In today's technologically expanding world, it seems as though there's not a day that goes by without a new technological wonder making its way to the desktop, laptop, tablet, or smart phone of just about every human being grazing this earth. Sure, that's great and all, but wait...just one thing. Pretty much anywhere we look online, there's always something that catches our eye. Whether it's an article, a video, a book, an idea, a craft, a...well, you get the idea, there's always so much to look at. But that's not the problem. How about remembering where you saw that article, or what it was about. Or how about that video...where was it again? Oh yeah, that craft! So exciting, couldn't wait to do it, right? Let's face it, who writes down every site that offers anything of interest, anyways? Oh, bookmarking the page? Sure that's a great idea, but how many bookmarks do we really want to sit at the top of our homepage? Luckily, there's a solution for that. Yes, you heard right...a solution. Ready for it? Diigo. Yup, Diigo; a powerful research tool and a knowledge sharing community. Use sticky notes and highlighters when you're reading your textbooks? Diigo has that, too. Create a library, collaborate with groups, follow people in different networks...all a part of Diigo. The best part? Invite friends to add to a library dedicated to a certain something special...oh, say lesson plan ideas for the Fairy Tale unit? Seem simple enough? I'm not done. Diigo allows you to tag your bookmarks to make searching for them easier. So that article that you read about relating the Common Core to your math lesson...just tag it with Common Core and Math. Need to search for it? Just type in Common Core or Math into your search bar and guess what comes up...yup, the article that you bookmarked using Diigo!
I agree with the amazing uses of Diigo in your own life as well as your "teaching life". It's wonderful to be able to share ideas, lesson plans and the trials and tribulations of our daily classroom activities. I didn't know that you can invite friends onto your Diigo library! That's awesome and I am definitely going to look into that ASAP!
ReplyDeleteI'm loving how Diigo allows you to easily access links and resources...I've yet to explore the collaboration features which I think can take this resource to the next level. I'm envisioning students swapping resources, or teachers individualizing instruction by finding resources that are most pertinent to specific learners.
ReplyDeleteI am surprised at how "hidden" this tool still is, given that it is so useful! Just today I was listening to my principal say how much time she spends looking for motivational content to include in her presentations at staff meetings. I was just thinking that it would be much easier to find things with Diigo or even with an RSS. I am so thrilled to be learning about these new tools because even though they are still new to me, I have already learned so much!
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