Social Bookmarking

June 11, 2008 at 1:33 pm | In social bookmarking | 1 Comment
Tags: cathy evanoff, cheri toledo, connected classroom, coolcat teacher, de.licio.us, deborah goodman, diigo, jeff utecht, kristin hokanson, maggi tsai, making connections, social bookmarking, vicki davis

Social Bookmarking

Several years ago I began using del.icio.us (kblades). I was taking an online course at East Carolina University, and the professor recommended using this online bookmarking site. It was easy to use, free, and we could subscribe to his bookmarks through his blog site. One of the best features of online bookmarking sites is accessibility.

But, I wasn’t a faithful user. Every now and then, I’d remember to post a link. Or, if I needed to keep up with a links for a project, I would remember to post. It was just easier to bookmark them on my trusty IBM laptop. Then, my laptop gave up the ghost and died. I did have some bookmarks saved through del.icio.us but I decided I needed to get in the habit of using online bookmarks. As long as I had Internet access, then I could use my bookmarks, anytime, anywhere. Lots of teachers I knew were using “I Keep Bookmarks,” and their school districts did not block the site. However, I had already begun using del.icio.us so I continued to use it. I added the “tag del.icio.us” icon to my toolbar so I could quickly bookmark websites. Ease of use is very important.

I can’t remember when it all of a sudden clicked for me and I “got it.” It was one of those “aha” moments. Suddenly, I realized I had a “network” available, and I could add people to “my network.” I got so excited. First, I searched for people. I remember searching for DavidWarlick first, bookmarks first, because I figured he had been an early adopter and would have been able to use his name. Early adopters have an advantage. Their names or initials usually haven’t been “taken.”

Before I began collecting people for my network, I was only using the “bookmarking” part of del.icio.us, not the “social” part. I know I went around my elbow a lot to get to my thumb when I began searching for the “gurus” in the field. I still find it pretty amazing that I can access the “the favorites” of movers and shakers in the field of education and technology. Then another Wow happened when I realized I could view their networks and then add the people in their network to my network.

Now, before I search high and low for a topic, I use it just like a search engine and check the bookmarks of others in my network. Pretty heady stuff when I think that only ten years ago, the elementary school where I worked was asking parents and community leaders to wire our school on Saturdays and we had dial up.

I am still a del.icio.us fan and highly recommend it as an online bookmarking site. I like the accessibility of online bookmarks. Once I save the link to a website, I can use any computer, as long as it has Internet access, to access my bookmarks. And, I can easily share my bookmarks with teachers by emailing them the bookmark address. http://del.icio.us/kblades. I can also subscribe to bookmarks. I enter a keyword, such as “literacy.” Then, when anyone bookmarks a website with the tag literacy, I am automatically sent the link.

Diigo

Then, Cathy Evanoff introduced me to Diigo. Cathy, is the Technology Facilitator at Nags Head Elementary. She was very excited about the new possibilities available with Diigo, not available through other social bookmarking sites. In fact, she explored Diigo on three of her podcast show, Making Connections. She hosts Making Connections on EdTechTalk.com, Tuesday nights at 7:00pm.

I registered, registration is free, and took a quick look at it, but I didn’t begin using it because I am reluctant to leave things that I already know and why learn something new if the old is working for you?

When I read Kristin Hokanson’s wonderful blog post Dig-ging Diigo Kristin blog the Connected Classroom is a great. In her blog post, she explained Diigo and included screen shots with directions and tips. Her post about Diigo could be called Diigo 101.

Cheri Toledo also has a great explanation of the benefits of social bookmarking in her blog, Cycling Through Ed Tech. Her recent post, C&I 401 – Week 2: Delicious & Diigo provides great information about Diigo and del.icio.us, and provides links to the excellent videos, Social Bookmarking in Plain English, produced by Common Craft, and the YouTube video Diigo-Improving how we find, share, and save information.

I like Diigo because I can annotate the sites I link, and when I bookmark a site in Diigo, it automatically bookmarks the site in del.icio.us. I still use De.licio.us. I am a “dual user” of both bookmarking sites.

The best thing about Diigo ~ I can highlight a section of a webpage before I save it and add a “sticky note.” Then, when I access it, the highlighted part is still there and the “sticky note.” This is aabsolutley wonderful teacher tool.

Take a look

Bottlenose Dolphins. Cetacean Society Fact Sheet.American Cetacean Society, rev. 2004

Diigo Bookmark: http://www.acsonline.org/factpack/btlnose.htm

Diigo Groups

Another feature of Diigo, similar to del.icio.us, is the abilitity to link to other people’s bookmarks, via “friends.” And, Diigo has a special feature known as Groups.

CoolCatTeacher, Vicki Davis created the Educators Diigo Group. Every day or so I receive an email with the links to sites other teachers have bookmarked. It’s like a “personal education shopper” for bookmarks. I also belong to the K-12 Librarians Diigo Group, and I recently joined Deborah Goodman’s, Educator On Loan at NC Department of Public Instruction, Geocaching for Educators Diigo Group. It’s an excellent resource and a wonderful way to find educational geocaching resources.

Links:

Diigo

Hokansen, K. Dig-ging Diigo, Connected Classroom, Wednesday, March 26, 2008.
http://khokanson.blogspot.com/2008/03/dig-ging-diigo.html

Tsai, M. C&I 401 – Week 2: Delicious & Diigo Cycling Through Ed Tech, May 30, 2008.

Podcasts

EdTechTalk, Making Connections, hosted by Cathy Evanoff