CHAPTER 6:  THE SOCIAL WEB:  Learning Together

     I have been connected to Facebook since 2008.  While I do still enjoy Facebook, I think I am ready to expand my horizons by joining Twitter.  I must admit that I am reluctant in a way.  When I first joined Facebook, I was obsessed!  As I am getting older with more responsibilities (own a house, two dogs, planning for a family, etc.) I find that I really cannot afford any time to become obsessed!  I guess it is all about finding balance.  Anyhow, I found this chapter to be very informative.  It provided me with some very good ways that I could use Twitter and social bookmarking sites such as Diigo and Delicious.  First of all, I never thought of using Twitter for both personal and professional use.  Personally, I would not think about combining both personal and professional use on Facebook.  I should think that one would have to use good judgement about the content and pictures that they post on Twitter.  For instance, one should not post a picture of themselves in their pregnant nun Halloween costume on Twitter if they are combining both their personal and professional worlds!  Ha!  All joking aside, I can definitely see the benefits of using Twitter for professional use. 
     For a truly paperless system, social bookmarking sites are a must.  These sites allow one to tag information and share links in such an easy way.  Furthermore, one can highlight and leave annotated notes about an article.  Combining this software with RSS is potentially a very powerful tool for educators.  As I have stated before, I primarily teach resource room math.  I cannot imagine my students reading and bookmarking mathematics articles.  However, I can see using this with my academic support students.  I can also foresee myself using this to share information with my colleagues in which we could collaborate on curriculum, etc.