Diigo


 

 

Diigo is a social bookmarking application that many are turning to primarily because although like Del.icio.us it offers an extremely convenient, entirely web-based way of keeping track of your favourite websites and sharing these with others, it also goes one step further by offering possibilities for engaging in conversation with other Internet users by letting you leave messages - private or public - for those who follow you on the pages you visit.

 

This, as the videos here below will I think show, has great potential for teachers. Diigo has played an important role, for example, in the online Certificate in International Business English Training (CertIBET) course for teachers that I have been moderating. At the end of each of the ten modules in the course, the participants are given a link to a Diigo list of web resources used during the module tasks together with links to resources for further reading. At the end of the course they are invited to create an account with Diigo and the CertIBET group which provides access to ALL the resources in one place and also means they can annotate and discuss the reources in the Group forum. Here's preview:

 

 

The above example of using Diigo in a training course is a very simple time-saving way of sharing resources, but there's also plenty of potential for using Diigo as an actual teaching tool. For example, by producing a list of websites for your learners and leaving annotation for them on web pages you can direct them to the specific information or activities you'd like them to engage with. This could also be used to greatly enhance webquest activities. Or, as the video below illustrates, you could use Diigo to give feedback on online activities.

 

So first the official How to .. video from Diigo themeselves:

 

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And here's a very nicely put together, leisurely paced explanation of social bookmarking and Diigo:

 

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Here's what appears to be a maths teacher explaining how he uses Diigo with Google Groups:

 

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And lastly, here's a link to a blog where you can enter the debate that is going on concerning the buzz surrounding Diigo: Why would teachers use Diigo?

 

Please feel free to add your ideas and suggestions for using Diigo here on this page, or if you prefer, leave a comment in the box below.