Think+0

**Get Ready!** toc

**NOTE ABOUT REGISTRATION FOR FALL COURSE:** To register for the Summer, 2009, course, please complete "Think 0" (below) -- in which you find out about the course, sign up for Google/Gmail and install Firefox(if needed). **After** you get your Gmail address, please complete [|this form]   AND send a message from your gmail (details below) to register. **ON June 1st**, I will send you an invitation (via Gmail) to join a Google spreadsheet which you use throughout the course to track your progress. **You MUST remember to check your new Gmail account on June 1st. ** **Throughout the course, we will communicate through Gmail -- NOT YOUR SCHOOL EMAIL.**




**Introduction **
**Welcome to The Power of Web 2.0 Tools! **Here you will find your first official course "activity," organized with an **Introduction**, **Discovery Exercise** and **Task** -- a format which will quickly become familiar to you. Reading carefully is, for better or worse, a pretty essential key to success in this course. You will also find lots of embedded **HELP** resources along the way within the Discovery Exercises and Tasks -- placed at the point of need.


 * Before you get started, it's important that you read over the site** so that you understand //exactly how the course works//. The three pages everyone should read __in their entirety__ are:


 * **About the Course ** - a general description of the course
 * **FAQ**- most everything you might want to know
 * **Thinks & Modules** - a list of course topics which will provide links to each content module as it is released.

==**<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Discovery Exercises **==

<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
 * Please note:** you must complete the Task (below) after you complete the Discovery Exercises. This will be true of every course assignment.


 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">PART 1: **<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">For this course, you are asked to use a Gmail account (part of Google) to sign up for all of the services you explore. Using Gmail will allow you to store all of your sign-up info in one location, keep your school email uncluttered, and protect your "digital footprint" if desired (you may use any username you like for your Google account, as long as it's school-appropriate). A Google account gives you access to all sorts of Google goodies, such as Google Reader and Google Docs, both of which we will explore as part of this course. **Throughout the course, we will communicate through Gmail -- NOT YOUR SCHOOL EMAIL.** So, go and sign up for a [|Gmail account]


 * HELP Video:** [|How to sign up for Gmail]

[|Get Firefox]. (if needed) **If GACS teachers are using their school computers for this course, you will need to skip this and use Internet Explorer instead.** Firefox is a Web browser of choice for this course, as many of the tools we will explore just seem to run more smoothly in Firefox. Firefox itself is a "Web 2.0" browser - open source (free to use and build upon), with lots of great features -- one of the best of which is [|TABBED browsing], which means you can open up several web pages at once INSIDE one browser window, and switch between them using tabs -- as opposed to them piling up on your taskbar. (See video below -- tabs are the greatest browser innovation EVER). Course help resources have been created in Firefox, though I have added a few IE-specific help tips where the differences are significant. Make sure you have [|Java] and [|Flash] installed for Firefox as well.
 * (Optional)**
 * PART 2:**

NOTE: **If you already have Firefox, after you launch it, go to** Help > Check for Updates **and get the latest version.**

HELP Video: [|Installing Firefox -- plus Java and Flash] HELP Video: [|Using Firefox: What's so great about tabs]


 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Part 3: **<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Obtain a headset and microphone combination. You can purchase one for as little as $15 - $20. Walmart, Target, and computer stores like Microcenter all carry them.

**[[image:thinking.jpg]]<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Task **
<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**PART 1:** **Complete <span class="wiki_link">[|this form] to register for the course by May 22nd.** ON **June 1st, I will send you an invitation (via Gmail) to join a Google spreadsheet which you use throughout the course to track your progress.** <span style="color: rgb(175,44,44);">You MUST remember to check your new Gmail account on June 1st. **I will not email you through your school email accounts! Throughout the course, we will communicate through Gmail.**


 * PART 2: Send an email from your new Gmail account to** <span class="wiki_link_ext">julia.osteen@gmail.com **. In the email, include your** full name and school name **and any questions you have about the course.** I will use these emails to create a contact list for the course.


 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Part 3: **<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Confirm for me in an email to the gmail account that you have obtained a headset and microphone combo.


 * HELP video: [|How to access Gmail and send a message]**

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