Recently I starting exploring Pearltress and I have to say that I am hooked. When I first signed on and starting exploring how to use it the end result was not being able to walk away. In the past I have used Paper.li and Tweeted Times and I was not as big of a fan with those sites. I did prefer to use Paper.li over Tweeted Times when I compared the two due to the visual organization of it all. I do not like the concept of selecting to scroll through the information as Tweeted Times requires. I do think however that the information is clear to read when using that tool. The text is a good size and it is nice that each topic is given its own space. The Paper.li tool however looks a lot like an old school newspaper. I can scroll over and down through the postings to see all that is available. The topics are clearly labeled (education, politics, art and entertainment, etc.) I appreciate the clear topic headings, the layout, and design of the whole site.
When working with Pearltrees it is easy to see your "trees" easily in addition to the "pearls" that make up the trees. Each pearl is a site of your choosing which can open into an additional window. Similar to delicious or other curation sites like it, you are able to search for a topic and find the Pearltrees of others to look at and eventually pick for your own. You can organize the pearls or whole Pearltrees in your drop box at the bottom of the screen. This option is nice because you are able to control which ones you put up onto the desktop area within your Pearltrees and which to keep down below.
Using this new tool after having used Paper.li and Tweeted Times in the past has expanded my view on curation. I really enjoy the fact that the information is once again being presented in a different way. The websites and resources are shown with picture icons that represent them. They are also organized in a web format which for me makes a lot of sense. Since this is more the way my brain works, this type of site makes a lot of sense to me.
I could use this tool with my students by having it up on my desktop while teaching. I could picture myself using the site to easily be able to switch back and forth between resources online. The students could then be exposed to the site and realize how easy it truly is to use. I do see Pearltrees being use more within my own planning time and home use of the internet. So often in class if I am switching between websites and exploring through tools online I really need to be sure I upload and open all the windows prior to the instruction. Leaving the option for the sites to take a while to open or potentially not work is a big risk within a 4th grade room. The more planning and preparation I can do before the children are in the room, the smoother the lessons tend to go.
This tool is much easier to manage than RSS feed tools in my opinion. I still struggle with the sheer amount of information that is coming through on my feed and the way that information is organized. I truly enjoy the visual representation of the Pearltrees site and can follow its organization much better than the RSS feed that I use.
After working with Pearltrees I also worked with Scoop it. Once again I am being exposed to new tools that help me to organize information. All I can say about this resource is that I am still overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information that is out there.
As I was discovering the scoop it accounts of others and searching by topic I realized just how long I could spend working on such an activity. I went on for an hour rescooping one awesome resource after another, watching videos and reading articles about specific topics of interest to me. This video is a good representation of what I have been thinking through using these tools. The amount of information that is coming in and the speed at which it is being created is something to be in awe of. The progression of technology over the years is an unbelievable topic to think about and these curation tools just keep reminding me of that.
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