Up until recently, I had never even heard of social bookmarking. After reading a little about it, I am slowly beginning to see some of its benefits. Students and teachers today have access to more than 100 billion websites and a trillion links (Richardson & Mancabelli, 2007) and it is impossible for even the best educators to know everything and be able to impart this wisdom onto their students.
Today's teachers are really tour guides showing their students how to navigate the Internet and find the information they are looking for. This is where social bookmarking comes in. Teachers are able to tag information, articles, and websites for their students and colleagues to look at later. Some of the social bookmarking sites even allow users to write comments or post "stickies" and make notes for others to see (Hagardon, 2007). This is a much more efficient way for instructors to dissipate information and for students to share what they learn with each other. The learning process can become much more interactive and self-directed. Students and teachers can also access the information and continue to learn long after the class is over or has moved on to another topic.
Instead of using textbooks that can quickly become outdated, the Internet is an ever-changing resource than reflect changes almost immediately. Teachers, librarians, and students can organize and classify information (DesRoches, 2007) and help each other review sources. Now no one has to wander blindly through the vast, overwhelming pool of information that can quickly swallow you up without some help.
References
DesRoches, D. (2007). All together now. School Library Journal, 53(1), 33.
Richardson, W. & Mancabelli, R. (2007) High-tech inspires the read/write website. Education Digest: Essential Readings Condensed for Quick Review. 72(9), 14-18.
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