Day 9 - Symbaloo

What is it? Symbaloo is a tool to organize and share your online library. It allows you to create a personalized dashboard right on your desktop.

What does it do?  Why would I use it? 
I am glad you asked. 

·         With Symbaloo, you can create a webmix of Internet sites that you frequent, and then just click on the desired tile to go directly to the destination - it is fast and accurate.  No mis-typed URLs; no long list of bookmarks to sift through. 

·         You can search the Symbaloo gallery and 'borrow' already-created webmixes that amass sites on a given topic that you  may need.  There are many webmixes for teachers by teachers. That is the beauty of the sharing aspect of Symbaloo.  Here is a webmix I found on Interactive White Board Resources:  http://www.symbaloo.com/mix/iwb?searched=true
·         Symbaloo has broad applicability - this is a web 2.0 tool that is useful to anyone for personal or professional needs. 

·         It is not computer-dependent. It is in the cloud and accessible from anywhere.

·         This is a tool that you, as the teacher or in your personal life, would use.  Our students will find this useful in middle/high school as well as in college (to organize their sites for research) and also in their future careers.

·         How you can use Symbaloo with your students:  You can set up a "digital library" for them for a given assignment.  You can include tiles with the web sources you know to be credible and informative to the subject.  You can even add a tile that links to the Destiny page if you want.

Getting Started:
First take a look at this short video:  “How to Create, Edit and Search for a Tile”

Creating Your Account:

1.  Go to Symbaloo.com
2. Click on the link near the top right to Create free account.
3.  Fill in the requested information, agree to Symbaloo's terms and conditions and then check Create my account. 
Now you are ready to begin!  Log in to your account.  Look at the tabs at the top of the Home Page.  You may now choose from the following:
1.  Utilize an existing webmix - Click on one of the tabs; and then select tiles of interest from the existing webmix (e.g. the Webmix Collection tab has a tile called iPhone apps.  You may want to see if there are any apps with an educational focus that you can utilize).
2.  Search the gallery by topic - Click on the link to Gallery at the top right of the page above the tabs.  You can search the public webmixes using the search box.
3.  Create your own webmix:  Click on the link for Add a new webmix. Name it as you choose.  Click Add.  Now there are three options:
     a.  Click on any tile.  A dropdown will appear.  You may select Quick Start and add tiles for the most frequently used web sites.
     b.  Click on any tile.  Type your desired site in the search box (e.g. Britannica).  You will be offered a set of tiles from which to choose.
     c.  Create your own tile.  You can do this by clicking on the link at the top right for Creating your own tile.  Or you may click on an empty tile.  A dropdown will appear.  You may select click here to create your own tile.  Follow the step by step instructions that come up.

Enjoy! Here are some links to information that may be of help.
FAQ
Symbaloo User's Guide
Edutecher's Symbaloo Tech Tools