Scoop.it Excitement
Over the past few months I’ve become an enthusiastic advocate and user of Scoop.it. It is no longer in Beta and has now gone public. It is a fantastic way to compile resources on a single topic and to share these resources with others who can choose to follow your updates. So far I have created two topics on Scoop.it because they are topics I am passionate about: Livebinders and Screencasting. I am finding new resources to add to them daily because it has an amazing curation tool that makes suggestions for me based on key words I have selected. I also use a Google alert on my topics so I can get new recommendations there. There is a Scoop.it bookmarklet you can add to your toolbar so whenever you come to a website that you would like to add to your topic, you can click on the bookmarklet and add it instantly! You can learn more about Scoop.it by reviewing their Knowledge Base.
But the real bonus is that anyone can recommend a site for me to add to my Scoop.it and I get an email notification that a recommendation is waiting for me. This is such a fantastic way for us to collaborate and learn together! These widgets below will provide you a brief preview of what I’m adding to each of the topics. They feature the last 10 “scoops” and will continuously update as new scoops are added. You can click on them to see the full Scoop.it. I would love to have you check them out and make suggestions for new sites for me to add to my topics!
Scoop.it is free to join and I hope it remains that way for a long time! Teachers could easily use this tool to pre-select websites they would like their students to use for class projects/units. The visual image from the site along with a brief description make it really easy to see what the site is about and you can click on the link and go immediately to the full site in a new tab/window. I’m sure you’re wondering about how students can use it. This is in their terms of service: “The Service is not intended for children under 13. By using the Service, you are representing that you are at least 18, or that you are at least 13 years old and have your parents’ permission to use the Service.” But teachers have found ways to work with many social media tools with their students that have similar terms of service without doing anything that is breaking the law. But the incredible value I find with the tool is the sharing, collaborating and compiling of resources I can do with my educational colleagues!
Can you see why I’m so excited about this tool?
Hi Peggy! Just came across your blog post: thanks for the praise and great review of Scoop.it (I’m the CEO & Co-Founder).
I thought I would comment to reassure you on a couple of points:
– Scoop.it will remain free of use and for all (we also have a premium version for companies that is paid for on through a monthly subscription but it is of course entirely optional to use).
– Restricting access to minors under 13 is a usual practice but as you pointed out, it’s ok if you get parents’ authorization (in my kids’ school, they have us sign a simple form to record that at the beginning of the year).
Otherwise, I can confirm that we’ve seen a lot of educators using Scoop.it and have been thrilled by the positive feedback they gave us!
Thanks again.