Social bookmarking:A pilot study

Language & Literacy Research Group

Sheffield Hallam University30 April 2010

Outline What is ‘social bookmarking’? A pilot study Preliminary findings Action points

Social bookmarking Bookmarking from any PC, using

social apps such as Delicious, Diigo, Connotea

Sharing bookmarks with other people Adding personal comments Annotating Having a dialogue about the

bookmarks

Why use social bookmarking?

To share work and support a community– important for e-learners who don’t have

informal conversations with each other To create an informal space to voice views

about texts– “Hi …, I also found Harrison to be very useful

and comfortable to read. Harrison focuses on applying her framework to website visuals but I intend applying the framework to images within a document. Her suggested questions, grouped by metafunction provide a good guide when carrying out an analysis “

To encourage and give support To assess approaches to handling

literature?

Study context Online MA Professional Communication at

SHU Overall research question: can social

media be used support academic literacies – Academic literacies as defined by Lea, Street,

Lillis Action research philosophy Multi-case study to explore a range of

social media (Diigo, LinkedIn, group blog, etc)

pilot on Diigo (March 2010) Visual Communication module 16 students ‘active’ + 4 temporary withdrawn 13 Diigo contributors: 8 women + 5 men 3 non-contributors: 1 planned + 2 unplanned

Students’ social bookmarking skills

never once a month or less

about once a week

several times a week

personal 85.7% (6) 14.3% (1)

work 85.7% (6) 14.3% (1)

study 71.4% (5) 14.3% (1) 14.3% (1)

other 100.0% (6)

“I had not heard of social bookmarking before the diigo task. I had heard of Delicious but did not know what it was used for.”

Tutor skills Personal use of Delicious for 2-3

years to collect references (copy to Endnote)

Never used social bookmarking for teaching

Found few references on social bookmarking use in teaching (eg Educause, Mason & Rennie, Tinker, Webb)

Overview of contributionsSummary of Diigo activity

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

T N R J A E K U S P O H C Z Y

Student

No

of in

tera

ctio

ns

PostsComments postedResponses received

Contribution types by gender

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

w omen men

responses received

comments posted

posts

Conversations about texts

Personal reflection about text

‘Unique’ texts, not read by other studentsLate contribution

Assessment

Student views (1) No technical difficulties, training videos

useful Cautiously favourable

– I feel fairly comfortable with sharing my summaries. I think the people who are on the list make a huge difference to how comfortable one feels with sharing summaries. While constructive feedback is definitely welcome, I wouldn't want to share my summaries with people who are unnecessarily critical.

– I think diigo can be useful, especially when the readings are consistently tagged. It might be useful to agree on a tagging system before starting to add topics/bookmarks.

Student views (2) Mixed views on impact on essay

writing– The Diigo task enabled me to read in a

structured way and also record my thoughts. The processes of reading, reflecting, and recording helped me to be better planned as I had developed and clarified my arguments by the time I started writing my essay.

– I could have been writing my essay.

Example of student recommendations

I would make it a core component of each module actually - if we were more schooled in the functionality. Otherwise, it offers very little more than the Blackboard discussion forums.

I could imagine a group task with several students creating an annotated reading list for a certain document. I think a group task on one document would also stimulate a real discussion about the readings and frameworks.

Action points for teaching Select a more appropriate module Start at the beginning of a module Seed with comments inviting

responses Respond to more postings (not just

feedback and encouragement by email)

Encourage social tagging Encourage the discussion of ‘topics’ –

not just references

Tentative conclusions An interesting experiment

– refinements needed Potential to allow e-learners to

develop a personal stance towards academic literature – before they start essay-writing

References Beaumont, C. (2010) Using Open Online Resources to Enhance Social Learning.

Brighton: HEA Art Design Media Subject Centre. Available at <http://www.adm.heacademy.ac.uk/resources/case-studies/using-open-online-resources-to-enhance-social-learning>. [Last accessed February 2010]

Hammond, T., Hannay, T., Lund, B. and Scott, J. (2005) 'Social bookmarking tools (I): a general review '. D-Lib Magazine. 11 (4). Available at <http://dlib.org/dlib/april05/hammond/04hammond.html>. [Last accessed January 2010]

Lomas, C. P. (2005) Things You Should Know About Social Bookmarking. Boulder, CO: Educause. Available at <http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7001.pdf>. [Last accessed January 2010]

Lund, B., Hammond, T., Flack, M. and Hannay, T. (2005) 'Social bookmarking tools (II): a case study - Connotea '. D-Lib Magazine. 11 (4). Available at <http://dlib.org/dlib/april05/lund/04lund.html>. [Last accessed January 2010]

Mason, R. and Rennie, F. (2008) E-learning and Social Networking Handbook: Resources for Higher Education. Abingdon: Routledge.

Stolley, K. (2009 ) 'Integrating social media into existing work environments: the case of Delicious'. Journal of Business and Technical Communication 23 (3): 350-371.

The New Media Consortium and Educause Learning Initiative (2007) 2007 Horizon Report. Austin, TX: The New Media Consortium. http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/CSD4781.pdf

Tinker, A., Byrne, G. and Cattermole, C. (2009) 'Creating learning communities: three open source tools'. 6th LDHEN Symposium. Bournemouth University, April 2009.

Webb, E. (2009) 'Engaging students with engaging tools'. EDUCAUSE Quarterly. 32 (4). Available at <http://www.educause.edu/EDUCAUSE%2BQuarterly/EDUCAUSEQuarterlyMagazineVolum/EngagingStudentswithEngagingTo/192954>. [Last accessed February 2010]