BP4_2009102_SocialBookmarking

Social bookmarking is, for all intense purposes, a mobile list of your favorite sites on the Internet. No longer do you need to be on one specific computer to access a list of your favorite sites. It is a web 2.0 tool that has useful time saving uses. ?As an educational tool, bookmarking sites can help students to find ways to search for information other than Google indexing.? (McGraw-Hill, 2007) Teachers can do a pre-search of reliable and valid websites for a research project or paper. They can save the links, and then either share those sites with their students online, or print out a paper copy for them to use. Teachers can relax knowing that their students are using approved websites without questionable information. Teachers can also use it to save all of their favorite sites that they found at home and can easy have access to those same site at work the next day, no more re-researching.

Social bookmarking is also helpful if a teacher want to save a site that has multiple content uses. ?Instead of individually saving the site in a variety of folders, you just type a few keywords called tags?, and your sites are organized automatically with sites saved by other users, using those same keywords.? (Jackson, 2009) Now a teacher can also have access to other people?s favorite links with those same keywords. This is a much more efficient way of getting a hold of more resources for their classes.

?Because social bookmarking services indicate who created each bookmark and provide access to that person?s other bookmarked resources, users can easily make social connections with other individuals interested in just about any topic.? (Lomas, 2005) This is a great tool for students who are planning on doing a project, for now they can find partners who are interested in the same thing. This will make group work more valuable and effective for the students will be working with like-minded folk on the topic of their choice. More choice with students means more interest and involvement.


Jackson, L. (2009) Sites to See: Social Bookmarking. Retrieved October 7, 2009. From http://www.education-world.com/a_tech/sites/sites080.shtml

McGraw-Hill. (2007). How-to Article: Social Bookmarking. Retrieved October 7, 2009. From http://teachingtoday.glencoe.com/howtoarticles/social-bookmarking

Lomas, P. (2005) 7 Things You Should Know About Social Bookmarking. Retrieved October 7, 2009. From http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7001.pdf