Delicious in my words

Delicious is a great organizational tool for someone like myself who tends to struggle with organization. It’s the one stop shop for resources and interesting websites. Even better I can check to see what websites my friends and colleagues are using and “steal” them if I like. Now that I have found Delicious there will be no more forgetting or losing great resources that I have come across (at least that is my hope).

As I look at the tags of my classmates I have found many interesting and useful websites. In the past I may Google certain subjects, and then sift through many websites that are subpar and inaccurate. By using my network, different tag names, and subscriptions I have found great websites such as http://www.teachersfirst.com. This site offers lesson ideas and activities for a wide range of subjects. Just as easy as “stealing this website” I can look at my classmate’s tags and have a more specific approach in collecting my resources.

Tagging websites has made it much easier in sorting through material that is relevant to me. It also makes it easier when trying to find a specific website that I tagged. The fact that a user can use multiple tags is great because many websites are good for more than one reason or idea. The one thing that can get confusing with the tags is using different tag words for the same meaning. For example I may put something in “teaching tools” and later use the tag “teacher resources” for the same type of website. This is not the end of the world, but it can cause a little more work when looking up different bookmarks.

Two features that I have not used, but will likely use in the future is tag bundles and tag annotations. The bundle is a great way to fix my problem that I stated above. When tags are closely related in purpose or meaning, I can bundle them in keep them all in one place. The annotation can be very useful in reminding us more specifically what a website is all about. How many times have I bookmarked something and later forgotten the purpose of the website? Annotations are the way to go to eliminate this “memory loss” that I so often struggle with.

As with any social networking or bookmarking site it is a great way to meet and share ideas with people that are interested in the same thing as you. Working together to find the best resources out there is an extremely effective way to stay on top of the latest and the greatest. As I looked through many of the different tags of our classmates, I found that many of us teach different classes and have different interests. I have also found that we have used many of the same tags such as technology and teaching resources. Delicious is great because I am able to just pluck any of the websites under these tags and save them to my page. Just recently I found a great math work sheet website that I stole from Norm. Thanks Norm!

I often work under the idea that “less is better” and feel that this may be the case with Delicious. Although it is great to pick through all of the different resources out there, it can also get overwhelming very quickly. Just recently I added Douglas Johnson to my network and was able to take a few bookmarks from him. As I looked further into his page and all 485 tags, I began to slowly mentally shut down. All though the network tool is great, I just want to be careful when adding people to assure that I can still effectively sift through all of the information available.

If I were to use a tool like Delicious in the classroom I would use it to share some resources with my students. If I found a great website on nutritional facts and information, Delicious would allow me to share it with the students. Even better they could pick and choose what they wanted to use from all of my bookmarks and resources.

My thoughts on Delicious and Diigo

I have just began using delicious (username is jsoule05 if you want to check it out). So far, it has been great. This is the ultimate PLN tool and quite frankly what I have been looking for for organizing all of my resources and links. I love the tagging feature and the ability to put links into many different categories. It is also great that I can steal from other users. That was a huge emphasis in my undergrad; "steal as many ideas and resources as you can". Delicious in some ways allows me to sit back and let others do the research while I just pick in choose what I like and dislike.

With all of that nice stuff being said, I still wish there was a little more freedom in customization of the page with Delicious. I cannot quite put my finger on it, but it can be overwhelming with all of the new information and tools that I have access to. I am still trying to figure out the best way to maximize the use of this new tool.

I do not have as much experience with Diigo, but it seems like there may be a little more freedom in organization. Especially with tools such as the highlighting feature. My problem is, I have already gotten started with Delicious. I can become overwhelmed if I try to create to many new tools. So, my thought for now is that I will stick with Delicious. any pointer about how to organize my network as far as subscribing to specific tags would be greatly appreciated.