Diigo
I have been using Diigo for quite a while to bookmark Web sites and other resources that are useful for my work. It's an easy way to keep track of the resources I find on the Internet and I couldn't do without it. You can organize links by creating tags, saving links to folders and posting links to a group that you have created or that you follow. I also use Diigo for compiling lists of useful Web sites on a topic to help students do their research. Once you have created a list of Web sites on a topic you can post the link to those sites on a Web site or share the link via email or in other ways; for example, primary source documents. I have also found Diigo valuable for professional development, my PLN, and collaboration. I belong to a Diigo in Education, a teacher librarian group, and a private group for the librarians in my district so that we can share our ideas and discoveries. Be careful, though, how often you want to received notifications about new postings in your groups; you can choose a daily or weekly email notification - or no notifications. I chose weekly so that I wouldn't be overwhelmed with notifications. Diigo is also a great collaborative tool for a class project. For example, a teacher can set up a private Diigo group for a project, set up student logins and students can post links to research resources they find on the Internet. This way, students can learn how to work collaboratively and share ideas.
Pinterest
It seems that everyone is using Pinterest nowadays and so I was curious to experiment with it and created a Pinterest account. Guess what - I love using Pinterest because it's easy to use and is so visual. In fact, it's hard to stop using it all the time - you can become obsessed by it! I find visual curation tools much more appealing and easy to use - I find the pictures help me organize my thoughts. Again, you can share your boards and pins with others.
Paper.li and Scoop.it
I am exploring Paper.li and Scoop.it and the articles about these tools by Joyce Valenza were helpful in understanding how they work. A question: Is it worth it to pay for an upgrade to these two curation tools? For example, the free account allowed me to create two topics in Scoop.it and I will need to upgrade if I want more topics. I found this very limiting and would welcome feedback from those of you who use either or both of these two curation tools. I can envision using one or both of these tools for my PLN and with older students - certainly at the middle and high school level.
I have been using Diigo for quite a while to bookmark Web sites and other resources that are useful for my work. It's an easy way to keep track of the resources I find on the Internet and I couldn't do without it. You can organize links by creating tags, saving links to folders and posting links to a group that you have created or that you follow. I also use Diigo for compiling lists of useful Web sites on a topic to help students do their research. Once you have created a list of Web sites on a topic you can post the link to those sites on a Web site or share the link via email or in other ways; for example, primary source documents. I have also found Diigo valuable for professional development, my PLN, and collaboration. I belong to a Diigo in Education, a teacher librarian group, and a private group for the librarians in my district so that we can share our ideas and discoveries. Be careful, though, how often you want to received notifications about new postings in your groups; you can choose a daily or weekly email notification - or no notifications. I chose weekly so that I wouldn't be overwhelmed with notifications. Diigo is also a great collaborative tool for a class project. For example, a teacher can set up a private Diigo group for a project, set up student logins and students can post links to research resources they find on the Internet. This way, students can learn how to work collaboratively and share ideas.
It seems that everyone is using Pinterest nowadays and so I was curious to experiment with it and created a Pinterest account. Guess what - I love using Pinterest because it's easy to use and is so visual. In fact, it's hard to stop using it all the time - you can become obsessed by it! I find visual curation tools much more appealing and easy to use - I find the pictures help me organize my thoughts. Again, you can share your boards and pins with others.
Paper.li and Scoop.it
I am exploring Paper.li and Scoop.it and the articles about these tools by Joyce Valenza were helpful in understanding how they work. A question: Is it worth it to pay for an upgrade to these two curation tools? For example, the free account allowed me to create two topics in Scoop.it and I will need to upgrade if I want more topics. I found this very limiting and would welcome feedback from those of you who use either or both of these two curation tools. I can envision using one or both of these tools for my PLN and with older students - certainly at the middle and high school level.