Thing 14

My Delicious username is StephanieMI. I'd heard about the site and the term social bookmarking but had only the vaguest idea of what it was. Like other things we've learned about, the organizational aspect appeals to me. I think that in terms of enhancing productivity, it has the potential to go either way. I can see how it could be a more efficient way of searching the web than Google--looking by tags, or checking out other users' lists who have a lot in common with your interests or search topic. I can also see the possibility of signifcant distraction. Unlike Google, where I usually find a relevant site in the first page of hits, this site has "YouTube potential." I'm not sure I've ever watched just one video on YouTube...sure, you search for a clip, but once found, related videos pop up. They're close enough to your original search to be interesting but probably not exactly what you were looking for. I can imagine sitting down to search Delicious and finding myself so interested by what others bookmarked that I'd be off on tangents in no time. However, this type of technology seems easily adapted to the classroom. Kids could share their bookmarks on a particular topic they're researching with each other, or search for experts' tags and lists to find reliable sources quickly.