elearnspace

Getting more value: Social bookmarking

When trying to expose faculty at University of Manitoba to the concept of networked learning, I find social bookmarking tools (such as del.icio.us) are a great starting point. Why? Most people can relate to having a mess of bookmarked pages in their browser and are periodically motivated to make sense of it. And most people work from more than one computer (home and work, desktop and laptop). While social bookmarking addresses both of these concerns, its real value is discovered only once faculty start using it. In additional to helping organize personal information, social bookmarking connects people who have shared interests. Each tag is a potential portal to a relationship. If someone tags resources in a similar manner or has similar interests, I learn from following them. Thomas Vander Wal presents this experience from the perspective of the enterprise: "Every organization needs to know itself better then they currently do. The employees and members of the organization are all trying to do their job better and smarter. The need to connect people inside an organization with others with similar interest, contexts, and perceptions is really needed."