Tech+Activities+Web-Based+Bookmarking

web-Based Bookmarking

NETS-Teachers 3. Model Digital-Age Work and Learning d. model and facilitate effective use of current and emerging digital tools to locate, analyze, evaluate, and use information resources to support research and learning

As anyone who has surfed the Web for a few hours knows, it is easy to lose track of websites that may be useful for instruction or research. Bookmarking enables the teacher to save the URL of a favorite website to his or her computer. However, this method has limited portability. A web-based bookmarking utility, such as **http://www.portaportal.com** enables the teacher to access the bookmarked URL from any computer and enable others to view the archived URL’s. The bookmarking utility has built-in tools to organize the URL’s in categories, e.g., by course or subject or project. This is particularly useful when teachers wish to provide their students with pre-selected websites for research. Students can access the teacher’s account through guest access and view only those websites the teacher has checked for public view. PortaPortal has a free basic account that includes advertizing, but also offers an ad-free upgrade with additional storage capacity for a nominal annual fee.

Similarly a social bookmarking utility such as **http://del.icio.us** enables the teacher to access bookmarked sites, share them with colleagues or students, and also see the sites others are bookmarking. Instead of copying the URL to the teacher’s bookmarking account (as in PortaPortal), the teacher posts the URL on the social bookmarking site and becomes part of a community of users or “folksonomy” (Maloy, et al. 2011, pp. 146-149). Users organize websites by tagging them with keyword descripters, such as type (video, picture, game), topic (colonial history, earthworms, algebra). If a teacher wants to find an interactive site on colonial history the teacher types the tag “colonial history interactive” and immediately finds websites that others have tagged. In this assignment you will explore both a web based and a social bookmarking utility, create a PortaPortal account, and compare the two applications in questions 1-3.


 * 1.** Explore the web-based bookmarking utility **http://portaportal.com** Create a free account, use the tutorials to learn about the features of the application, and **bookmark (or save) three useful websites** to the account you create. **What are some key features of a web-based bookmarking utility that are helpful to teachers who want to share links with students?**

Go to [|http://portaportal.com] Sign up for a free account by clicking on “Signup” on the left side of the home page. Next, click on the Quick Start tab and follow the directions. **Be sure to remember the “user name” you created for your portaportal account.** The Help and FAQ tabs on the left side of the home page have more detailed instructions, but for this assignment you will probably only need to follow the directions under the Quick Start tab. Create at least two categories and add one or two links in each category for a minimum of three links. Follow the directions under “Preferences” regarding privacy and guest access. This command is found under “guest page behavior which you will see after clicking on the Preferences button on the right side of your personal portaportal page ([|http://my.portaportal.com]) Consider the ability to access and organize websites, flexibility in making links to websites public or private, and ease of sharing the portaportal links.
 * Helpful Suggestions:**
 * TYPE your user name on the assignment so I can see the porta portal account you created. Be sure you have allowed guest access.**


 * 2.** Explore the social bookmarking utility [|http://www.delicious.com]
 * Create a free account
 * Use the tutorials to learn about the features of the application
 * Bookmark (or save) four useful websites to the account you create.
 * **What are some key features of a social bookmarking utility that are helpful to teachers who want to find websites for instructional purposes?**

Create an account by clicking on Join Now and enter the details. Click Register. **Be sure to remember the “user name” you created for your delicious account.** Next, Add buttons and click Install. You may import your existing bookmarks or Skip this step. Click on “How do I get started?” Follow the directions for “Saving a Bookmark.” Next create two bookmarks. For each bookmark, create a title if needed, choose at least one tag and write a brief comment in the notes section. You can also search for websites on a particular topic by using the feature, “Explore a Tag.” Consider the usefulness of tagging to search for and organize websites and the public nature of a social bookmarking site.
 * Helpful Suggestions:** Go to [|http://www.delicious.com].


 * 3.** Compare web-based bookmarking and social bookmarking. **What are the key differences between the two different applications? Consider the method of setting up an account, organizing, and sharing websites. Also consider issues of privacy and suitability for different grade levels.**

SAVE your answers using this format: LastName,First Initial_Bookmarking

Post to cohort wiki [|http://www.gthy2011.wikispaces.com] on the Technology Activities Web-Based Bookmarking page