Thing 16

After checking out some of the Web 2.0 resources listed,I decided to explore some others. Since many participants have finished by now, I checked out some of the sites that they wrote about and explored. I was struggling to find something that I thought would be beneficial to me in some way. I then went back to the list again and Remember the Milk struck me. For the last ten years, I have relied on first, a Palm Pilot and then, my IPhone for keeping a calendar. I no longer keep a paper calendar and rely on my phone to tell me where I need to be. Sometimes, I'll use the phone to keep notes on things I need to do, but more often, I use post-it notes to keep track of what needs to be done. Of course, with post-its, one or two may get stuck to another paper and then I'm missing something that needs to be done.

Because some of my work projects also involve others, particularly my supervisors, I often get nervous that I'm missing something from my list of things to do. One of my supervisors keeps a list of what needs to be done in terms of the math curriculum or math assessments. Last year, I had her email me her list so that I could make sure I wasn't missing anything. With Remember the Milk, she and I could keep a combined task list that won't get misplaced. This tool allows one to create and manage task lists. Due dates can be set for the tasks and reminders can be sent via text or email. This can help assure that no tasks or meetings are forgotten! My lists (or tasks) created tend to be pretty basic, but the tool does allow you to arrange task lists any way you want and does allow for tagging! (I hope that I don't get so many things on my list that I need this feature - but it's a great option!) Notes can also be stored easily with the task. This is a great feature for me since I may have listed something that needs to be accomplished and by the time I get to the task I easily forget some of the finer details. To me, the best feature of this tool is that I can share tasks with others. The site allows one to invite other users. Once joined, tasks can be shared and checked off when done. Like I mentioned early, I often have tasks that I work on in conjunction with one of my supervisors. We will usually collaborate via email to assure that tasks get done. However, more than once, we have worked on the same task without the other knowing. The Remember the Milk tool could help us to avoid doubling up the work. Tasks can be listed with a note as to whether or not we are currently working on it and then be checked off when complete.

One of the features that was interesting to me was that tasks could easily be synced with ICal, which I do use from home. I'm not sure how well it will work with the Outlook at school. With all of the changes that are occurring (Windows 7) and all of the issues that have arisen, I have been cautious to attempt it. I did find that I was disappointed that in order to be able to access the site from my IPhone, I would have needed to purchase the Pro version of the site. Since I wasn't willing to do this, I was disappointed that I wouldn't be able access my information from my phone without going to the actual site. Since I am writing my reflection a couple of days after joining the site, as of this morning, things have changed. As of today, one can get the Remember the Milk app. for free. While it doesn't have all of the features of the actual site, (for all features, one needs to purchase the pro version) it does seem to have everything that I would need. I'm really looking forward to utilizing this tool to keep all of my work tasks organized and being able to easily coordinate them with my supervisor!