Again, I have been introduced to a new educational tool through this course. I am glad that I am not just being re-introduced to tools I’ve already used. Diigo is completely new to me. Diigo is a bookmarking site, similar to the "favorites" feature of most Internet browsers. The main difference is that Diigo can be accessed from any computer, because it is a Web 2.0 tool. Therefore, when you find a site that you know you’ll want to visit often, you can bookmark it to your Diigo account, and then access it from any computer anywhere. For this assignment, we were asked to find and bookmark 15 sites related to the field and then share our bookmarks with our class group. Not only did I find sites that were interesting to me, but my classmates also found sites that I can use. What a great collaboration tool!
This tool has great implications for educators who plan instruction while at home and at school. For example, while designing a unit on poetry for my 3rd grade students, I can look up and bookmark different media content related to poetry and famous poets. Then, at school, I can access my Diigo site and find my links to the content. Even further than that, I can share my findings to the other third grade teachers in the school, so that they can also use them in the classroom.
For staff development this coming year, we are supposed to spend a lot of time searching for helpful educational content that is technology-rich, such as PowerPoint slideshows, video clips, interactive sites, and more. I am going to create a collaborative group and suggest that each teacher have a Diigo account. Then, we can divide the units of study between us, and bookmark our findings so that we basically split the work. The best part is that all of our findings are bookmarked in Diigo for use in the following years. It’s like a modern day filing cabinet!
The only problem that I have with Diigo is that it is blocked by my school district's filter. I know that I can make a good argument for the use of Diigo in the school. Thus, I will request special permission to access the site from the school.
To see my Diigo account, and the list of bookmarks that I created for IT648, please click the following link: http://www.diigo.com/user/vgilbert
As you stated this tool is great for collaborating. I also like the fact that you can access the bookmarks from any computer. There have been several occassions on which I can recall trying to remember the URL for a particular website or one that is a favorite on my personal computer. Well, being that I'm not always using my computer this tool is great and offers your bookmarks from anywhere. It is also a great way for groups to share helpful information. The sites you found are great.
ReplyDeleteThose "dadburn" internet filters.. we'll talk about them in a minute, but sometimes I don't understand the logic behind the block. I can't see that 1) students would even go to this site 2) if they did, would they really search for inappropriate sites and bookmark them under a user name that could be traced? Anyway, I hope that you get it unblocked cause I'm going to use the heck out of it.. especially for research.
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