I explored Diigo, a Web 2.0 application that allows users to have a "cloud" or library of storage to save bookmarked pages, highlights and notes on pages, and screenshots of pages. Users store the information in their library with the ability to easily access the library from most any device with internet and the quick ability to search and organize their information. It also allows people to share their libraries in order to promote group collaboration and research. I found it astonishingly simple to use and a well-designed application overall. It is attractive not only to those in education but also for the research and business world or even for more effective personal study.
In terms of the value within the classroom, I see this as ideal for group projects and research papers, particularly for the high school and college level. I believe this would be more effective for higher levels of education because lower levels typically do not--from my experience--have many projects that involve intensive research, especially not in groups. If a college group of students are given a research project, they could individually work on researching but then collectively share their findings through Diigo. More than sharing pages of information that they find, they can add highlights and notes within pages to specifically identify and annotate key points. This ensures that groups can collaborate with efficiency and bring all the work into one library of information. The teacher could even grade how well students did their research and individuals participated in group research by looking through the libraries of students' research.
An additional strength to this application is that students can add their research and information to their library at different times and from different computers or various internet-accessing devices. Thus, if their were some students that had to use a school library, others that had iPads, and others that worked from home computers, all at different times, the students could still collaborate with ease.
In terms of the value within the classroom, I see this as ideal for group projects and research papers, particularly for the high school and college level. I believe this would be more effective for higher levels of education because lower levels typically do not--from my experience--have many projects that involve intensive research, especially not in groups. If a college group of students are given a research project, they could individually work on researching but then collectively share their findings through Diigo. More than sharing pages of information that they find, they can add highlights and notes within pages to specifically identify and annotate key points. This ensures that groups can collaborate with efficiency and bring all the work into one library of information. The teacher could even grade how well students did their research and individuals participated in group research by looking through the libraries of students' research.
An additional strength to this application is that students can add their research and information to their library at different times and from different computers or various internet-accessing devices. Thus, if their were some students that had to use a school library, others that had iPads, and others that worked from home computers, all at different times, the students could still collaborate with ease.