Diigo

I will admit that when it comes to technology, I tend to go by the “less is more” philosophy.  Though I’ve always felt comfortable using current technologies, I have never been someone to count down the days until the latest gadget debuted, create online accounts for everything, or download tons of apps onto my iPhone.  When it comes to technology, sometimes I feel like the more of it you have, the more work it is to maintain.  This is one of the main reasons that I was never a huge bookmark user.

What is Diigo?

For my grad class, we recently learned about social bookmarking.  Social bookmarking tools allow users to organize, share, manage, and search for resources online.  One major thing that separates social bookmarking from traditional bookmarking is that bookmarks saved through social bookmarking websites are available anywhere, whereas traditional bookmarks are only saved on one computer.  Also, users have the ability to join groups, allowing people with similar interests share and collaborate with others.  Diigo is one of many social bookmarking tools.

How could I use it as a teacher?

This past weekend, I signed up for a Diigo account and did my first bookmarking.  In addition to marking websites of interest, I was also able to annotate the sites, highlight important text, and mark sections of text with sticky notes.  For a first time user, I think this tool was pretty easy to use, and I can already see a lot of potential for use in the K-12 classroom.  One of the main ways I could see myself using this tool is for my own personal lesson planning and professional development.  I already use Pinterest as a way to get ideas and find resources for my lessons, but I sometimes find that I forget why I marked a website or I can’t find the particular area of the website that I wanted.  Diigo will allow me to highlight important information and make notes on how it could be used.  It also would allow me to save websites that I use often so that during my teaching, I don’t have to waste time typing in websites.

As a teacher, I find that I learn a lot through collaboration with colleagues.  I love talking through teaching ideas and planning with colleagues, and think that Diigo would make our sharing more efficient.  In addition to sharing with grade level colleagues, Diigo would be an efficient way to share resources at the school or district level.  Of course, social bookmarking is another tool with which to develop your PLN and share with peers anywhere in the world.

How could I use this with students?

While teaching third and fourth grade, I used a reader’s workshop model when teaching reading strategies.  Diigo would allow me to model reading strategies using a digital platform and allow students the chance to respond through the use of sticky notes similar to what I do during reader's workshop.  It would also give me access to a wider variety of materials that fit my students’ needs.

Another way that I might use this tool in the classroom is during research projects.  Diigo can assist with teaching many important research and literacy skills such as finding the main idea, highlighting important information, taking notes, determining the quality of resources, etc.  Students would have the opportunity to view other’s resources on a given topic and collaborate with peers.  It is also available at all times through the web and is free, so as long as students have access to the Internet, there is no need to worry about being able to find books about a specific topic.

Finally, this tool could also be used to have students demonstrate their thinking across subject areas through posting their thoughts on a sticky or to share helpful resources with parents.  For more information, check out these links…

Diigo- A Classroom Friend – describes a few ways that Diigo can be used in the classroom.

A Lesson in Social Bookmarking- a real life example of how two elementary teachers used Diigo for Social Studies research projects.

Student Learning with Diigo- includes a collection of resources and lesson plans related to Diigo.

12 Reasons Teachers Should Use Diigo