I'm glad this activity exists on this list. I had a lot of fun (sarcasm!) trying to learn how to subscribe to feeds for various websites I was interested in for Thing #10. Oh well, better late than never, eh? I started by checking out the Edublog Awards Listings, and found some cool blogs there. I really enjoy the diversity I've seen in the types of blogs, the personalities of their authors, and the areas of focus each one has; really offers an inexperienced soon-to-be teacher like me a lot of views, experiences, and insights. Good good stuff.
I followed the suggestion to search "school library learning 2.0" on Google. It took me to this craaaazy website full of web-based activities (there was something hauntingly familiar about it...). As a side note, after doing these last few activities, I find myself checking all the websites I visit for the little orange RSS icon (now that I know what it is and does). It's a little like a less-fun version of Where's Waldo.
Moving right along, next I took a peek at Topix.net, and was immediately turned off by it. The home page, besides lacking an attractive layout, was automatically customized by my location, and featured a screen full of open topic threads that didn't exactly pique my interest, if you get my drift. I didn't even bother to navigate the site. I feel that, while you shouldn't necessarily judge a book by its cover, first impressions are still heavily weighted. So I went right on ahead and jumped straight into Technorati.
I was much happier with Technorati's website. The layout made sense to me, and was quite easy to navigate and use. I found several cool blogs, including some educational and entertainment sites and blogs. Technorati lets you search by post or blog, and also offers drop down menus to help direct you towards the topics that interest you. Like I said at the beginning, I wish I had known about a site like this one when I did the previous activity, and I'm sure I'll be utilizing it from here on out for all my blog-connecting needs.
Scott, I found it interesting that the website you found most useful was the one I disliked most. After reading your post I went back to the search tools and used different phrases in the search box and realized it really just depends on how you phrase your searches, not necessarily the search tool itself.
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