Online Bookmarking: An Information Age Organizational Strategy

by

Diana F. Abernathy Dell

A Paper Presented in Partial Fulfillment

Of the Requirements of

[ED7691 Tools and Techniques for Online Learning]

March, 2003

Address: / 331 Fairview Drive
City, State, Zip: / Union, Missouri 63084
Phone: / 636-583-3315
E-mail: /
Instructor: / Fernando Senior
Mentor:

Abstract

Educators, who use the Internet and World Wide Web as a teaching and learning tool, need Information Age organizational strategies to effectively deal with the overwhelming supply of digital resources. Bookmarks are an invaluable organizational tool that can assist educators with this task. Online bookmarking services provide a central repository of resources that can be accessed from home or school by all members of a learning community. This paper presents the results of an analysis of online bookmarking services using criteria of most benefit to teachers and learners in educational settings.

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Online Bookmarking

Table of Contents

Table of Contents 1

List of Tables 2

Introduction 3

The Organization of Information on the Internet 4

Benefits of Online Bookmarking 4

Evaluation Criteria for Online Bookmark Managers in Educational Settings 5

Evaluation of Individual Bookmark Managers 7

Recommendations 8

Tips for Organizing Bookmarks 9

Conclusion 11

References 12


List of Tables

Table 1: Evaluating Online Bookmark Managers in Educational Settings 7


Introduction

Educators beginning to use the Internet as a teaching and learning tool often describe the process as “exciting and overwhelming at the same time” (Clark County School District, Nevada). Given sufficient access to technology, the Internet and World Wide Web can supply teachers and students with an abundance of valuable information for every academic area. However this abundance of information can quickly become “information overload” (Teach 2000, 2000). Information Age organizational strategies must be employed so that teachers can effectively deal with the overwhelming supply of resources while concurrently assisting students in finding the valuable information they need.

An organizational tool that holds tremendous promise is that of online bookmark managers. Once a teacher has located high-quality sites, the easiest way to save those resources for future use is to create bookmarks (Clark County School District, Nevada). Often the first step in the process of integrating the Internet is to build “a bookmark list of online teacher resources and educational Web sites that are relevant to the curriculum” (SmartStuff Wise Guide). “Good bookmarking skills are an important part of every teacher’s Internet toolkit” (Mardis, 2001). Online bookmarking services provide a central repository of resources that can be accessed from home or school by all members of a learning community. They function as a “digital filing cabinet” (Ormiston, 2003). In recent years, numerous online bookmarking services have been made available. The features and thus the usability in educational setting vary a great deal. The goal of this paper is to identify the features that are of most benefit in educational settings, establish evaluation criteria, and present the results of an analysis of online bookmark managers using those criteria. In addition, useful tips for the organization of bookmarks will be offered.

The Organization of Information on the Internet

The two basic organizational structures used to assist with location of information on the Internet are indexes and directories. Indexes are search engines that examine the titles and content of web sites and catalog them. AltaVista, Google, and HotBot are examples of indexes. To access information stored in an index, one enters keywords into a search box. The engine then finds sites that contain the keywords and generates a list to choose from. Directories organize web sites by categories. The initial categories are broad and then are progressively narrowed to specific topics (Clark County School District, Nevada). Examples of directories are Yahooligans, Gamequarium, and Awesome Library. Understanding how information on the Internet is warehoused and located when needed is of importance to those seeking storage and retrieval of resources. Knowledge of how these structures work adds relevance to the use of online bookmarking services in educational settings. The best services offer both methods of information location once the bookmarks have been created.

Benefits of Online Bookmarking

Organization, storage, and retrieval of online resources are a few of the many benefits of online bookmarks. They allow, "anytime, anywhere access” to resources (Cave, 2000). This supports learning outside the walls of the classrooms. Furthermore, bookmarks are a timesaver as they free students from typing long and confusing web addresses or searching freely for suitable websites. Merely clicking a hyperlink provides access to teacher-approved resources. Providing pre-selected websites in a portal format reduces the amount of time students spend searching and will increase time on task (Lamb, 2001). In addition, collaboration between learning communities is fostered as public read-only pages allow for easy sharing of resources.

