Sunday Sit, Sip, and “Sync” ~ 4-14-2013

“Make everything as simple as possible,
but not simpler.”
  ~~Albert Einstein

Last July I wrote about Google’s announcement to discontinue iGoogle on November 1, 2013. In that post, I described the “Chrome” alternative to bookmarks and web apps. I still love the “Chrome” features, but Chrome is not the only web browser I use.

My “go-to” home page is my Symbaloo page.
I have been using Symbaloo since shortly after it was introduced.
I was watching a YouTube video made by an Australian high school student describing how she used web tools in her Science projects. Over and over again she returned to a page filled with “tiles” as she used that page to link to her favorite web tools.

So, I “googled” it,
and I discovered Symbaloo.

It is free.
Of course.
You need only to register for an account, and once you have logged on, you can begin building your personal “webmix” with tiles that link to your favorite websites. You can customize your own tiles, or you can choose from hundreds (and probably thousands) of pre-made tiles that are already available.

Every morning, I can instantly click on my three web email tiles to check my email,
my “Fitness Pal” tile,
Facebook and Twitter,
the weather,
Pandora, if I am ready to work with music,
and browse through my favorite blogs.
The best feature of Symbaloo is that it is web-based and my preferences are all stored “in the cloud”. I can find my page on any computer after logging into www.symbaloo.com

Symbaloo has just updated its site with a sidebar that makes browsing your “tile sets”, or “webmixes”, much easier. It is also a “social” site, and you can share your webmix, or search and add other webmixes to your collection.

As a teacher, a second Symbaloo account could be created with a webmix that includes those sites and tools that you use in your classroom. As the homepage, students could easily find links maximizing efficiency and time.

Symbaloo has added a second site just for teachers.
www.symbalooedu.com offers training videos and additional resources for teachers. Some of the features are not free, but the videos are helpful.

So before you say “Goodbye” to iGoogle, get a jump on next year.

We encourage you to log on to Symbaloo and begin building your own personal webmix. As you find webmix sets, and new tiles, it is simple to add them. Soon you’ll have your own page, and we guarantee that you won’t want to wait until November to use it to replace iGoogle.

Enjoy your Sunday.
We will officially begin the summer season of softball this afternoon with the first game. It looks like the weather will make it a perfect day for the first pitch.