Social+Bookmarking+&+Flickr



Applications of Social Bookmarking and Flickr In Student-Centered Learning Olive Garden Club Texas A&M University – Texarkana

=**Introduction** =

Educators recognize the importance of searching for innovative and more effective ways of teaching. Nowadays, technology offers a great variety of tools that foster a student-centered learning on the one hand, and make educational resources more accessible to both teachers and learners at the same level, on the other hand. Social Bookmarking and Flickr are just two of these Web 2.0 technologies that have been a major topic in the field of instructional technology. FLickr is a photo-sharing website where anyone can upload photos, share them and tag them with important information, make comments and annotations on others photos as well as browse others tagged photos. The value in the site is in the contributions that the users make as they organize and share both the photos and the various tags and annotations (EDUCAUSE,2008). Social bookmarking sites such as delicious allow users to save website bookmarks in one convenient location, tag them with key words and organize them for sharing either privately or publicly (EDUCAUSE, 2005). Social bookmarking gives users the opportunities to share information and resources in an organized manor. The following are some of their applications.

=**Social Bookmarking Uses** =

There are various ways that using social bookmarking sites such as delicious can be successfully utilized in the classroom. Social booking-marking allows for the sharing of bookmarks of important websites amongst students who are collaborating on a research project or report. Students can create a delicious or other social bookmarking account, and the instructor can post sample selected reading assignments for a class. Students can then evaluate posted links and vote on which links should be used for the class. Delicious and other social bookmarking accounts can also be used for students to gather information on research topics that can be shared with classmates for reports such as information on presidents in social studies classes, writing assignments, such as analyzing poems, or for research on particular topics such as the human cells, in Science. In addition, social bookmarking sites can be used for sharing of lesson plan ideas and topic discussions. Instructors can use social bookmarking sites for students to provide reference sites for a group of students to visit and comment on various perspectives of original thoughts and innovating ideas. With the help of this tool, educators can organize websites into several categories. All of these categories could be based on students’ particular needs, interests and learning styles.

Fostering a student-centered learning approach, organizing bookmarks into categories such as language skills, reading, writing, listening and speaking could also be utilized in ESL courses. Students would be able to find not only theoretical explanations about how the language works but also a great variety of application exercises and activities that would help them reinforce the language skills they need the most.

Social bookmarking sites may also enable not only ESL students but all students to organize and learn more about such areas as government, history, economy, location, education, tourist attractions, food, folklore, as well as Music, Literature, Sports, Education, Business, and Science. By having students participate in bookmarking sites in particular categories, they would also have the opportunity to enrich their learning experience.

=**Flickr Uses** = Flickr is an image and video hosting website that can be used to develop instruction for students in a variety of ways. One of these ways is for students who are learning English as a second language. Teachers can utilize Flickr by setting photos, videos, or slideshows that can be tied in with words to stimulate a connection. Student-centered learning can be fostered through**:**storytelling projects, flicktron: where students write storylines, virtual fieldtrips, illustrations of poetry, poster designs, vocabulary flashcards and e-pals where students share pictures with other students. By using Flickr in the classroom, Students can put into practice their knowledge of the language as well as of the culture that goes along with it. Visuals (pictures) play a relevant role in the productive stage of the learning process.

Another way student centered learning can be fostered is in Science classrooms. Science classes can use flicker for storing pictures for all kinds of research projects. They can go on a virtual hunt (looking for particular items already on flickr) such as types of rocks, leaves, trees and landforms, or they can take their own pictures and store them in flickr for their classmates to see and use in their reports such as taking pictures of various solids, liquids, and gases. Students can also compile pictures of visual representations (IE: scientific problems, or butterfly life cycle) as an assessment to conclude units of study. Using flickr to demonstrate science experiments and document findings is another way to encourage students to take control of their learning and enhance the learning process in the classroom. Flickr can also be a  useful tool in brainstorming and resource for inquiry based learning and to reinforce the real world aspect of the material that we learn (IE: simple machines which can be difficult to teach to younger children unless they see real world examples).

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Student centered learning in English and Social Studies classes can also benefit from the use of Flickr. . Students can select random pictures in Flickr and as a group write a story that connects these pictures together. Students can collaborate on the story and discuss how they can link the various topics together. These topics could include discussions of virtual fieldstrips through history pictures or writing poems that relate to a selected set of photos.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> Math classes can utilize photos of real places, such as landforms and buildings to find measurements and practice various mathematical equations. This would enable students to relate the math equations to real life scenarios and solidify the learning process.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Utilizing the visual enhancements and presentations provided through the use of Flickr can help enhance a positive learning environment.

=<span style="display: block; font-family: times new roman,times,serif; text-align: center;">**Conclusions** =

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Social bookmarking and Flickr offer a variety of tools that foster student centered learning. Educators can utilize these tools in a variety of ways through tagging of important websites and photos to virtual fieldtrips and documentation of student created documents. They are both cost effective resources that can add both visual enhancements as well as real life relationships to learning for students.

=<span style="display: block; font-family: times new roman,times,serif; text-align: center;">**References** =

<span style="font-family: 'times new roman',times,serif;">EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (2005). //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">7 things you should know about… Social Bookmarking. // Retrieved from []

<span style="font-family: 'times new roman',times,serif;">EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative(2008).//7 Things you should know about... Flickr////.// Retrieved from [|http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7034.pdf.]