While I have posted multiple times about my love for ChaCha, a free guided Internet search tool that answers any question from anywhere! I am now adding 4INFO to my phone contact list. 4INFO is an SMS text messaging service that allows anyone to text a search term to 44636. Then within seconds, they will receive a text back with the search. 4INFO has some built-in categories such as stocks, sports, weather, news, airline info...etc.Besides texting a search to 4INFO, you can also create an account on the website and set up alerts/reminders to send to your phone as designated times (similiar to PingMe, AbbyMe, Sendible, Alerts.com, BitBomb, & rminder). 4INFO also allows you to create custom searches, reminders, and alerts.
Classroom Connections:
While I do think that ChaCha is still the best for guided Internet searches, I do like the built-in reminder alerts in 4INFO (which ChaCha does not currently have).
Business Classes
I love the stock market search options on 4INFO! They are great for tracking the market in business or social studies courses. In addition, they could do price comparisions (a search option in 4INFO) on products (great for math courses too!).
Current Events (Social Studies/Science)
In social studies and science courses where current events are important to understanding the course content, students could get weekly news alerts on topics of choice OR they could text a curricular topic (such as stem cell research) to 4INFO to find out the latest information.
Another great service for getting the information you want, when you want it is http://www.alerts.com which not only delivers on cell phones but also via email. They also offer a wake-up call service which is free compared to all paid services. Very cool. I saw in Laptop Magazine that they were voted Top 50 Web Tool for 2008
ReplyDeleteVery relevant comment, since Alerts.com actually powers their text alerts through 4INFO!
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