Before class on Tuesday, I have never heard of the program Diigo. When Professor Wolf mentioned that, it was a way to annotate online documents right on the web page. He also explained how it is interactive, that you can read other annotations posted by others and others can read yours. At first, I didn’t see myself ever using this after this class. I find it easier to read documents once they are printed out rather than right off the screen. I cannot concentrate when the documents are on the screen and I feel better writing notes in the margins with a pen and highlighting.
After using Diigo on the readings for Thursday, I realized that I might be able to use this tool in a classroom with students. I would not use it for anything lower than the fourth grade, but it would be a great tool to integrate into lessons. For instance, a teacher could set up a group in Diigo and have the students all join an account. Then for different lessons, such as a science lesson on the layers of the earth, the teacher could use an article or web page that reinforces the lesson. The students would then go in and read the article and comment using Diigo.
I think students would benefit from this activity for several different reasons. I think the fact that it is on the computer they would find it fun and different from reading out of a textbook and answer questions. I also think that since it is interactive, the students can comment on one another’s thoughts taking the pressure off that comes with face-to-face conversation. In addition, if this is done in the classroom using three or more computers, it is away for the children to interact but keep the noise level down while other students do independent work at their desks.
