Social Bookmarking
I have tried to use social bookmarking for the past 4 years. It started in an undergraduate course I was enrolled in which called for me to create a list of bookmarks I could use in the future as a business education teacher. That class was in the same building I worked in and I happened to be working after that course was over each day it met. I realized after this assignment came up that it was silly for me to have a huge number of bookmarks at home and then go to work (in a computer lab) and not have access to any of those bookmarks.
During the next couple weeks I researched bookmarking sites including sites that only a specific user could view with a password as well as sites that allowed the user to share their bookmarks with anyone. Though I do not remember many of the sites I do remember terrible interfaces and a giant pain in my backside. I chose one that was the least painful to use between the group and used it until I came across foxmarks shortly after its development. Around the same time I heard about del.icio.us and spent a little time researching it, but chose foxmarks.
With this assignment I got (though I didn't have a choice in the matter) a chance to revisit delicious with many updates that have taken place since I first viewed it years ago. Even with the updates delicious will not effect the way I browse or save websites. Why? Because I am perfectly content using foxmarks for my huge number of bookmarks. However, the ease and design of sharing delicious bookmarks versus the ease of design of sharing foxmarks bookmarks makes me wonder if someday I will be using delicious just so family, friends, co-workers, and/or students can easily view my bookmarks. At the same time, as an EDUCAUSE article [68kb PDF] states, "social bookmarking means storing data in yet another location that you have to maintain and update." In other words it's more work.
I believe social bookmarking will effect education and my teaching and learning by making it easier to collaborate with colleagues as well as making it easier for teachers to share educational websites with students. I am not sure if it is because I teach in a small school district or whether the same things happen in larger districts, but I have a huge number of websites bookmarked (bookmarks toolbar, student resources, quotes, and more) that could easily be shared with others if others had an understanding of social bookmarking. At the same time, I currently am not able to log into my delicious account from school because of unresolved server issues that have not been worked out.
I do not believe social bookmarking will effect my teaching and learing life in any significant way because I have been using a social bookmarking program for the past few years. However, as I mentioned before, I believe social bookmarking could have a significant effect in education. I am currently setting up a school website for the business department, which I make up half of, and can imagine linking tagged bookmarks to a section of the site. This would allow students to view certain websites for class as well as allow parents to see what we're doing and give them a chance to better understand my classroom.
As a CNET review of delicious states, "tags [...] are subject keywords such as 'travel', 'chocolate', "ferrets," or whatever other category you create." Cleary tags can be very useful because they allow a user to view like content based on a certain tag. However, as the EDUCAUSE article states, "by definition, social bookmarking is done by amateurs. There is no oversight as to how resources are organized and tagged. This can lead to inconsistent or otherwise poor use of tags." The point is that although tags can be very useful they are only as perfect as those using them.
One thing I learned through this assignment was what the numbers on the right side of each site that I bookmarked stand for as well as what the subscription feature is for. The number on the right side of each site is the number of other users who bookmarked the same site. This feature would not mean much if it weren't for the fact that you can click on the number and view others users who bookmarked that same site. Personally I think it is fun to click choose a site I have bookmarked as a RSS feed and see if others did the same. Another great feature of delicious is the subscription feature. Subscribing to a tag allows you to view all bookmarks other users marked with the tag you subscribed to. Upon subscribing to "design" I came across sites such as "25 Easy Steps to Create A Professional Design" and "30 Awesome Photoshop Text Effects". While I found these wonderful websites I also came across lots of pages of junk, so the subscription feature is not all roses. This feature goes back to the statement from the EDUCAUSE article that basically states that tags are only as good as those that create them.
Overall I am more impressed with delicious now than I imagined I would be. As far as sharing bookmarks goes I believe delicious does beat foxmarks but as of now I plan on sticking with foxmarks as I have not had a great reason to switch to a program that makes it extremely easy to share your bookmarks with others.
During the next couple weeks I researched bookmarking sites including sites that only a specific user could view with a password as well as sites that allowed the user to share their bookmarks with anyone. Though I do not remember many of the sites I do remember terrible interfaces and a giant pain in my backside. I chose one that was the least painful to use between the group and used it until I came across foxmarks shortly after its development. Around the same time I heard about del.icio.us and spent a little time researching it, but chose foxmarks.
With this assignment I got (though I didn't have a choice in the matter) a chance to revisit delicious with many updates that have taken place since I first viewed it years ago. Even with the updates delicious will not effect the way I browse or save websites. Why? Because I am perfectly content using foxmarks for my huge number of bookmarks. However, the ease and design of sharing delicious bookmarks versus the ease of design of sharing foxmarks bookmarks makes me wonder if someday I will be using delicious just so family, friends, co-workers, and/or students can easily view my bookmarks. At the same time, as an EDUCAUSE article [68kb PDF] states, "social bookmarking means storing data in yet another location that you have to maintain and update." In other words it's more work.
I believe social bookmarking will effect education and my teaching and learning by making it easier to collaborate with colleagues as well as making it easier for teachers to share educational websites with students. I am not sure if it is because I teach in a small school district or whether the same things happen in larger districts, but I have a huge number of websites bookmarked (bookmarks toolbar, student resources, quotes, and more) that could easily be shared with others if others had an understanding of social bookmarking. At the same time, I currently am not able to log into my delicious account from school because of unresolved server issues that have not been worked out.
I do not believe social bookmarking will effect my teaching and learing life in any significant way because I have been using a social bookmarking program for the past few years. However, as I mentioned before, I believe social bookmarking could have a significant effect in education. I am currently setting up a school website for the business department, which I make up half of, and can imagine linking tagged bookmarks to a section of the site. This would allow students to view certain websites for class as well as allow parents to see what we're doing and give them a chance to better understand my classroom.
As a CNET review of delicious states, "tags [...] are subject keywords such as 'travel', 'chocolate', "ferrets," or whatever other category you create." Cleary tags can be very useful because they allow a user to view like content based on a certain tag. However, as the EDUCAUSE article states, "by definition, social bookmarking is done by amateurs. There is no oversight as to how resources are organized and tagged. This can lead to inconsistent or otherwise poor use of tags." The point is that although tags can be very useful they are only as perfect as those using them.
One thing I learned through this assignment was what the numbers on the right side of each site that I bookmarked stand for as well as what the subscription feature is for. The number on the right side of each site is the number of other users who bookmarked the same site. This feature would not mean much if it weren't for the fact that you can click on the number and view others users who bookmarked that same site. Personally I think it is fun to click choose a site I have bookmarked as a RSS feed and see if others did the same. Another great feature of delicious is the subscription feature. Subscribing to a tag allows you to view all bookmarks other users marked with the tag you subscribed to. Upon subscribing to "design" I came across sites such as "25 Easy Steps to Create A Professional Design" and "30 Awesome Photoshop Text Effects". While I found these wonderful websites I also came across lots of pages of junk, so the subscription feature is not all roses. This feature goes back to the statement from the EDUCAUSE article that basically states that tags are only as good as those that create them.
Overall I am more impressed with delicious now than I imagined I would be. As far as sharing bookmarks goes I believe delicious does beat foxmarks but as of now I plan on sticking with foxmarks as I have not had a great reason to switch to a program that makes it extremely easy to share your bookmarks with others.
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