Let’s take a small class with 16 students, and divide it into 4 groups of 4 students each. There are 4 topics to cover and each student in the group will research and write about one of these topics in their blog…

Then each group will have a wiki site where they bring together these topics and write about connections and interrelationships between them.

Each student will have their own del.icio.us user account and will accumulate bookmarks to useful web resources appropriate to their topic. Among the tags used for these bookmarks will be an agreed topic tag which is shared by all the students from each group researching the same topic. Thus the ‘freedom of information’ topic might have an agreed tag called ‘FreeInfo’. In this way students will share their bookmarks with others from different groups researching the same topic and by this means will establish a community of practice across groups.

This process will be easy to assess in del.icio.us since the teacher can easily select the tag used by each topic and see how many bookmarks were added by which student.

For years, I have been using an online bookmark manager called iKeepbookmarks to manage and access my Internet favorites.  I have always liked the simplicity of the interface and the ability to access it from any Internet connected computer.  At a recent conference in Alabama, I was introduced to del.icio.us  At first glance, the interface seemed confusing and I could not understand why someone would want to keep their bookmarks this way.  However, I decided to try it out to see what all the fuss was about. 

I then discovered the power of tags.  Have you ever bookmarked something and found that it could fit in many categories?  Which folder to put it in…  With del.icio.us, you can use tags to organize your links.  For example, I found an article called Does your web policy cover student sites?  This could go in my folder on blogs or AUP.  Del.icio.us doesn’t make you choose one of them or make you duplicate your efforts.  You can use tags, one word descriptors, for each of the categories and find this resource under either one!  You can also search someone else posts for related content with the same tags. 

Yahoo aquired Del.icio.us in December of 2005.   For more informationm, see social bookmarking.

They have the following features in common:

1.  free service

2.  Available from any Internet connected computer – no software needed

3.  Collaborate with others – enter their email address and an invitation with a link to view and edit is sent

Some optional features include:

1.  Stored versions of various writers (Writeboard, , Writely)

2.  Compare different versions of a document (Writeboard, Writely)

3.  Format text (Writeboard – using simple codes, Writeboard – like Word with toolbar)

4. Add Comments (Writeboard)

5.  Subscribe to documents via RSS and be notified of changes (Writeboard, Writely)

6.  Writers can edit at same time (Jotspot Live, Writely – problem showing who was editing when I tried it)

7.  Multiple pages (Jotspot Live free version – limited to 5 pages per month, Writeboard – create multiple writeboards)

8.  Import and export documents (Writely- both to Word, Writeboard – export as text file only)

9.  Publish the document on the web or post to your blog (Writely)

10.  Organize documents (Writely – using tags, not folders)

11.  Save as zip file (Writely)

Setup information – Name, password, email 

1.  Writeboard – use a password that you do not mind sharing with others if you plan on using it to collaborate with others.

2.  Jotspot Live – each person has own password and ability to set up own 5 pages in addition to sharing.

3.  Writely – Initial person sets up a password.  Random password sent to those invited to collaborate.

Example Screenshots

Writeboard 

Writely

Reflections

While each is relatively easy to use, they have distinct educational applications.  Jotspot Live would be great for group notetaking.  Writeboard is more user-friendly than Writely and therefore may be more appropriate for younger students when collaborating.  Writely, integrates well with Microsoft Word and has a built in file system (using tags).  You can also organize files in Writeboard but separate writeboards need to be setup.  The accompanying “Backpack” service can be used to organize the files.  Comparing versions is easier in Writboard than Writely.  Each has much promise for educational use for Collaborative Writing.