Evaluation Criteria for Online Bookmark Managers in Educational Setting

Certain features of online bookmark mangers are of particular usefulness in educational settings. An appraisal of available online bookmarking services revealed many beneficial features. These features and their significance in educational settings are explained in detail below and are used as the criteria for evaluation of individual bookmark managers in the section that follows.

Multiple display formats- This feature allows for more than one display option. Teachers can select the display that is best suited to the age of the students. Some display options found in managers include a hierarchical or folders view, a list of annotated links, and topical section view. A few managers allow for customized backgrounds so that bookmark pages can be easily integrated into existing websites.

Annotation- The ability to enter information other than a title for a folder or bookmarked site is very useful in educational settings. When the manager has annotation possibilities, teachers can add commentary to their bookmarks such as curricular goals and objectives, standards, and instructions or unit information.

Organized hierarchy- An organized hierarchy that allows for depth as well as breadth of organization is advantageous in educational settings. This allows for multiple layers of subfolders within a topic. For example, a main folder labeled “Social Studies” could contain a subfolder entitled “Government.” The “Government” folder could be further divided and contain subfolders for the topics of “Legislative,” “Executive,” and “Judicial.”

Public and non-public folders or pages- Teachers may desire to organize all resources, both for student and non-student use, in one bookmark manager. For example, teacher may not want to students to have access to websites that are used for lesson planning. Many managers allow for folders or pages to be locked and are only accessible with a password.

Search features- This feature allows for a keyword search of bookmarked sites. Though most interaction with the resources in a manager occur in the context of a directory or portal format, the option to conduct a keyword search is also needed. This is a tremendous timesaver if a site is misfiled. In addition, some managers provide not only a search of bookmarked sites within one account, but allow for searching in all established accounts. Teachers may find valuable resources by searching the bookmarks of other educators. In addition, a few managers provide a search engine for the World Wide Web directly from pages within the manager.

Ease of use- Simply stated the bookmark manager should be easy to use by both teachers and students. This applies to setting up an account, adding sites, organizing folders, annotating resources and folders, editing sites, retrieving sites, and sharing resources with others. One feature that I consider mandatory is that of a shortcut icon that is placed on the browser toolbar. This allows for sites to be added to the manager with little interruption in browsing.

Cost- Always of concern in educational settings is the cost of a product or service. Bookmark managers are no exception. Many managers are offered free or at a minimal cost to educational institutions. However, many times the free service is accompanied by annoying or even inappropriate advertisements. These factors must be weighed when selecting a bookmark manager.

Evaluation of Individual Bookmark Managers

To determine the best bookmark managers for use in educational settings, the above-mentioned criteria were used to conduct an evaluation. I established an account and spent time test-driving each manager. I engaged in creating organizational structures, storing, retrieving, annotating, editing, and sharing bookmarked sites as I evaluated each manager. A search of the Web revealed more than 30 active bookmark managers. I randomly choose to evaluate ten managers. The results of my evaluation are presented in Table 1.

Table 1: Evaluation Criteria for Online Bookmarking
Managers in Educational Settings
Bookmark Manager / Multiple Display Formats / Annota-tion / Organized Hierarchy / Public and Non Public Pages / Ease of Use / Search / Cost
Baboo:
http://www.baboo.com/ / No / Yes / Yes / Yes / Average / Y / Free-many pop-up ads
BackFlip:
http://www.backflip.com/ / No / Yes / Yes / Yes / Average / Y / Free-ads on pages
Globus Port:
http://www.globusport.com/ / No / No / No / No / Average / N / Free-no ads
Hotlist:
http://www.myhotlist.com / Yes / Yes / Yes / Yes-password required / Difficult / Y / Free-with ads
IkeepBookmarks- http://www.ikeepbookmarks.com/ / Yes / Yes / Yes / Yes / Easy / Y / Free-with few ads
Table continues on next page.
Bookmark Manager / Multiple Display Formats / Annota-tion / Organized Hierarchy / Public and Non Public Pages / Ease of Use / Search / Cost
Linkagogo-http://www.linkagogo.com/ / Yes / Yes / Yes / No / Difficult / Y / Ads-Asks for dona-tions
Mybookmarks-http://www.mybookmarks.com/ / Allows color and font changes / No / Yes / Yes / Average / N / Free- with
few ads
MyHQ-
http://www.myhq.com/ / No-tables only / No / No / Yes / Average / N / Free-no ads
SaveYourLinkshttp://www.saveyourlinks.com / No / Yes / Yes / Yes / Average / N / Free-Inap-prop-riate ads
WebFavorites-http://www.webfavorites.com/ / No / No / Yes / Yes / Average / N / Free with ads

