BP5_2009December1_Social Bookmarking

While the term, Social Bookmarking, is new to me the exercise has been around for quite sometime. And actually implementing this in the classroom or corporate training sessions never caught my attention.

Until now that is.

The idea that the Internet, as expansive as it is, can be in essence compartmentalized a great number of ideas, resources and trends into a much keener perspective.

Just like in the real world classes can be assembled into working groups and given research projects. Tags will allow them to work seamlessly and lower the rate of misunderstandings that commonly occur. Collaborative groups could share an account, or create a unique tag so that all members could have access to what the others have bookmarked. (O’Conner, 2008)

In a paperless environment (especially good for corporations looking to be environmentally friendly or cost effective) A professor or trainer could save readings for a class this way, too. Since each tag has it's own URL or RSS feeds, so students who use a news aggregator can see new postings automatically.

There are also social bookmarking services aimed at specific people or formats. Flickr is a photo service with some neat annotation features. (Hedreen, 2005)

As with all online services, users are advised to read the Terms of Service.
Most sites' Terms of Service agreements include a warning that they allow the posting of links to third-party websites. The linked websites are not under the control of the bookmarking site and they do not accept responsibility for the content of any linked website or any link contained in a linked website. In accessing the Site and Services or following links to third-party websites you may be exposed to content that you consider offensive or inappropriate. You agree that your only recourse is to stop using the site and service.
Teachers are advised to read the individual Terms of Service agreements and trial bookmarking sites before using them with students. (Dept of Education, 2009)