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This week’s Online Course blog entry focuses on how we can use Social Bookmarking in our teaching and/or our learning. After reviewing different sources of Social bookmarking I believe that it can provide a very unique forum for collaboration among both students and educators, but it is not without its pitfalls.
As per our course materials, “Social bookmarking is a powerful tool for tracking and sharing websites, conducting internet searches and collaborating with others.” (Beaudin, 2014) Essentially, Social bookmarking allows different users from anywhere in the world to access bookmarks on specific subjects from both their own library and that of the community.
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There are literally thousands of teaching ideas on websites such as Pinterest and Instagram ranging from how to create bulletin boards to writing tests and quizzes. These ideas that I stumble across can be “pinned” or tagged and I can create my OWN online board of ideas in which I can save anything that I might want to try in my own classroom one day.
For current and future educators the potential in these social bookmarking sites jumps out at me immediately. In my limited amount of experience teachers already have dull days, weeks, months, and even years. Many are trying to maintain something called a “life” outside of their jobs as teachers and I have already encountered many who struggle to maintain that balance.
Coming up with new and creative things to do in the classroom comes easy to many of these fantastic educators, but for others it can seem burdensome when they are trying to raise a young family or start one of their own. Here is where I think Social bookmarking would be at its best. Being able to post and share creative ideas with colleagues all around the world seems like one way in which this burden of creativity can be shared among colleagues versus shouldered by just a few. While one teacher may be struggling with what they think is a stale math unit, another may be able to help them inject the necessary life and creativity.
Oftentimes curriculums can be cumbersome and complicated (Social Studies I’m looking at you), but social networking and bookmarking would enable us to connect with teachers of all majors and consistently allow new ideas to transfer and blossom between districts and provinces.
These sites are not without their risks however. In our notes this week it was said one flaw with social bookmarking is that, “if you are not active on the site, then there is less ‘interacting’.” (Beaudin, 2014) Essentially with social bookmarking you get what you put in, and teachers don’t always have the time or energy to put in as much as they would like.
Of course with all things “social networky” internet safety is a primary concern. These sites require you to register provide personal information. As educators especially we need to be careful what we keep out of the public eye. Ensure that the social site you are connecting to allows you some customization of how to set your profile and what other users can see. The ability to report/block inappropriate behaviour, content and users is also a very good thing to watch out for.
Finally, as with all things internet, ensure that the source is reliable and always defer the credit for something to the original user. If, like on Pinterest and Instagram, you are considering using someone else’s ideas in your own classroom, send them a message or tweet asking permission to use their idea. There is nothing wrong with sharing ideas and information, just ensure that the original person receives the credit.
I have already said quite a bit but just wanted to mention two more ways I can see this working, but from a “learner” perspective. For student learners specifically I can see this being a fun way to engage students outside of the classroom. Most of us assume that children are on websites such as Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, and Twitter anyways, so why not try to curb this into a learning activity outside of the classroom. One idea that I thought was to get each student to pin something to a class board regarding a certain topic. Maybe your Social 20 class is dealing with, “European Leaders during World War Two”, and your introductory formative assignment is for them to find/create a pin on the internet and post it to the board. I believe it would be an engaging opportunity to teach students how these types of websites work, and how they can be used for something other than “trolling” and posting pictures of them with their friends.
LASTLY, (I promise), I wanted to say that as adult learners these can be used in much the same ways. I listed ways that we as educators could learn about new things, but there is often more to life than just being an awesome teacher. Ms. Beaudin noted that she liked to share and find new recipes on a site called “diigo”, which I know many of my friends have done using Pinterest and Instagram, and can only imagine how much my mother would love. In my personal, perhaps due to my recent writings, I thought of the ability to create a Mental Health Awareness page, pinning different resources, media clips, and articles written in an effort to promote awareness and knowledge surrounding the topic. This would give anyone affected by such an event a place to go to find information, or share their stories.
Reference:
Beaudin, L. Social Networking and Bookmarking in Education. Retrieved from Module Four at: http://ed4764.weebly.com/module-four-social-networking-and-bookmarking.html
Image Reference:
Importance of Social Bookmarking. Retrieved February 1, 2014; From http://www.seotechnocrat.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Importance-of-Social-Bookmarking.gif
Earth Day “Cause and Effect” Flip book. Retrieved February 1, 2014; From http://thefirstgradeparade.blogspot.ca/search/label/Earth%20Day