We're creatures of habit, aren't we? Especially true when it comes to using the Internet, I think. Every day we go to one website to check email, another to update our school web pages, another to enter attendance and grades, and maybe even a favorite blog or two. ;) Bookmarking is helpful, but I'd like to recommend a website that will make your online life even easier: Symbaloo.
Symbaloo allows you to create a webmix of your favorite sites, and makes them accessible to you from any computer. After creating your free account, you can begin assembling your mix. Create buttons for each of the websites you frequently visit, and easily hyperlink each button to the site it represents. That's it! You can even order/organize the buttons with a quick drag and drop. Create several mixes, if you'd like, for subject resources, personal resources, or the websites you visit just for fun. You can choose to keep your webmix private, or select to publish for your students' use.
The picture below shows the webmix that I created for students in my Computer classes, and now use as the homepage on our lab computers. The additional tabs you see near the top of the screen are ones that I've kept private, and are only visible because I logged in to the site before taking the screenshot. Drag your mouse over the image to access hotspots with additional information.
Symbaloo has become a "must-have" for me, and I believe it will for you too. So the next time somebody asks, "Do you Symbaloo?" I hope you'll respond, "I do, I do, I do Symbaloo!"
