Last night’s #ELTChat on twitter was all about social media networking. We talked about which ones we use (most of us prefer twitter), how we monitor our SMS time, how we keep professional life separate from personal life, and how we stay organized. When we got onto the topic of bookmarking I knew I had to admit something: I need help! There are so many tools out there and I’m a sucker for trying them all out. I proposed a monthly #ELT blog challenge, and the #ELTChat moderators accepted and posted the first one: Best Method for Organizing #ELT Bookmarks! (Choose 1 and demo).
In 2012 I’m determined to stick to one bookmarking system. This year it’s going to be Scoop.it – unless my PLN can convince me otherwise.
10 Reasons I Love Scoop.it
1. I can keep my ELT and fiction life separate. (I have Scoop.its for both that are easy to go between.)
2. I can share my links easily via twitter, Google +, FB. Links are automatically shortened.
3. It’s visually appealing and easy on the eyes. I can choose the related photo and text.
4. I can tag links to find them easily. (Not shown in demo. Click Tags in navigation.)
5. I can create new pages on specific subtopics. (Under Profile.)
6. Scoop.it is in my tool bar to easily save a link. Content almost always autofills.
7. I can personalize my Scoop.its with my own logo, bio line and key word tags.
8. Other people can follow my bookmarks if they have an interest in the same topic.
9. I can follow other people’s Scoop.its on topics and get notification of new links.
10. It’s very user friendly. I use it as a personal bookmarking tool but it has many curating features that I have not mentioned.
Here is a quick demo of a few very basic features of Scoop.it as a bookmarking tool. I have not shown other curating features of this site. My #ELT bookmarks for 2012 will go in my #ELTLinks 2012 Scoop.it! Feel free to follow it to see if I can stick to this resolution.
If you join the challenge, please share a link to your post. Thanks!
Tara Benwell
Tara Benwell is a freelance writer and editor who specializes in materials and articles for the ELT industry. She is the media director and head writer for ESL-Library. Her debut novel, The Proper Order of Things is available on Amazon and in the iBookstore. Website: http://www.tarabenwell.com Twitter: @tarabenwell
Great demo, Tara, many thanks. I use Scoop.it myself but I hadn’t seen the extension which allows you to scoop stuff straight from your browser.
Very nice tool.
Marisa
I am really srrpuised how promptly you created this lesson. Well done! I appreciate your effort very much. And even with the audio file! Wow! Thanks a million for your effort. I love the ESL library and RedRiver.
Yes, the tool bar extension is a great feature!
Here is a link to Marisa on Scoop.it: http://www.scoop.it/u/marisaconstantinides
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Great to see you got the ball rolling in your own challenge and thanks for the demo of scoop. I sort of use it but like Marisa hadn’t seen the extension
Thanks, Shaun! I see the challenge has a tab on the new #ELTChat site! (It’s looks great.) Let’s hope we can keep this idea going throughout 2012.
Hi Tara, shame I’d missed the chat. I’ve been meaning to post something about this, but haven’t managed to find the time. This challenge might just give me the extra push, so we’ll see
My response, Tara: A new bookmarking tool!
http://aclil2climb.blogspot.com/2012/01/eltchat-january-blog-challenge-how-do.html
Thanks, Chiew! Great post. You’ve given teachers so many ideas. Your Useful Resources page is a great way of sharing and bookmarking.
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Nice post! I’d never used Scoop it
Here’s my post about using Evernote for organising class material:
http://tinyurl.com/7dhedlv
I know Evernote is not strictly a bookmarking tool, but it’s helping me organise class material.
Thanks for the excellent blog post, Mark! I’m so glad you joined the challenge. I just shared a link to your post on the #ELTChat challenge page: http://eltchat.com/eltchat-blog-challenge/
I have a Scoop.it account, but have never actually used it. I guess I haven’t really actualised the need for it. It’s like Evernote–just one of those tools that I don’t notice I don’t have. Maybe I’m missing out (and from your description, I may be!).
I’ve so far used Sqworl for collecting tool links into one place because it provides a screenshot. This isn’t a unique feature though, as I’m realising.
Sqworl is something I haven’t tried or even looked at! Are we going to see a demo for the blog challenge, Ty?
You may be off the hook, since you just gave us this great Sound Cloud treat: http://fourc.ca/me-manifesto/
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