Pass It On

There are often times when you might want to create a list of URLs to post on a site or share during a workshop.  I've played with a few but never found one that entirely met my needs until today when I discovered Sqworl.

With Sqworl you are able to add a bookmarklet to your browser (I use Firefox).  When you find a site you'd like to add to a list, you just click on the icon.  A pop-up window allowing you to add to a list, create a new list and annotate your entry.  It provides you with a URL for your list and you can log-in anytime to edit.  Note: In the demo on their site the instructor is  copying and pasting URLs.  You won't need to do this if you add the bookmarklet to your bookmark toolbar.

Some suggestions for use:

• Ask students to compare and contrast the information found on several sites.  Good for website evaluation, detecting bias or point-of-view, choosing the right site for a given assignment.
• Post several sites and ask students to form an opinion based on the information.
• Ask students to vote on options presented: which place to visit on a field trip, which novel to read aloud in class.
• Post links to opposing reviews after students have read a novel.  Ask if they agree, disagree.
• Ask students to visit the posted sites and write annotations, comments, summaries, citations.
• Ask students to compile a list of questions based on sites listed.
• Ask students to rank sites posted.
• Prepare a list as a series of tutorials or steps in a process.  Or ask the students to do the same.

How have you used lists of URLs?  I'd love to hear your ideas in a comment!