Thing #17

The use of websites such as del.icio.us and Digg.com allow the educator to create a virtual storage place for tags of important information that may be beneficial for the learning environment. I found them extremely friendly and easy to use. The information available on the web today is so abundant that a good strategy to keep what is important organized is needed. These tagging websites give the user this organization. The benefits for the classroom can be endless including the tagging of key words for easy retrieval during a lesson plan, or storing tags on the website when students are conducting collaborative work assignments from multiple locations such as the school or home. Other sites such as Digg.com also provide a means to categorize information in a virtual storage place for retrieval as needed by the user. One of the downsides of using these types of websites is the fact that many networks in use by public education block this activity because they may be considered a security risk. Another issue is that some schools lack adequate internet service and low band width may prevent or restrict the accessibility to these sites. In the future, I feel that school systems will move forward with their rules and regulations regarding internet use and these issues will disappear.