This was my first exposure to online bookmarking and I have discovered what I believe to be a very valuable tool for research and collaboration. Instead of saving links on the browser, which remains fixed to the PC which is used for browsing, online or social bookmarks can be saved online and accessed from anywhere. additionally, the options of collaboration, sharing, annotation, and commenting is extremely valuable for research, particularly when a lab or group of individuals is collaborating on research projects. I found the Diigo toolbar to be highly organized and powerful for sorting, organizing, labelling, and saving bookmarks. As a result of this project, I was able to cooperate with classmates on compiling a stockpile of several excellent links to Web2.0 technologies which will be of value in the future, as well as having the ability to transfer my offline bookmarks to the Diigo bookmarking system for access anywhere.
My diigo site, http://www.diigo.com/user/ahujeffrey, provided the opportunity to collect value websites, annotate them with labels, comments, and highlighting, and then share them with classmates. Additionally, I have begun to collect bookmarks for webpages and online data sources which will be of use in the future for ongoing research projects and my dissertation. Overall, this is one of the most valuable technologies introduced during the course.
What I learned
I have gained an appreciation for the habit of social bookmarking and collaborative sharing of data among labmembers. I believe that this is an important part of the research process, and one that can be better accomplished through the use of online tools such as Diigo bookmarking. The habit of making labels, highlights, and comments for materials is also something that is intrinsically promoted by the Diigo program and which allows for faster searching, indexing, and recall of the main point of pieces of retrieved information in the future.
Importance of social bookmarking to my field
As a scholar or student, the use of social bookmarking for academic collaboration as well as individual research is immeasurable. It is undeniable that anyone who engages in research requires a certain approach to organizing and saving data, all of which are facilitated and streamlined by this technology. In terms of my particular research and teaching interests, I would highly recommend this program for undergraduate students who are learning how to best conduct online research. For the much younger learners who are the focus of my research, however, I feel as though there is less practical application. Nevertheless, as active teachers and professionals, the acquisition of teaching ideas, tips, and research findings is a part of our professional development and lesson planning. Therefore I would encourage early childhood educators to use this type of program to save their links to lesson plan ideas, online resources, and information which they will wish to use or refer to in the future.
Future learning and teaching
For my future studies, I plan to use Diigo bookmarking to keep track of important information, data sources, and articles, as well as to annotate, highlight, and provide collaborative commenting. It is invaluable for busy researchers to have fast and efficient access to information from multiple locations (i.e. as when presenting in a conference abroad, or even when using a different computer in a research room). Thus, for personal research purposes, Diigo bookmarking will certain be an important part of my future learning.
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