The Diigo Ate My Baby: Thoughts on Research Using Web Tools

Research. If I asked you to tell me the first word that popped into you head when hearing that term, what would it be? Words like blah, dislike, notes, citation, etc., were some of the words my eighth-grade daughter and her friend came up with when I asked them. I have been teaching high school and college students and educators for a little over twenty years. Whenever I ask for research I hear the similar groans from teens and adults. I tend to tell both audiences that no one I work with likes to do it. I think a large part of the fear/loathing of research is that people do not think they do it very well, which is often true. However, one of the great things about technology is that it often offer us solutions that allow us to work smarter, not harder. Research is no exception. While there are many tools that can help teachers and students with research, I want to share one of my favorites, Diigo. This tool has so many features that it is the one I recommend the most when asked. Besides being able to publicly bookmark and annotate web content, the user can add notes, screen captures, and share the results with an annotated link. Best of all, everything the user saves on Diigo is available to other Diigo users. In a sense, you are doing research in a community of others doing research, which makes it easy to find someone else's research on almost any topic. Oh, and did I mention that it can be connected to student GAFE accounts? Does this sound interesting? I have created a not-so-short video to review some of the awesome features of Diigo. Please watch and let me know if you have any questions or if you would like me to help introduce the tool to your students!
Note: It is much easier to see the tools I discuss if you watch the video in full screen, which is the squarish icon in the bottom-right of the video. Click. Enjoy.

Be Awesome Today,

jeff