BALANCING INNOVATION AND PRIVACY

Many educators belong to a generation that grew up with Reader's Guide to Periodicals and other research tools that listed information in a linear fashion. Many of today's students, on the other hand, think in webs and clusters. High school students, therefore, often benefit from social bookmarking because it organizes information as they think.

A lingering concern, however, is that if a tool like Del.icio.us shares bookmarked sites and tags among users, inappropriate content is only a click away from students. In one of the previous screen shots listing the kindergarten search results, for example, one site contained language that was inappropriate even for the high school setting.

So�how can you utilize social bookmarking safely? Consider using a closed system like BuddyMarks, in which only users you designate as your "buddies" have access to your sites and are allowed to combine their tags and sites with yours. That would allow your students to experiment with social bookmarks in a safe environment. Try using them for research projects or science-fair projects, so the information students find can be shared collectively!

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