UDL+Tech+Tool


 * 7 Things You Should Know About... __Diigo__ **


 * What is it? **

The name "Diigo" is an acronym from "Digest of Internet Information, Groups and Other stuff.” Diigo is a social bookmarking [|website] which allows signed-up users to bookmark and tag webpages for free. It allows users to highlight any part of a webpage and attach sticky notes to specific highlights or to a whole page. These annotations can be kept private, shared with a group within Diigo or shared via a special link forwarded to someone else. Some services, like Evernote, are more note-oriented; while others, like Delicious, focus on the bookmarks and sharing. Diigo offers a middle ground and provides social bookmarking, notes, and image storage in one place. Diigo is special because every time you go to a website where you have made annotations, you can see the highlights or sticky notes, and do not have to operate through the Diigo tool to see these notations. Additionally, the public posted notes that you add to a page can be seen by other users, and you can the notes that other people have made, allowing for dialogue and the social aspect of the website.


 * How does it work?**

Although Diigo is free (there is a premium version that comes at a cost), you still need to sign up and create an account. After that is set up, using Diigo begins by installing the Diigo Toolbar, “Diigolet.” By using the Diigolet toolbar function, you can save links or whole webpages online and attach highlights and sticky notes to a webpage as a reminder of your thoughts or other personal ideas. When bookmarking a site or webpage, you can add tags that detail the content. For example, you could tag a website with the subject that the research is for as well as the unit of study, like “SocialStudies” “CivilWar” “Battles.” In that way when looking at all of the bookmarks, you can look for ones only about the Civil War, and more specifically the battles. Tags and lists are two different ways to organize information. Tags are best for diverse and disparate information, while lists are best for focused information. You can use lists to organize, share and display a specific collection of bookmarks. Annotations and highlights eliminate the issue of bookmarking a page, and later returning to it without remembering why you opted to bookmark it in the first place, or having to dig around to find the quote or piece of data you wanted to return to. When working in groups or with other people, you can create groups to pool findings, share resources or curate content.


 * Who’s doing it?**

Diigo is seen as a very useful tool by many educators. Diigo saw this trend and have created special Educator Accounts. Teachers are able to make multiple groups of students within a class or a group for the entire class. From the Teacher Console page the teacher has access to all created groups. From there the teacher can add, invite or delete members. There is also the “manage group” option. This option allows the teacher to see group member accounts as well as select group moderators and monitor open and pending invitations. It also provides the option to create a group “tag dictionary,” allowing the group to pre-define tags to ensure consistency.


 * Why is it significant?**

This program allows you to highlight (in several colors), note important information, bookmark websites, and save your research all in one place. Diigo is easy to use, self-explanatory, and helpful for any age. Compared to a similar program named “Delicious”, Diigo is “newer-age”. Diigo is more detailed, and allows users to make the most of their research and knowledge. Users are able to post their newly gained knowledge on Facebook or Twitter, whereas Delicious limited their users to only a few program perks.


 * What are the downsides?**

Although Diigo offers many options in terms of ways to connect and communicate research and annotating found information, there are some downsides. There are certain formats or set-ups that Diigo is not compatible with. For example, if you open a PDF from a website, while still viewing it online, you cannot bookmark or use any of the Diigo functions. From an aesthetic approach, the interface of Diigo is not very streamlined in appearance and looks antiquated. Another criticism of Diigo is that comments and concerns go unaddressed and overall “customer” service is lacking when someone inquires with a question.


 * Where is it going?**

There are many features that are available when using Diigo. It provides many tools when researching information on the internet. As Diigo begins to grow more features are being added and even enhanced and improved. The newest feature that is being added to Diigo are video clips. Diigo now supports clipping and playing your favorite videos and flashes. There will be a clip button on the toolbar for users to us when adding a video. There are many sites that are currently supporting the flash/media videos for Diggo. The more popular sites consist of youtube.com, myspace.com, and video.google.com. Diigo is a great tool to use when researching information on the internet. It is a great way to organize your thoughts and I would recommend everyone to use this site.


 * What are the implications for teaching and learning?**

Diigo is a helpful tool for education because it allows teachers to create groups for their class in which all of his/her students are able to access both in and out of school. This program really pushes individual organization and preciseness, which is beneficial for anyone at any age – especially children who struggle with these tasks. Diigo seems never ending! There are endless possibilities for creating new projects and organizing one’s thoughts and ideas. This tool has not gone mainstream as of yet, but surely it will within the next few years.



=**Video: How to use your Diigo Library**=

media type="file" key="UDL DiigoLibrary4.mp4" width="480" height="480"