BP4-Social Bookmarking and its Usage.

How can social bookmarking be used for educational purposes?

“A teacher could set up an account for each class, tag resources and make the URL available to the class. As the work is web-based it can be modified and updated from any Internet connected computer. Likewise students can access the resources from any Internet connected computer.

A specific tag (within a group of tags) could be used to direct individual students to specific readings or resources.

A collaborative account could be created, the username and password shared by a class or group of students who could then tag and share resources.

Library staff could maintain a list of tags specifically relevant to their school's curriculum

Many of bookmarking services also have RSS feeds, so students who use a news aggregator can see new postings automatically.” This information was found on the Department of Education and Training website. These are just but a few examples that popped up when searching for educational usages for social bookmarking.

When researching this topic I had no idea of what I would be looking at, since I have just been introduced to this Web 2.0 tool. When the search brought up hundreds of links I was surprised to find so many.

The idea of collectively building a list of bookmark sites and articles is a positive resource for teachers. In my area of Art Education and Appreciation, artists are increasingly putting their works on the Internet for review and discussion. This Web 2.0 tool will allow me to create a list of artists in which I would like students to visit to gain a better appreciation of Art and its many meanings.

“How many times do you bookmark the site and how many folders do you create?” This is a question often asked by many of the researchers found on line, this specific question was asked by Lorrie Jackson, in Education World Online. So many times have I found myself doing just that and having to fumble through all of my tabs to find the right links. I am finding out that using social bookmarking is a great tool to use in the classroom.

Students and teachers can find this beneficial to use in education. Students can use this as a way of collaborating ideas and thoughts about particular subjects. Teachers can use this as a way to direct students in any topic or discussion. In many ways all Web 2.0 social tools can bridge the gap between teacher and student. But again it all comes down to the monitoring and safety of the students.

References

Education and Training, Department of. (2009). Social bookmarking. Department of

Education and Training. From http://www.det.wa.gov.au/education/cmis/eval/

Curriculum/ict/socialbookmarking/index.htm. Retrieved on October 7,2009.

Jackson, Lorrie. (2006). Site to see: social bookmarking. Education World. From http://

www.education-world.com/a_tech/sites/sites080.shtml. Retrieved on October 7,

2009.