I use del.icio.us and furl.net extensively. The most important use of these tools for me is that I can build an online personal library related to my interests, that I can call upon when I need access to information. That information, because it is located and organized into these two onlines sites, follows me-wherever I have a connection to the Web, I can connect to my personal information resources. With the proliferation in handheld devices, this access is never more easy.
The other powerful feature of social bookmarking, and it's reflected in the social component of the name, is that I can tap into the libraries of others. It's social, and contains a community component so important to Web 2.0 tools. I can form networks, and be a part of other's networks. I can send other del.icio.us members resources directly and they can do the same for me. I can see what they are finding, and in a large part, they point me to resources I would have never seen had I not been connected to them. Being tapped into del.icio.us networks enables me to take advantage of the efforts of people worldwide, and my ability to see and learn from resources supplied by these individuals amplifies my individual contributions to del.icio.us.
I can also subscribe to del.icio.us content, and get a steady stream of content about a particular topic sent via RSS to my aggregator (Bloglines, Google Reader, Netvibes, etc). I can subscribe to an individual del.icio.us user, and I can subscribe to any of a particular user's tags. I can even subscribe to a tag in del.icio.us, which gives me access to all those resources labeled with that tag by del.icio.us users worldwide!
I use Furl as another social bookmarking tool. A really nice feature of Furl is that it takes a "snapshot" of the content you place into your Furl account. As a result, you have a "local" copy that resides in your account. I use Furl when I encounter transitory content, such as newspaper articles, etc., that I know will be removed from the online site in a few days. But with Furl, because I can use it to take a "picture" of the content, I always have access.
Combined together, they form a very powerful tool set for storing and managing my online resources.
Questions essential to understanding the role that social bookmarking plays in the development and purpose of a personal learning environment.
1. How has the nature of information changed relative to amount, ability to access, manage and use information? Read David Warlick's excellent piece on the changing information landscape.
2. How critical is that information to what you do?
3. What happens when that information has velocity? What happens when the information is transportable? What happens when the information finds you?
4. How can participation in online learning networks extend your capability to access and use resources?
5. What does this mean for your personal learning? How will this understanding transfer to your classroom so that you become a conduit for their understanding?
What we'll do in this presentation:
Explore information, how networks impact the distribution of that information, and the role that information plays in personal learning environments
Showcase two social bookmarking tools, called del.icio.us and furl
Explain how they work
Explain how to take advantage of the network capacity of these tools
Creative Classroom Applications of both tools
Learning Extensions: Continuing Your Learning Beyond the Conference
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