I am not looking for a new social bookmarking tool. I use Diigo and once you invest for a period of time in a specific service making a change, even to a better service, is a tough choice. However, I read a recent description of changes made to the Google bookmarking system (Free Technology for Teachers) that peaked my interest so here is a brief description another new and useful service from Google. The new feature allows the assignment of bookmarks to lists that can be shared or kept private. It should take but a moment to see how this flexibility might be useful for teachers.
Rather than explaining the entire bookmarking system, I will focus mainly on the new list feature. But briefly, if you have a Google account, you can either add a bookmarklet or a Google Toolbar to your browser (Google instructions). The difference is pretty much whether the bookmark service is accessed from an icon that appears as part of your generic browser toolbar or appears as part of specialized Google toolbar offering additional services see below.
Selecting the bookmark icon from the menubar (either form) allows the current page to be bookmarked (stored by Google in contrasted to being stored by the browser as would be the case with browser bookmarking systems). The immediate advantage of off-site bookmarking is access from other browsers and computers.
Now when storing a bookmark, you have the option of also assigning the bookmark to a list. Lists are generated (see below) and then bookmarks are assigned to lists.
From the list of bookmarks, select a bookmark (checkbox to left of bookmark)
The trend that concerns me – youth people are showing less interest in blogging. In 2006, about 28% of 12-17 year olds blogged. Now, only 14% make the effort to generate lengthier posts about things that interest them. I thought that microblogs (Twitter mostly) would have taken up the slack, but this does not appear to be the base. Only 8% of this group post to the 140 character and less sites.
Social network sites (e.g., Facebook) appear to be the newest trend. Four years ago, 55% used such sites and now the proportion is approaching 75. Did I imagine this or were younger users once blocked.
Of course, Facebook is versatile. You can add a little or a lot depending on your mood. You are also connected to just that group that interests you. Finally, there is the option of accessing your site on the go (hence the title of the report – Social Media and Mobile Internet Use). Approx. 75% of teens own a cell phone and 58% of 12 year-olds have this resource. Amazing.
I find the decline in what the article describes as “long form” posts to be discouraging. Things now appear to be moving toward mobile commenting. This seems more a way of connecting than communicating. Not that the social component is important. Obviously, social connections are extremely important at all ages and particularly to adolescents. However, the benefits of crafting more well thought out comments appear to be in decline.
This blog has some strange characteristics. One seems to be that few follow this blog as a feed and a good deal of the traffic comes as a result of search. I guess I am not certain why this is the case. Perhaps this is because some of what I offer consists of tutorials. The most popular posts seem to be tutorials. It may also be that the ability to comment has been limited. I did this as a defense against what mostly was spam and not responses to the posts. I noticed that someone seemed to be attempting to respond to a post in which I outlined some of the findings of a recent Generation M study. Among other things I questioned the interest of some in the educational value of video games. I can see how some would want to reply. I do say things to challenge and I should do more to encourage response. I have tried to relax the settings to make it easier to respond. You still do need to register.
When I did my last post, I intended to quickly follow it up with another about storage applications. As is often the case, as I explore things in depth, I first become more confused and then learn something. As the name of the blog implies, I then attempt to explain what I have discovered.
So, I have been exploring applications and services suited to short term storage, organization, and transport. This is the type of thing you might do while working on a month long project. This is not general backup which would involve a lot more content and would likely be accomplished automatically in the background. Nor, is it what I would describe as a web clipping service – a tool used while working with web content to organize URLs, sections of text, and screen captures (e.g., Evernote).
The two products I will describe are Shovebox and Dropbox. Shovebox is a Mac product and Dropbox is cross platform. I use both connected between my Mac(s) and my iPod Touch. Dropbox is suited to sharing files across multiple computers and Shovebox is not.
What confused me while doing the background research for this post was my assumption that Shovebox was storing content in the cloud. I spent a considerable amount of time searching to determine the storage capacity you were given for the $25 you spend on the software and I could not find the number. It turns out that I had been using Shovebox under an incorrect assumption. There is no capacity limit because the product is designed to improve your workflow by offering an approach to storing content on your machine. Luckily, I had other backup options for the content I had stored. My recently, I became aware of Dropbox. This software does store content in the cloud (and on any synched machine). You get 2 gigabytes storage at no cost and the software is free (you do pay for the iPod app). If you want more than two gigs, you pay big time – $100 a year for 50GB. Seems strange there is nothing between free and $100 a year. Note my previous post on the capacity Google makes available for $5.
On the Mac, both Shovebox and Dropbox are available from the monitor bar (I am not certain what to call the bar at the top of the screen).
(left – dropbox, middle – shovebox)
Shovebox is intended to offer a strategy for intense work sessions. You pretty much drag files onto the icon and organize them later.
Files from a work session appear within the inbox. You then move them to folders that identify your projects.
Shovebox synchs with the iPod Touch via wifi. The synch process can be a little tricky depending on the wireless lan. I have trouble at the office, but things work fine at home.
Dropbox works as if you are dragging files into a folder. The icon allows access to the folder. Open the folder and then drag the files. The files are synched across devices and also saved on the web. You can access your web folder from machines without the software.
The iPod Touch makes use of wifi to synch.
You can do some other interesting things with Dropbox (drag files into a public folder and share them as web content), but this post is already too long.
I think many of us try many things and make use of only a few. I have files stored all over the place and both of these applications offer some useful features and some limitations. I guess finding the right mix of features at the right price point for a sufficient number of end users is the challenge for developers.
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(left – dropbox, middle – shovebox)
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