Thing #13

I'm not really sure why but I have never been one to bookmark my
favorite sites; however, after visiting and revisiting the same
websites for the 23 things project, I started bookmarking. I created a
23 Things folder and EVERY site that I visited was quickly bookmarked
and saved...and that's when it happened, I started to work on my 23
things on a different computer.

Now I have seen the light, and the importance, of using a service such as del.icio.us, Furl, or Ma.gnolia. Having all your bookmarks in one location is helpful, having them in one location and available from any computer is essential. I could see teachers using this for all the websites they visit on a regular basis. I also thought students could use this to bookmark sites they are visiting for research units or science fair projects. Unfortunately, the site is blocked by the district filter but could still be used by teachers. (This reminds me that I need to get the word out that overriding is OK! I helped a teacher override something last week and she mentioned that that was the first time she had ever used that privilege because she was nervous.)

I really like the icons that are added to the computer's toolbar when you create a del.icio.us account. It makes it quick and easy to add websites, even though I still forget many times. When I click on the "tag this" icon, it also lets you add tags while bookmarking. If that was available at that step of the process, I don't know if I would go back to add tags.

Adding tags is what makes this social. I enjoyed looking at other people's tags and "stealing" their keywords and then tagging their websites as some of my own. You really can get lost in the social part of it all!