What you see above is known as a Pearltree. Pearltrees are a way to organize online resources visually, in a graphic organizer type web. According to the Pearltree website, “Pearltrees is a place to organize, discover and share everything you like on the web.” What is really interesting about this is that it also serves as a social network of sorts. You can share your pearltree (folder) with others and you can also create a team to build a pearltree together. This team pearltree is very versatile, according to the pearltree website, “It is a group of people that curates a common interest. Each member add, organize or delete pearls or pearltrees. All team members can also accept or invite other people to their team.” Below is a pearltree about pearltrees. Have a look around and learn more.
Once you get using this great tool, you might also want to use the Pearltrees’ extension to “pearl” while browsing the web. You can also connect your account to Facebook and Twitter to “pearl” the links you share. This is really a fantastic way to share the pages which interest you and find more information you are interested in.
So how can this be used in school?
Well, since this is a great way to build resources online, students could use it to build lists of resources for certain units of inquiry. They could then share them with others from other schools. Teachers can create a Pearltree and then embed it in Moodle or some other course management platform. This could then serve as a onestop spot for students to access the websites you want them to use. Collaborative groups could use a team Pearltree to gather and share information sources with other groups and the teacher.
This is a great tool for helping teachers and student make use of technology for organizing information. This would be very helpful in a 1:1 laptop environment but could also be used in a 2:1 or any type of ratio that exists in your school.
What a great free tool! To get started using this fantastic tool visit http://www.pearltrees.com/
Thanks for reading,
Shannon Doak