Part 1:
Distance Learning Clearinghouse
http://www.uwex.edu/disted/index.cfm
This site provides a wealth of information involving distance learning, but also instructional design and technology as well. Obviously distance learning is an area where telecommunications is extremely important. Some of the information is outdated, but there is still relevant information.
The Broadband Resource Center
http://www.thebroadbandresourcecenter.org/
Access to the internet is the first step in establishing effective teaching methods that use telecommunications. We now take our net access for granted, and though it is widespread there are still areas with no access or very slow access. This group works to ensure all students have access to the great opportunities for instruction available to connected students.
The Office of Innovation and Improvement of the US Department of Education
http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/oii/index.html
The OII provides information on programs through the Department of education that can help schools receive help with the cost of certain telecommunication systems. Again, without basic connectivity, students are not able to take advantage of some of the best and most compelling learning tools.
Indiana Higher Education Telecommunication System
http://www.ihets.org/Pages/default.aspx
This is a great site outlining all the services provided to schools in Indiana Higher Education. It is a nice looking website and contains lots of great information. I wish Mississippi had something like this! They might and I just don't know about it.
Association for Information Communications Technology Professionals in Higher Education
http://www.ihets.org/Pages/default.aspx
This site provides information for professionals teaching telecommunications in higher education. This may not be applicable to us or even most teachers, but perhaps Dr. Yuen may be familiar with it. The site includes information on their conferences and ways to continue one's education in the field.
Part 2:
Cuil certainly looks to be a search engine on the rise. Recently I have been hearing it mentioned on Twitter and some of my favorite blogs more often. I like the startpage a lot. It is very minimal, but the design is both interesting and welcoming. The search results look to be good, and the categories sidebar is especially helpful. I also like the various related search terms that are listed as tabs on the top.
I know Dogpile.com has been around for a long time. I don't know if it was the first, but it was the first meta-search engine I became aware of. This is an example how a name can affect a product. I have never felt like I would want to use it given it's unfortunate name. Some people may think it's cute, but I find it gross. I also don't like the startpage. It's certainly better than it was in the sites infancy, but I still don't like the animated dog. The search results look to be alright, but I very much dislike the ads at the top. On Google the ads are highlighted in a different color, so I can easily ignore them. Dogpile does very little to let you know you are seeing an ad.
Google has long been my favorite search engine, and they also provide some of my favorite web services: gmail, google docs, etc. I hate their mobile operating system, but that is a different discussion. I have become more nervous, as of late, at how much of my personal information Google is now the owner of! But anyway Google always gives me great results, and I love the layout of both th'e startpage and the recently redesigned results page. The new "something different" box can often lead to some interesting off-topic diversions, and the real time results from twitter are another welcome recent addition.
I was really excited to learn about oMoby mobile visual search. I have been jealous of the google goggles application available for Android users, because often it would be fun and efficient to be able to search by just taking a picture. I will be trying out this application immediately!
I believe the first search engine I ever used was Alta Vista. It seemed to be the hot thing to do when I was in junior high, and by looking at the start page it looks like not much has changed since then. The start page looks very dated. Its fairly easy to find what you are looking for on the start page, but there is still too much clutter. I had good results on my test searches, but again the layout and design just looks like the "old" web. In this regard I am glad it's Google that took over the net rather than Alta Vista!
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