Social+Bookmarking


 * __Social Bookmarking Tools__ -** **Dan Kolesari**


 * [|http://www.delicious.com]**

** 1. Create an operational definition for the tool. ** Delicious is a social bookmarking website that allows users to save bookmarks for their favorite websites and access them from anywhere in the world. Users can store their information and search for other websites through Delicious.

** 2. Does the technology promote student engagement or merely entertainment? ** I believe both categories are covered on this site. Students can search for websites pertaining to any topic they choose (Pythagorean Theorem, Gettysburg Address, Lady Gaga, etc.).

** 3. Analyze whether this technology adds some demonstrable pedagogical value to traditional instruction. ** Not only is this site a way for students to organize their websites, it is also a way for them to access other student’s websites as well. They can recommend sites to their friends or get suggestions from classmates.

** 4. Assess the use of this particular technology to aid students in the acquisition of knowledge and not just information. ** Students have plenty of opportunities to acquire knowledge. I ran a search for “area of a triangle” and 85 websites came up. I visited several of the sites. Many sites just told the visitor the formula to find the area. Other sites were interactive and allowed users to explore with finding the area.

** 5. Suggest some educational uses for this tool in the K-12 classroom. ** There can be many uses. For example, a teacher could create a list of helpful websites for each chapter and show the students how to access them. Also, a teacher could have students find one website they found helpful and share it with the class through Delicious.

** 6. Discuss the pluses and minuses of using this tool with students. ** The benefits of this site are similar to those of any search engine. There is a ton of information out there, but I feel that this site helps push students in a better direction. All the bookmarks are sites that are recommended by others, so there is a better chance that you will find a useful one. One minus is that there still is a lot of information to sort through.

** [|http://www.]  ****  Digg.com  **

** 1. Create an operational definition for the tool. ** Digg is a social bookmarking site where you can submit websites that interest you. These can be your own sites or they can be sites that you find useful and interesting. Users can “digg” your sites, making them more popular. ** 2. Does the technology promote student engagement or merely entertainment? ** Engagement and entertainment are both covered. You can browse categories or look at the most view sites. You can also search for sites in particular. ** 3. Analyze whether this technology adds some demonstrable pedagogical value to traditional instruction. ** I find this site very similar to Delicious. There are educational tools on this site, but there are also a lot of timewasters. ** 4. Assess the use of this particular technology to aid students in the acquisition of knowledge and not just information. ** Similar to the last site, you can find websites that just give information and you can also find sites that have interactive tools to aid learning. ** 5. Suggest some educational uses for this tool in the K-12 classroom. ** Students can “follow” a teacher. This is like Twitter. Teachers can post links to sites that are helpful. Teachers can also have students submit sites they find useful. ** 6. Discuss the pluses and minuses of using this tool with students. ** It is like the internet in general. There are a lot of useful sites and there are also plenty of sites that will simply cure boredom for a while. It’s all what you make of it.