If printing out and filing research is frustrating, or even more so if folders on a desktop are frustrating, then the solution has arrived. Social bookmarking is a web tool that allows users to keep track of web urls using the online resource. Social bookmarking has many advantages over the current computer browser bookmarks for all users, as well as uses for educational purposes. According to Baumbach (Winter 2009), social bookmarking’s advantages include storage, organization, annotation, accessibility, and share.
According to Farkas (Apr2008), Delicious is the most popular social bookmarking site where users assign multiple descriptive terms, or tags, to each website so they are easier to locate the next time a user seeks them, which assists with the organization of a users websites. Instead of storing bookmarks on a computer, websites are accessible from the Web. This means that the user can sign on to any computer with Internet capabilities and retrieve a website without having to search using a search engine.
Farkas (Apr2008) insists that the best part of Delicious is that it facilitates greater participation in subject-guide creation. Social bookmarking makes researching more accessible for students who can sign into an account anywhere and continue where he or she left off, rather than only being able to do research at a library, or at home where the research was started. According to Farkas (Apr2008), many libraries are even using Delicious internally to share links and others have begun bookmarking content useful to patrons. A teacher, like a librarian, can use delicious to provide students with a specified list of resources on a content area to focus the student’s search or verify reliability of sources.
As stated by Dave Ehrhart, in the School Library Journal (2007), social bookmarking in education allows teachers to monitor students ‘ research and comprehension skills individually. Social bookmarking enables teachers to check students’ resources for research using the click of a button rather than sorting through papers or note cards. According to Hargardon (2007), some teachers like Diigo (www.diigo.com), another social bookmarking site, because it goes a step further and allows users to highlight and save comments within online articles. Teachers that use social bookmarking with annotation enabled would be able to mark comments on student’s sources when completing research as a source of feedback for the student. A teacher could also annotate a bookmark to focus the student on a new point, or question the student about topic.
Bookmarks in Delicious are public by default, but can be made private, meaning that you can browse other people's favorites. According to Baumbach (Winter 2009), a user may find many good folders using social bookmarking tool, like backflip.com, that are already created by other users on a specific topic that can be used as a staring point for a safe webquest. Using social bookmarking could save teachers a great deal of research time by using folders, tags, and rating tools of other users to find resources for webquest topics.
So, whether a user prefers to be centralized, organized, or connected and has chosen Delicious, Diigo, Backflip, or another social bookmarking tool, the benefits are limitless for a student and an educator.
References
Baumbach, Donna. Winter2009. Your new bff: social bookmarking tools. Florida Media Quarterly. 34(2) 9-13. Retrieved on October 7, 2009 from Education Research Complete.
Farkas, M., (Apr2008). Isn’t it del.icio.us? American Libraries. 39(4) 32 -32. Retrieved on October 7, 2009 from Academic Search Premier.
Hargardon, S., (October, 2007). A little help from my friends: classroom 2.0 educators share their experiences. School Library Journal. 53 (10), 44-48. Retrieved from ERIC database on October 7, 2009.
Great job, Robyn.
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