Chapter 2: Using Digital Writing Tools for Collecting, Connecting, and Organizing Information

With the advent of online searches, students need a tool to manage their research: keep notes, organize information, collaborate with peers, and document sources. Digital note-taking tools are essential when gathering online data: NoteTker, Google NoteBook, FreeMind, KeyNote, Webnotes, or Journaler are tools that can be effectively utilized not only when working collaborative but also when writing a personal paper. When wanting survey data to support one's viewpoint, the student also has access to SurveyMonkey.com, Visu.com, or Poll Everywhere, which allows the student to submit an online survey to others, then quickly gather the data for inclusion within his or her document.

Another digital tool is RSS Feeds (subscription sites) that feed information automatically to subscribers----an information trapping system rather than having to randomly seek information on the Web. In addition, Bloglines can also be established to feed information into search sites.

When gathering and uploading images and video, tagging is particularly important, and a popular tagging site is Delicious.com. Once a student has set-up a Delicious site, he or she can easily share the tagged images and videos with peers and to annotate websites. Furthermore, tagging enables the student to quickly identify primary topics when writing his or her document or when working collaboratively with others. Tagging information seems to make the research process easier and more enjoyable---yeah! One point of caution----relying on the material tagged by fellow students---if it is reliable and accurate----as compared to information gathered from Wikipedia.