Diigo vs. Delicious

I don't know that one offers big advantages over the other, but I am not an expert in utilizing these to their full potential, either. I think social bookmarking is useful, but for things that I really want to stay current on, I would use an RSS feed first. I like the ability to expand my access to favorite places outside of one machine. Using social bookmarking tools also teaches students the importance of tagging and developing appropriate keywords. This aspect of bookmarking reminds me of a MARC record: without the right keywords in the record, no one will find the resource!

How a blog might be used in a classroom

First, to use any kind of open blog, it would be necessary to work in a district that allowed access to this type of tool. Most firewalls employed by school districts won't allow their use.

Our district has, however, had some success with Moodle, which allows students to work collaboratively in an "in-school" environment from home. English and social studies, in particular, seem to lend themselves to the types of discussion made easy in a blog. A blog could also be useful for staff team planning, particularly in situations where there is not a common prep time to allow for it face-to-face. A wiki could be useful here, as well.

Some blogs I like . . . . .

Part of the requirement for my class is that I find and subscribe to two other blogs that are of personal interest. So, being a good product of the Google generation, I added two to this page over on the left.

The first one I picked off the "Top 50 Librarian Blogs"--I liked what the author, Meredith Farkas, had to say. Her topics were relevant, and the personal anecdotes were interesting. The blog was also well-written, which, if you are going to be a professional book geek, should count for something.

The second blog I added to my list was one by David Jakes, whom I've seen at WEMTA and with whom I've been very impressed. He always has tons of technology stuff on his site, and since he works with educators, he knows the stuff that will be useful to most teachers. I also like his philosophical posts--they tend to generate discussion on his site.

Wow, two posts in one day--I'm not sure if that makes me dedicated or just a sad little person.

Thoughts on Technology for Collaboration and Learning

Even though it is 7:15 a.m., and the only thoughts I have right now are of the caffeinated variety, I've set some goals for what I want to do in my current (and last) library media grad class.

First, the obvious--pass.

Second, I'd like to get a better understanding of how some tools, like this blog, can be used to help younger students find greater academic achievement and engagement. It's a no-brainer to figure out why middle school/high school students are attracted to social networking tools. Texting is the modern version of note-passing. However, elementary students lack keyboarding skills, and many of the tools used by older students may not be appropriate to the learning goals of elementary-aged kids.

Finally, I want to continue to explore new tools and new thoughts on how to best integrate all these cool options into student learning. Because learning is still the goal. I think.