Using Diigo for Collaborative Curation

Image via CrunchBase

Recently I’ve had some inquiries about the best tool to use for a group to collaborate and share articles, videos, images, documents, etc. My initial thought was a wiki, but now that I’ve fully investigated the features of Diigo (dee’go), that is the tool I would recommend. Diigo, an online curation tool, is another one of my top 10 tools that I use every day.

I use Diigo to curate content, share it, and to find content. In Google Reader, as I read articles from the blogs to which I’ve subscribed, I will tag articles, sites, videos of interest, etc. using Diigo. These saved resources are available online and accessible from any Internet connected device. I can easily share specific resources. For example, I had a teacher ask about free screen capture tools. I sent her a link to all the items I had tagged with screencapture in my Diigo account. For the groups to which I’ve joined (ie Diigo in Education), I can see resources tagged by others and shared with the group, as well as share what I’ve tagged. I also follow a few users with similar interests and can see their public resources. Since there are so many Educator’s using Diigo, it is an excellent repository of resources which can be easily search.

Example Collaborative Curation Scenario

The Science Department, while working on their Common  Assessment Plan, is using Diigo as a collaborative space by creating a private group and sharing curated content with that group. After signing up for Education Basic Accounts  and installing the browser add-on, Diggolet (directions are below), each teacher joined the WHS Science Group. 

3 Ways to Curate Content

Bookmark: When Mr. Lindsay finds a relevant resource. He clicks the Diigolet button in his browser toolbar and chooses Bookmark, tagging it with several keywords, adding a description, and sharing it with the WHS Science Group.

Highlight: Mr. Smashey finds an article that has some great essential questions that he wants to share with the group, so he clicks the Diigolet button in his browser toolbar and chooses the highlighter tool. After highlighting the important points, he also bookmarks the resource so as to index it and share it with the group.

Sticky Note: Mr. London has found a great resource but wants to explain how he thinks it can be used. He uses the Sticky Note tool to add a floating note to a webpage, which he indexes and shares with the group.

You can also associate a Sticky Note with a Highlight.

Utilizing Your Saved Resources

Accessing, Filtering, and Editing Your Resources: Mr. Sharpsteen would like to view all his saved resources. So he signs in at Diigo.com and clicks My Library.

Accessing Shared Group Resources: Ms. Butler wants to see the new resources added to her science group. She signs in at Diigo.com and clicks My Groups. She then selects the WHS Science group.

Viewing Sticky Notes and Highlights from other Group Members: Mr. Strider visits the WHS Science Group page at the Diigo site and accesses a resource shared by Mr. Taylor. To see the highlights and note from Mr. Taylor, he clicks the Diioglet button while viewing the resource. He then adds a comment to Mr. Taylor’s note.

Sharing a Resource and Annotations with Anyone: Mr. Sharpsteen wants to share a resource along with it’s highlights and notes with his students. First he opens that annotated resource, and then clicks the Share button and chooses Get Annotated Link. He can then use this link in his Moodle course.

Subscribing to a Group: Mr. Giboney doesn’t want to have to check the Group page on a regular basis for new items, so he chooses to receive daily email notifications when new resources are added.

Creating a Group Topic: Mrs. Crandell wants the department to agree on some standard tags for indexing resources so she’s visited the Group page on Diigo and added a Topic. Other teachers can respond to this Topic.

Setup Your New Education Basic Account

Diigo offers both free and subscription based accounts. The free Education Basic Account offers unlimited highlights, no ads, and a Teacher Console for adding and managing student accounts.

To sign up for a new Education Basic Account:

1. Click the Get Started Now! button on the Diigo homepage.
2. Click the Google button to login with your Willard Google Apps account.
3. Click the Allow button when prompted.
4. Complete the form “Or, Create a new Diigo Account?”
5. Make sure your Favorite/Bookmarks bar is visible in your browser and then drag the Diigolet button onto it.
6. Go back to Diigo home page and click the Educator ? link.
7. Click the Apply for Your Educator Upgrade link.
8. Complete and submit the form.

Additional Features to Investigate

I would recommend using Firefox for your browser. There are additional Diiggo tools not available for Internet Explorer. However, Willard teachers should be aware that some SISK12 features don’t function in Firefox and you may have to continue to Internet Explorer for SISK12.

Additional Browser Add-ons

• Awesome Screenshot for Firefox: Capture the whole page or any portion, annotate it with rectangles, circles, arrows, lines and text, blur sensitive info, one-click upload to share. The Screenshot is saved in your Diigo account. (Limited to 20 per month with an Educator’s Account.)
• Quick Note for Firefox: Access a notepad to take notes while reading a webpage. The note is saved in your Diigo account. (Limited to 20 per month with an Educator’s Account.)
• Diigo Browser Toolbar for power users

Mobile Devices

• Diigo for your iPad
• Adding the Diigolet to Safari on your iPad
• Diigo Power Note for Android
• Diigo offline reader for iPhone

Additional Features

• Import your Delicious resources into Diigo
• Cache resources: Save an offline copy of a resource (Limited to 20 per month with an Educator’s Account.)

Socialize

• Explore what the Diigo Community is Saving
• Build Your Network: Add another Diigo user to your network by clicking on his/her username. Click the Follow Me button on the top right of his/her library page. You can view all the resources saved by people in your Network by clicking the My Network link.
• Create or Join a Group: Click the My Groups link at the top and see recommended groups, browse for groups, or search for a group. You can also start a new group on the My Groups homepage.