E. Mitchell's Participate 1.1.2 Joining a Digital Learning Community

I actually joined Diigo a couple of years ago.  A colleague of mine was working on her Masters degree and shared this DLC with me.  She explained to me her use of it for her graduate studies but suggested our use of it as a US History course team.  We could form a small group network and be able to bookmark and share helpful sites in an efficient manner.  I thought this was great and jumped at the idea!  It did not last long for me though because I got heavily into teaching AP Psychology.  But I did use Diigo to create a group to collaborate with for my Specialist degree.

I particularly like Diigo because I feel it is user friendly.  I do not think it is overwhelming with how to use it.  I like things neat and organized, and I appreciate the structure of the site and the ability for me to easily locate things I have bookmarked.  The function of My Library clearly lists out my bookmarked pages.  I can create networks with my fellow colleagues by adding individuals as well as form groups as I did with my Specialist cohort .  The format in my opinion is easier to use than the looks of Google Bookmarks.  Delicious seems to appear user friendly and nicely formatted.

The DLC that I have recently used the most has been the one created by College Board for Advance Placement teachers.  Being a singleton teacher (for the most part), my collaboration world is lonely.  I stress over my students performance and I am often curious as to the activities that other teachers may be doing.  The College Board created a digital learning community that I joined specifically to interact with fellow AP Psychology teachers.  I love it!  I participate in online discussions and I am able to access published practice exams released yearly by College Board.  But I do have the ability to bookmark certain helpful sites and have the ability to create a personal network with fellow AP Psychology teachers.  This one has proved beneficial for me because now I do not feel like an island teaching AP Psychology and I am using a medium that should directly help me help my students achieve success on the National Exam.