Learning In Burlington: Are You Social (With Your Bookmarking?)

The post below is actually a copy of a weekly e-mail that I send to our staff to promote our Burlington Public Schools Blog which shares the great work going on across our school district. I also try to give a quick technology tip/resource that I think would be useful. It is the eighth post in the series.

This week I wanted to give three reasons to consider using a social bookmarking resource like Diigo.

Reason # 1 - Why search Google when you can get more focused results? -Once you sign up for your Diigo account you have access to an entire community and can search for topics and find relevant resources based on what other users have bookmarked. For example, I entered "formative assessment" into the search window and came up with a number of resources on the topic. You can see a screen shot of my results below. On the left side of each link, Diigo lets you know how many others have bookmarked a particular site. While this is not a full-proof method, a link that is bookmarked by a large number of people is usually a pretty reliable resource and it can save you time in your search process.
Reason # 2 - Share those relevant resources and have access on any device - When you get start with Diigo you can share your bookmarks with your students, your colleagues, and educators all over the globe. You can join groups already created with educators who have similar roles or you can start your own group for a specific project or just general sharing. It is also a great resource to use with students when researching on a particular topic
Why just bookmark your links on your personal device when you can use a web-based resource and have access to them on any device at any time? - Using a service like Diigo gives you the peace-of-mind in knowing that you will never lose the links to the all the useful sites that you find!

If you need help getting started with Diigo then please connect with me or one of our district IT Staff. Our two Mobile Learning Coaches, Jenn Scheffer and Diana Marcus, each have online schedules so that you can book them at your convenience.

Burlington Blogs Update

The posts below are the ones that have been selected from the 119 blogs and websites that have been shared with me. If you haven't had a chance to share yours, then please enter it here on this Google form. If you aren't a blogger, please feel free to forward any happenings from you or your classroom or any student work that you would like to show off and I will turn it into an original post for the BPS Blog.

Day 36 - It's Rocket Time in 213 - Sarah Vissochi - Pine Glen Fourth Grade

Day 37 - Wow! Another Amazing Alum- Rachel Faller- Changing the World Through Fashion Design - Christina Chang BHS Art Department

Day 38 - Ghost of John - Andrea Niu - Memorial School Music Staff

Day 39 - Get a Clue at MassCUE - Nathan Rippin - BHS Senior

Day 40 - Constitution Day Rap Videos (Girls vs. Boys) - Ms. Agostino - Francis Wyman Elementary Fifth Grade

Only 140 more posts to go...