How-To Article
- Grade Levels K - 2
- Grade Levels 3 - 5
- Grade Levels 6 - 8
- Grade Levels 9 - 12
- Kinesthetic Learner
- Visual Learner
- Auditory Learner
- Technology Integration
Social Bookmarking
A social bookmarking site provides a way for students or teachers to save all of their links in one place on the Internet.
Technology Integration
According to Netcraft, there are more than 100 million Web sites on the Internet. Between 3 to 4 million new Web sites are added every month. How do educators keep this information organized? How do educators and students plod through this morass and separate the good from the bad and the ugly? Social bookmarking provides one way for users to get control of this information.
What is Social Bookmarking?
A social bookmarking site provides a way for students or teachers to save all of their links in one place on the Internet. These links are saved with one or more tags to help find the site in the future.
For example, if a teacher found a site with valuable information about a book taught in the classroom, he or she might tag the link with “Hamlet” and “Shakespeare” and “lessonplans.” All Web sites that are tagged this way would then be easily found. An individual can save these bookmarks in his or her private collection and share them with the entire community.
How It Moves Beyond Google
Much has been discussed in education circles about students’ dependence on Google for research. Google searches are primarily designed to find articles based on popularity. Computer robot programs run these searches.
Social bookmarking sites provide a means for individuals to save their bookmarks and share them with a community of others. The advantage in using social bookmarking sites is the human collaboration involved in the searching framework.
If a student or teacher searches for information on a topic, a social bookmarking site like del.icio.us provides links to sites that other people have found valuable. These sites are not always the most popular, but often they are much more valuable.
The Power of Sharing
Sharing is what makes social bookmarking so powerful. More often than not, it is the Web savvy user who allows their tagged bookmarks to be available for public viewing, and this results in links to sites of higher quality. Some bookmarking sites allow members to rank the site’s usefulness as well. Over time, the quality of a site may be more easily discovered by recommendations from individuals rather than depending on a method like Google that measures the value of a site by the number of visits.
User-Friendly Technology
Most bookmarking sites are free and very easy to use. It only takes a few minutes to join one of these sites. New members are usually asked to provide their e-mail address and a password. Members can post and review their bookmarks from any computer on the Internet. Teachers and students can also download and save all of their bookmarks for security. Bookmarks can also be easily transferred from one bookmarking service to another.
Using Social Bookmarking in the Classroom
As an educational tool, bookmarking sites can help students to find ways to search for information other than Google indexing. Students who use these sites will also be less likely to lose links that they have found valuable. Why use social bookmarking in the classroom?
As an educational tool, bookmarking sites can help students to find ways to search for information other than Google indexing. Students who use these sites will also be less likely to lose links that they have found valuable. Why use social bookmarking in the classroom?
- Classroom Management
Students and teachers can move from one computer to another and still have full access to their bookmarks. Students and teachers will be less likely to forget the location of the sites they have used. - Collaboration
Students can share their bookmarks with their classmates. Students and teachers can also share collections of bookmarks they have found to be worthwhile. - News Gathering
Social bookmarking sites can also help students to quickly find links to important current events and historical events. Some bookmarking sites allow students to subscribe to news feeds on a particular subject of interest. They can then go daily to this site to find the most current news on the subject. For a definition of news feeds go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/News_feed.
Steps for Getting Started with Social Bookmarking
There are several social bookmarking sites on the Internet. Most are free. Probably the largest is http://del.icio.us. To register, click on the “register” link and fill in the information. Teachers should install the two buttons on their browsers at home to make the process of tagging pages easier. Click on the help tab to find out more information.
There are several social bookmarking sites on the Internet. Most are free. Probably the largest is http://del.icio.us. To register, click on the “register” link and fill in the information. Teachers should install the two buttons on their browsers at home to make the process of tagging pages easier. Click on the help tab to find out more information.
Another popular site is http://ma.gnolia.com. This site has a more attractive interface and is more readable. It also has page rankings and some other advanced features. On the other hand, ma.gnolia.com is not as fast in the process of tagging a page, and the community is not as large as del.icio.us.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_social_software#Social_bookmarking
Go to Wikipedia to find a list of many other social bookmarking sites.
http://www.pandia.com/sew/327-social-bookmarking.html
The article has a good discussion about the top five social bookmarking sites.
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