Recommendations

Based on the analysis of online bookmark managers in the context of educational settings, my recommendation to teachers seeking such an organizational tool is iKeepBookmarks.com. This manager has a user-friendly interface that easily allows for storing, organizing, annotating, and retrieving web-based resources. It is free to educators and the advertisements that support it are appropriate and are placed at the bottom of pages and in no way are distracting or annoying. The page format can be changed from a hierarchically portal-type folders view (http://www.ikeep bookmarks.com/browse.asp?folder=403639) to a hot list of organized links (http://www.ikeepbookmarks.com/showall.asp?folder=403639). Folders and their resulting pages can be made public or locked and thus not accessible to students. There is no limit to the width or depth of organization that is possible. Multilevel search options allow teachers to search the web, other iKeepBookmarks accounts, or the individual account. iKeepbookmarks is an outstanding digital age organizational tool.

Tips for Organizing Bookmarks

With a little organization and effort, you can make it easier for you and your students to find the web resources that you have stored in your online bookmark manager. “By adopting effective management techniques, these sites can be quickly and easily integrated into classroom activities” (Mardis, 2001). The following tips are offered to make maximum use of online bookmark managers in educational settings.

“Decide on an organizational scheme” (Tjomsland, 2000). “It defeats the purpose of bookmarking if you don't organize your sites” (Kleinschmidt, 2000). As you set up folders in the bookmark manage consider labeling folders by topic, subject, class period, units taught, or curricular standards or objectives (Tjomsland, 2000). If students will have access to the public pages, consider the age of the student and use appropriate terminology. After you create the main folder categories, you can subdivide those folders into more specific topics (Kleinschmidt, 2000).

“Create a Reference folder” (Kleinschmidt, 2000). Reference sites such as online dictionaries, thesauri, maps, and almanacs are used frequently. Creating a separate folder for these sites will provide quick access to these often used resources.

Use toolbar shortcuts. Most online bookmark managers offer shortcuts that can be placed on the browser toolbar. Clicking that icon will allow quick access to the manager and will automatically enter the address and site description into your bookmarks. For easy student access, add a shortcut link on the browser toolbar to your public pages on all student computers.

Set your bookmarks as the homepage on student computers. (Kleinschmidt, 2000). This will open the public pages of your bookmark manager every time students access the Internet. This is especially useful for teachers new to Internet integration who don’t have their own website in place.

Web resources with multiple uses should be placed in multiple folders. Many websites can be utilized in more than one unit of instruction. For example, a website that offers a printable United States outline map could be placed in a folder for a unit on “Westward Expansion” and also in folder for a unit on “Biomes of the United States.”

“Rename bookmarks if the original name doesn't help you” (Tjomsland, 2000). You don't have to accept the default title of the web site. Rename the bookmark to something that is descriptive and means something to you and your students (Kleinschmidt, 2000).

“Take time to make up your mind” (Kleinschmidt, 2000). In order to keep your bookmarks organized create an “Unfiled” or “Recent Sites” folder to keep all the web resources that seem useful, but you're unsure where to file. Periodically go through it and file them correctly once you've decided where the bookmark should go or delete if it doesn’t serve a purpose (Kleinschmidt, 2000).

“Keep your bookmark file useful and weed it out before it gets too cumbersome.” (Tjomsland, 2000). Bookmark files are a little bit like a virtual junk drawer that can fill up quickly. Sort and delete your bookmarks as your curriculum and interests change. Delete bookmarks to sites that are no longer available.(Tjomsland, 2000).

Conclusion

The integration of the Internet is a goal of most educators and educational institutions. However, it is a goal that brings with it the challenge of storing, organizing, and retrieving web-based resources. Teaching in the digital age requires that educators rethink organizational practices. The iKeepBookmarks online bookmark manager is an invaluable organizational tool that can assist educators with creating a central repository of resources that can be accessed from home or school by all members of a learning community. The resources can be annotated and presented in a student-friendly format that maximizes the power of the Internet on education.