the content of what you teach
(learn)…also update the tools you use to teach
(learn).

9. WEB TOOLS CAN HELP
• You can take advantage of web-based tools
to enhance learning, research, writing,
teaching...they can help your personal life, too
• For today -- let's just Take Five...

10. WHICH 5?
• Diigo
• Google Reader
• Google Docs
• Netvibes
• Meebo

11. WHY THESE 5?
• You can solve 5 fundamental problems by
using these 5 web tools to...
...enhance organization, documentation, research,
communication, and collaboration.

12. YOU'RE GONNA LIKE THE WAY
THEY WORK
Because
• they're free
• they actually do work
• they're easy to use
• they're free

13. THE FINE PRINT:
• These 5 tools don't do everything.
• And we're not going to show you all the stuff
they do.
• And there are other options

14. AMONG THE OTHER OPTIONS...

15. NOW LET'S GET STARTED
• Let's consider some problems...and how these 5
tools can solve them.

16. WHAT PROBLEMS
DO YOU NEED TO SOLVE?

17. PROBLEM 1: WHERE IS IT...?
How much time do you spend...

18. (image)
looking for stuff...

19. highlighting stuff...

20. organizing (old) stuff...

21. asking yourself,
"Where did I put it? How
can I (ever) find it again?"

22. SOLUTION - TOOL 1: DIIGO
• Diigo (DEE-go) stands for "Digest of Internet
Information, Groups and Other stuff"
• Diigo allows you to bookmark and tag web
pages.
• What does that mean?

23. DIIGO HELPS YOU...
• discover information
• highlight information
• organize (tag) information
• share information
• find it again, later

24. (insert Brilliant Diigo Demonstration here)

25. SMALL GROUP DISCUSSIONS:
FILL OUT YOUR "MAD LIB"...
I can use Diigo
to help me _______________________
because it can ____________________

26. PROBLEM 2: GATHERING INFO...
You have to find all the information you need,
yourself...

27. staying current with journals...
and newspapers...
and television...
and websites...

28. keeping up with experts...

29. sharing new information with
colleagues...

30. SOLUTION - TOOL 2:
GOOGLE READER
• Google Reader is a web-based aggregator that
reads, organizes, and searches RSS feeds
• What does that mean?

31. GOOGLE READER HELPS YOU
It's like TIVO for the web
• Google Reader brings information to you --
instead of you going out to find the information
• it sorts by current value (there's too much info,
and you need it just in time)

32. GOOGLE READER HELPS YOU
With Google Reader, you can
• star items for later review
• make/get recommendations
• share what you read

33.
(insert amazing Google Reader Demo here)

34. SMALL GROUP DISCUSSIONS:
FILL OUT YOUR "MADLIB"...
I can use Google Reader
to help me _______________________
because it can ____________________

35. PROBLEM 3: WORKING
TOGETHER...
You need to develop materials in collaboration with
others -- but you hate sifting through everyone's
comments...

36. never
having the document
you need when you want it...

37. having the document
but it's read only...

38. Wrestling with Track Changes...

39. SOLUTION - TOOL 3: GOOGLE
DOCS
• Google Docs is a web-based word processor,
spreadsheet, presentation, and form application
for creating and editing documents online while
collaborating in real time with others.
• What does that mean?

40. GOOGLE DOCS HELPS YOU
• collaborate on Excel, Word, PPT, forms
• upload from/save to your desktop
• edit anytime, from anywhere
• pick who can access your documents
• share changes in real time
• store files securely online

41. AND YOU CAN TALK ABOUT IT,
TOO
• If you have a Google account, you can use
Google Talk to chat about your wonderful
Google Docs while you work on them.

42. (insert fantastic Google Docs demo)

43. SMALL GROUP DISCUSSIONS:
FILL OUT YOUR "MAD LIB"...
I can use Google Docs
to help me _______________________
because it can ____________________

44. PROBLEM 4:
KEEPING IT ALL TOGETHER
• Wow -- I have a
lot of tools...how
can I keep up
with them all?

45. you could have everything go to
email...

46. you could check up on each
individual item...
multiple times a day...
all day long...

47. WHAT ABOUT A DASHBOARD?

48. SOLUTION - TOOL 4: NETVIBES
• Netvibes is a personal web portal, organized into
tabs and containing user-defined modules (e.g.,
RSS feedreader, podcasts, calendar, notes,
bookmarks, to-do lists, calendar...).
• What does that mean?

49. NETVIBES HELPS YOU
It lets you prioritize your stuff
• serves as virtual desktop/dashboard
• manages your information
• pulls together for immediate display only what
you need now

50. IT CAN BE SIMPLE OR COMPLEX...

51.
(insert brief but educational Netvibes Demo here)

52. SMALL GROUP DISCUSSIONS:
FILL OUT YOUR "MADLIB"...
I can use Netvibes
to help me _______________________
because it can ____________________

53. PROBLEM 5: PLAIN OLD
COMMUNICATION ISN'T PLAIN
(OR OLD)
• How can I talk to everyone -- they're all over the
place...?
• (yahoo, msn, gmail...the list goes on!)

54. YOU NEED NEW WAYS OF
MESSAGING
• using social networking tools makes message
management critical
• applications designed for mobile devices
• current generation moving from email
• IM/SMS improves communication

55. SOLUTION - TOOL 5: MEEBO
• Meebo is an in-browser instant messaging
(IM) program that supports simultaneous
connections to multiple IM services (even for
users in firewalled networks).
• What does that mean?

56. MEEBO HELPS YOU
• communicate with all people in a group
regardless of their choice of messaging
service or device

57.
(insert inspirational Meebo Demo here)

58. SMALL GROUP DISCUSSIONS:
FILL OUT YOUR "MAD LIB"...
I can use Meebo
to help me _______________________
because it can ____________________

59. LET'S CONTINUE THE
DISCUSSION...
• Travis.Chillemi@cu.edu, 303.837.2143
• Normandy.Roden@cu.edu, 303.837.2117