Portals

=Portals=


 * Recommended Sites:**

Through my own experience with iGoogle, I can attest to its ease of use and vast variety of widgets. The website is easy to change and manipulate to fit the specific needs of the user. It also comes with the authority and reliability that users have come to know and appreciate from Google. However, after reading several reviews, it is obvious that not everyone has such a positive opinion of the site. For some users, the main selling point of iGoogle is that it is completely personal and private. The PLN is accessed by logging in and the page becomes unique to that log-in. However, this proves to be the main complaint from some users who wish to be able to share their PLNs with other users.

What I like about iGoogle is that you can integrate it with other Google Tools that you use on a regular basis. You can integrate Google Reader (an RSS aggregator), GMail, or any other Google tool that you use on a regular basis. It also allows you to create several different "tabs" so that you can separate your widgets based on their category of use. For example, I have a "School" tab and a "Work" tab.

LiveBinder takes the premise of a Personal Information Page in a different direction through the creation of your own series of "LiveBinders." Similar to a 3-ring notebook, LiveBinder allows the user to compile a variety of websites about a similar topic and link them all together. This is a great concept for teachers who want to provide resources on various subjects. In addition to various websites, users can also store images and documents in their binders.

What I like about LiveBinders is that it allows users to easily share information with others. It also constantly keeps itself up to date. As soon as you make changes to your LiveBinder, other people using your binder will see those changes also. I also appreciated the ease of adding information to LiveBinder. Because it inserts a button on your toolbar, you can add websites and resources quickly without any hassle. The ability to have multiple binders allows you to quickly and accurately store and retrieve information.

Only2Clicks is a simple way to compile various websites into a single location. The website features thumbnail pictures of each website that you add to your homepage. Then, when you (or a student) visit your page, you can click on the tab that matches their search and have a visual of all of the website options. You can easily jump to any of those pages with only two clicks!

I think this could be a great resource for classroom teachers, but especially for librarians. For example, I could include a link to my Only2Clicks page on my library website. When students arrive, they would click on the class they are working on (Social Studies for example) and they would be taken directly to a page with multiple websites I have chosen and pictures of each home page. The benefit to this is that instead of providing my students with a written list of the approved websites, they are free to click around and they never have to type in a single URL. While the site doesn't contain as many features as some of the other options I have explored, it serves one purpose and it serves it well. This seems to be a clean, simple approach to sharing websites, without the distraction of aggregators and widgets.


 * Other Reviews:**


 * Netvibes**

Netvibes seems to be very similar to iGoogle. It easily allows you to add your own widgets to your homepage, incorporating news, email, and RSS feeds into your own personal website. The graphics seem to be more contemporary than iGoogle and it does offer the ability to share your homepage with others. One other benefit to Netvibes is that you can create multiple pages - not just multiple tabs. This could allow you to further separate your private PLN and your workplace, or classroom PLN.

MyHomePoint is a website that strives to meet the need of busy families who need to share online calendars. In addition to the creation of calendars, the site also offers the ability to store contact information, get reminders about upcoming events, and share upcoming events with a single site log-on per family. While the site is working to alleviate the stress of busy families, I am afraid that the creators may have over estimated how many users a family would really have. I think it is fairly easy to argue that in most households, getting both parents to use the site would be an achievement, let alone getting any children or teenagers to participate. MyHomePoint operates on a subscription basis, with a year of services costing $55. I don't think I could justify paying this fee when I'm not sure that MyHomePoint provides any services that are not already offered through Microsoft Outlook or even Google Calendar for free. In addition, Google Calendar includes an iPhone app, which might just be the trick to convince teenagers to get in the loop.
 * MyHomePoint**


 * TabUp**

TabUp is a social networking site designed specifically for groups. A group leader can create a site and invite friends who can then participate in online discussions, mark dates on an online calendar, or share online content. While I can appreciate the group-centered approach of TabUp, I am not sure that it is a practical resource for classrooms to use. I think it would be difficult to monitor content and comments made by individual students. While I can appreciate the idea that a group may want to share a PLN, I struggle to figure out how it can be used effectively. If its purpose is social networking, there are better sites available. If the purpose is sharing websites, there are better resources available. I think TabUp fills a unique niche, but I'm not sure it's needed.