EDUC 6100 Web 2.0 Assignment: Diigo Review

Directly below you'll find my most recent submission for my EDUC 6100 (Technology Applications for Teachers) course. Because this was a Web 2.0 (which Wikipedia defines as "web applications that facilitate participatory information sharing, interoperability, user-centered design, and collaboration on the World Wide Web") assignment, I thought it pertinent to include it on my blog (which is, in and of itself, a Web 2.0 application). We'll return to our regularly scheduled programming with my next post.

As soon as the topic of “social bookmarking” was broached in class, I knew that was the Web 2.0 assignment I was going to investigate and (hopefully) apply. Because I oftentimes work off of 2-3 computers within a week’s span, there are countless occasions when I look to access a saved bookmark, only to find that I’ve saved it on another computer. Thus the idea that I could save all of my bookmarks in one easily accessible place was of great interest to me; I was optimistic that I could venture into the social bookmarking world as part of this school assignment, then continue that walk in my every day, mostly outside-of-school life.

Unfortunately, within my first day of using Diigo (http://www.Diigo.com), I found that the idea of social bookmarking far exceed the actual implementation of it; the website was clumsy and lacked basic features I believed would make it far more user friendly. Until updates are made (or another, more accessible site comes along), my experimentation with this site required by this assignment will likely be my last usage of it. In fact, I liked Diigo so little I followed a recommendation (found on a Diigo message board) to another social bookmarking website, called Chipmark (http://www.chipmark.com). And though Chipmark remedied at least one accessibility issue I’d previously had, it was chock-full of its own bevy of digital demons (visually worthless, awkward accessibility in other aspects, etc.) and is not widely used.

For my first point, I’ll readily admit that I’m fairly impatient and am probably lazy. That having been said, I was surprised by how “put out” I felt when having to log into a website each and every time I wanted to access a bookmark; toggling between a new tab or window, in addition to my already-existent window(s), can be cumbersome and time-consuming. Then there’s the issue of a semi-required taskbar. Semi-required in that it is not mandatory, but is nearly essential if you want to get the most out of your Diigo experience (i.e. establishing sorting and sharing parameters, etc.). Which brings me to what I believe to be the show-stopping issue at the crux of what I believe will inevitably be Diigo’s downfall (assuming they don’t correct it in the interim): the inability to sort your bookmarks in any sort of logical way. Sure, the site allows you the ability to ‘tag’ the bookmarks you add, and you can even place them under different list headings, but it does not have the drag-and-drop (folder) functionality that is the bread and butter of almost any other list-based program/site.

When you first log in to Diigo, you are immediately taken to something called “My Library”, which is nothing more than a comprehensive listing of all the bookmarks you’ve added to your account. These bookmarks are not separated by tags or the lists to which you’ve assigned them, so your eyes are assaulted by one, big list of bookmarks. You can then use your filters (“My Lists” or “My Tags”) and weed some of the unwanted sites out, but without the ability to drill down into ever-increasing specificity within a topic (divvy the bookmarks up into smaller and smaller groupings), there is still the very real possibility that a list you’ve created for a certain subject (we’ll use “School” as an example) will have fifty separate bookmarks in it…all of which you’ll have to wade through until you’ve found the one for which you’re looking.

Sure, the site has its advantages, especially in a school-related setting (allowing a Group—in this case, all of your students—access to the same catalog of bookmarks to use in research for reports, etc.), but due to the aforementioned disadvantages, I feel it would be foolhardy to use it for anything further; the likelihood of students getting confused by the lack of user-friendly functionality (and then mucking things up), especially were you to ask them to upload their own bookmarks and images to a Group, far outweighs the positives gleaned from their doing so. And I would be remiss in not mentioning the security issues the use of Diigo in a classroom setting might invite—the assured ease in which a single student’s account might be hacked, therein allowing for heinous bookmarks and images to be uploaded to all other students in an otherwise school-friendly Group.

Diigo, which has been around since 2006 and stands for “Digest of Internet Information, Groups and Other stuff,” is currently on its fifth version (5.0), and despite its lack of accessibility, looks like it will be sticking around for a good while longer; because it offers a service that people crave and lacks a real opponent in the social bookmarking arena, it can continue to be subpar without having to deal with any real consequences. I sincerely hope that, whenever Diigo Version 6.0 rolls out, it includes a more user-friendly interface and is something worthy of a teacher’s praise, because I feel that the current iteration of Diigo gets more wrong that it does right.

Tybee Race Recap

This post is long overdue. I have plenty of excuses (I could reuse “homework” or “I don’t have much in the way of running-related news to share”), and though they may be somewhat accurate (especially the homework one—I’m happy to report that I’m a week or more ahead in most of my classes at this juncture), I definitely could/should have found time to post (and at least provide an update about the Critz Tybee Half Marathon). So, for my slackness, I apologize…though to whom, I’m not sure—I don’t think anyone reads this anymore, after all.

The Tybee half went swimmingly…for reasons numbering more than one:

1.) I wanted to run a new PR (1:23:28 was my standard) and stay injury-free. I did both, finishing with a comfortable time of 1:22:44, under less-than-ideal conditions.
2.) It was steadily raining throughout (minus the last mile or two, perhaps), with the occasional deluge interspersed. Gusts of wind, which are pretty much a typical Tybee Island occurrence, were also offered up by the running gods. But at least the temperatures were agreeable enough.
3.) Julia, competing in her very first half marathon, finished well under her proposed 2:00:00 time limit, breaking the tape in 1:57:21. I’m setting the over/under for when she runs her inaugural marathon at 11 months.

I missed a lesser goal (running the half in less than 1:20:00), but feel it is definitely in reach, especially were I to train for such an endeavor (rather than using the race itself as training).

Training is going well—10 miles tonight—and I should get into some more intensive (speedwork, hills, repeats, etc.) training next month, as I ramp up for Boston (next month also features a Savannah institution: the March of Dimes 5k Shamrock Run).

Everyone stands at attention during the National Anthem (I'm at the far left, in the second row)...including what appears to be a ninja:



Me, nearly 12 miles in:



Me, pacing Julia down the final straightaway: