Brenda's Blog

11/09/2007

Teacher Share:
The Power of Social Bookmarking

�The idea of being able to store your bookmarks online, share them with everyone and see what others have bookmarked -- triggered the sequence of events that resulted in today's rich and social web ecosystem."
~ Alex Iskoid

Some of my fondest memories of the teaching profession have to do with the many generous teachers who have shared their learning and resources with me over the years. When I was a beginning teacher, that took the form of experienced teachers stopping by my classroom at the end of the day to see how my day had gone and to offer classroom management suggestions, teaching resources lesson plans from their file cabinets, and in some cases, their consolation. Many years later that sharing took on a new look as teachers several thousand miles away graciously shared their expertise with me via teacher listerves and bulletin boards. It seems to me there�s an unspoken brotherhood or sisterhood among educators, one that compels them to share what they have with one another. It�s because of that bond that social bookmarking, one of the Web 2.0 tools, is such an excellent fit for educators.

Social bookmarking is a free Web service that not only allows users to store and manage their favorite Web sites; it allows them to share their bookmarks with others. Although that might not seem like a big deal, social bookmarking tools like del.icio.us and furl have introduced Web users to what Alex Iskoid calls a �social web ecosystem," a community that helps support us in our teaching and learning ventures.

Becoming part of that social ecosystem is as easy as registering and then saving the best sites the Web has to offer to your del.icio.us or furl account. And while you�re doing that, other educators are doing the same thing, often saving the very same Web site topics that make your teacher heart sing -- Web sites and resources about history, assessment, algebra, differentiation, and that science topic you�re currently researching. Are you used to having bookmarks as disorganized as a middle school binder? Social bookmarking sites add order to your bookmarking chaos by prompting you to �tag" your Web finds, a quick and easy decision that assigns an organizational category to the Web site you�re saving. It�s that �"tagging function that turns your Web site discoveries into accessible, usable resources.

But the best part of social booking is the �social" part. Because your bookmarks are public, you are able to share them with other teachers who are looking for many of the same resources that you are. In fact, del.icio.us supports that spirit of collaboration by showing you how many people saved the site you just saved. The first time I noticed that, I clicked on the information, only to find that many of those savers had left a link to their del.icio.us site. Having access to other teachers bookmarks adds another dimension to the world of teacher collaboration by introducing us to "� the other people [who] are on del.icio.us who tag the same things that I think are important. Then, I can look and see what else they've tagged ... And isn't that part of the collective intelligence of the Web? You meet people who find things that you find interesting and useful -- and that multiplies your ability to find things that are interesting and useful, and other people feed off of you." (Howard Rheingold)

Wondering how to get started? Take a look at Social Bookmarking in Plain English, a basic introduction video, and then register for del.icio.us or furl and read:

About the Author

Brenda Dyck is a sessional instructor at the University of Alberta, in Edmonton, Alberta (Canada). In addition to teaching preservice teachers, Brenda is the moderator of MiddleTalk, a listserve sponsored by the National Middle School Association (NMSA). Her "HotLinks" column is a regular feature in NMSA's magazine, Middle Ground. Brenda also is a teacher-editor for MidLink magazine.

11/09/2007