Congratulations on embarking on the 23 Things programme – be sure to subscribe in the box at the bottom of the page to receive updates each week.
Take a look around in the FAQs and at the earlier posts at the bottom of the page to find out what we have in mind and explore what other universities have done. Then get started on Thing #1:

#1: Create a customized igoogle home page with at least five widgets

What is a widget?

A widget is a stand-alone application that can be embedded into third party sites by any user on a page where they have rights of authorship (e.g. a webpage, blog, or your profile on a social media site). Widgets are fun, engaging, and useful applications that allow users to turn personal content into dynamic web apps that can be shared on most websites

Other terms used to describe web widgets include, for example, in the case of Google, a ‘gadget’. They can also be referred to as a badge, module, webjit, capsule, snippet, mini and flake

Widgets are mostly used to enhance personal web experiences, or the web experiences of visitors to personal sites

Widgets are popular, with users of social media who are able to add them to blogs, for example. Widgets add function in the same way that an iPhone application does.

Getting started

1. Log on to your university Google account via the  Staff Google apps link on the intranet

2. Choose the Start Page link in the top left hand corner of the page

3. This opens the igoogle page and on the top right hand side you can see options to change the page’s theme plus a link to the  “Add stuff>>” page where you can choose from a range of widgets. Notice in the left hand bar these are classified by type to help you choose and create your own personalised page