I was glad that this week's lecture came along and I wanted to comment on the benefits of tagging in an educational setting.
Allow me to first digress...I've been meaning to set up an account with del.icio.us for a while now. As touched upon in the lecture with regard to using multiple computers, this is one of my biggest downfalls. I regularly work on four laptops - two at home and two at work (don't ask why...they all serve different purposes) - and my current bookmarks are obviously scattered all over. I figured that del.icio.us would be the key to some sort of organization with my bookmarks, which are a mess. I don't even organize my bookmarks in folders! This week I will make it a point to change all of this.
Now, in regard to education...there are quite a few benefits of social bookmarking in an educational setting. Let's take del.icio.us - rather than students blindly surfing the internet for specific websites, they can tag what is relevant and share that information with other students- all of which is helpful in, for instance, group projects. This is even more pertinent for students working and collaborating in a distance program (i.e. Syracuse!). As another example, flickr is a social bookmarking tool that helps to organize pictures. Students can easily tag an item and that facilitates in the retrieval process. And...as more research projects require a visual aspect, flickr is extremely relevant for students to use.
Social bookmarking systems are often criticized because they are not exact, consistent etc., but I don't think that their benefits should be dismissed. I think that there is time to fine-tune these systems and they will continue to aid in the storing and retrieval of information.
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6 comments:
Hi Kate,
I actually have the same problem that I use 4 computers regulary and work and home and I also use multiple browsers. After writing a paper on folksonomies for our last class I decided to set up a del.icio.us account and I love it. I am tagging everything there now. I highly recommend it. I still have to go through the links I already have bookmarked, however, and re-bookmark them on del.icio.us, but once that's done, they will be accessible from any computer with Internet access. I am so excited about that!
Thea-
Ok, so I'm not the only one. I had thought about doing it last semester as well when I researched folksonomies too...but didn't get around to it. Now that I'm seeing it twice and truly seeing the value in it,I won't procrastinate any longer. Actually, I tried to begin during my lunch today, but the del.icio.us site was blocked by the DOE. I'll have to get around that. Actually, flickr was blocked as well.
Kate
Hi Kate-I give you and Thea credit for working on multiple computers. Keeping all of this school stuff organized on one computer is about all my brain can handle! I can see where a site like Del.icio.us would come in handy for storing and sharing your bookmarks. I will eventually (hopefully) work my way up to that point!
**Beatrice**
If only social bookmarking worked on unmatched socks! I absolutely must set up a del.icio.us account now that we have 4 computers at home (it's crazy, but Emma just got a laptop for graduation, the family desktop, Emma's old desktop - soon to be Sean's, and my tablet). In addition, and much more to the point, working out of a cart of 16 laptops at school, my bookmarks are EVERYWHERE! Social bookmarking is the answer to a prayer for all of us as we go from one laptop to another, trying desperately to remember where we've been. Thanks, Kate, for framing the need so clearly.
Kate,
Not good news about flickr and del.icio.us being blocked by the DOE filter. Everyone has been sharing ideas about how this tool could be used to help our students so I was considering creating another account just for school links, but this news is discouraging. I wonder if they would be willing to unblock this site if requested?
Thea-
I believe that each school has the option to block and/or unblock specific sites. So, I'm assuming that it can be done without the DOE necessarily unblocking it for all schools.
The middle school that I did my FW in was constantly fiddling with the filters. The librarian mentioned that to unblock a site you have to fill out a sheet and submit it to the DOE. It didn't seem time consuming. I'll investigate this for the next school year.
Kate
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