Diigo Social Bookmarking

A while back I went through a dilemma on which social bookmarking site to throw my hat into. I ended up going with Diigo mainly because of it's group features. I now use Diigo all of the time, and it is coming in handy more often than I ever could imagine. I am continually coming up with new ways to improve my social bookmarking, especially when it comes to tagging. I still know that every now and then I need to check Delicious in case a) I had saved it there B.Di. or b) if I'm looking through other people's bookmarks. I am beginning to find that if I do my search in Diigo first, I don't find much else in Delicious. 

Through a number of different sources (including Diigo's Twitter account), I found an article called "7 Reasons Diigo Tastes Better Than Delicious." Because I often use Safari and Chrome, I don't always get the full function of Diigo, so I learned a couple new things. Checking out the link will definitely improve your social bookmarking lifestyle...

Google Chrome Revisited

Early this month I mentioned that I had started using Google Chrome. I have it set as my default browser for my Gateway tablet (w/Vista) and I do have to say I like it. It still is kicking the crud out of Internet Explorer, much to absolutely no one's surprise. I am getting to the point, though, that I'm missing the "features" of other browsers. Most importantly, there is no Diigo toolbar. Which, for me, renders it somewhat useless. Of course I can copy my URL, go to my Diigo bookmarks and add it manually, but who does that? Maybe Chrome isn't being used enough to justify creating it, but it won't be used by the majority of the population until those types of add ons are created. I guess I realize it's been a month, but doesn't Google have the pull to make this happen? Or maybe they don't think you need it? Just some thoughts...

Diigo For Educators

Diigo, the Fridge's favorite place to store bookmarks, is increasing its pressure on #1 social bookmarking site Delicious by offering educator accounts. These accounts lets you give your students a place to share bookmarks without having to provide an email address. I know that many secondary and higher ed teachers have had students get their own account in either Diigo or Delicious and then they would share information via tags. We'll be interested to see if this increases Diigo in an elementary building.

Delicious or Diigo?

Please take a second to fill out the poll on the right side of the Tech Fridge page. I am doing a training in May and need to gather some data. Thank you in advance.

Asking why

A quick update about a product that we discussed earlier, Diigo has updated to a 3rd version with some great looking updates. A lot of features that Delicious had, but Diigo didn't. This may give them a higher share of the social bookmarking market.

A great article came through our email last week from 21st Century Connections on the importance of asking "why" when planning a lesson or unit. Way too often, too many of us are guilty of just wanting to use the newest and coolest toys, especially with how quickly new web 2.0 materials come about. I'll admit it. Sometimes I have to take a step back, clean off my desktop, and start over. Our goal, as educators, is to give our students the best education possible so that they are ready to be an integral part of their society, no matter what part of society they end up in. Whether your students work at McDonald's or Microsoft, they will be using technology. So it is in your (and your district's) best interest to give them experiences in manipulating and interacting with technology while they are mastering your curriculum. That being said, too many of us think of the technology first. The curriculum needs to be the basis for everything that happens in your classroom. That is the why. Why are you using the technology? Because it gives your students the best opportunity to become engaged in the curriculum. When you look at your curriculum objectives you should be thinking of how technology could be used to engage students, allow for more interaction with the material or concepts or make your life easier. Don't make it something extra. If you make the technology an extra activity, you lose "why" you are using technology. You don't have time for extra, trust me.

I'd love to hear from all of you about your thoughts on the "why" or what steps you take to make sure that technology is used without making it a hassle for everyone involved. Please share!

Diigo: Can't say it, but we like it...

The staff here at the Tech Fridge (see first line of previous post) have found a new social bookmarking site that we think is kind of cool. 

Diigo, pronounced (dee'go), stands for "Digest of Internet Information, Groups and Other stuff." Diigo is roughly the same as Delicious, etc., but there are still a few differences that have us leaning a little more towards Diigo. First of all, with a Delicious account, its fairly simple. You tag a website and it gets stored in your account. With Diigo, you are able to add sticky notes and other annotations that you don't find in Delicious. Those sticky notes can also be sent to your friends, which is regarded as a "killer feature," and I agree. You can also highlight certain parts of the website you are bookmarking. All of these added features are available on your bookmark page (see mine). Diigo has a toolbar available (not for Safari), but also has a Diigolet (which is available for Safari), which is similar to the Delicious tag buttons that you've used. One other feature worth including is the ability to clip and play videos. The feature that really sold me on Diigo: When I find a bookmark that I want, I can simultaneously add it to my Delicious account with the same tags that I did for Diigo (this feature is available for a couple of different websites). The couch potato in me sees this as a great way to populate two areas at once. A very cool feature to enhance the professional development in your kitchen...I mean district!

Here is the comparison sheet of Diigo vs. Traditional Bookmarking vs. Delicious (created by Diigo, of course).