BP4_2009_112_SocialBookmarking

It's funny how things work out sometimes. Case in point, I have been moved from my old classroom to a new in the new building. So there I am going over a concept with my kids and I turned to my computer to give them a visual to help seal their understanding. I go into my favorites where I have bookmarked said visual only to realize that not only was I moved to a new classroom, but I also have a different computer now. I was upset, but mostly I was disappointed in myself for not remembering that your favorites do not 'travel' with you. It was at that moment that I saw the value in social bookmarking. Since then, I have envisioned and researched the different ways that Delicious can be best utilized for me as a teacher and also for my students.

As an educator, Delicious is a tool that will come in very handy for me. This year, I am incorporating more Web 2.0 tools to help me introduce and re-teach content to my students. I also am incorporating more Youtube videos as well. As a result, I find that I need more organization and a method of having each tool and the appropriate links at (no pun intended) my fingertips. Delicious will provide that for me. Furthermore, it will also help me to easily check out my peers' bookmarks to sites that are of interest to me. In addition, I have a big poetry project that I do with my students and this will allow me to organize and have the resources available to them outside of the school without worrying that may be unable to find the link because they had to write it down or typed in a wrong character.

For my students, Delicious will provide 24/7 access to content resources in order to work on projects, research, online practices or just to stay up-to-date. Moreover, this also appeals to the students' sense of learner control as well as their learning styles.

I also see this as a tool to help with differentiated learning as content resource links can be organized to help the different learners. I look forward to working with this tool in an effort to enhance not only my teaching but also the students' learning and my own as well.

Hedreen, R. (2005, February 03). Social bookmarking in education. Retrieved from http://frequanq.blogspot.com/2005/02/social-bookmarking-in-education.html

Jackson, L. (2009, June 05). Sites to see: Social bookmarking. Retrieved from http://www.education-world.com/a_tech/sites/sites080.shtml

(n.d.) What is social bookmarking? Retrieved from http://webtools4u2use.wikispaces.com/Social+Bookmarks