The goal of Edtags.org is to help you find relevant, education-related materials quickly and intuitively. When you search in Edtags.org, you will see materials collected and "tagged" by profesionals in the field of education. When you join the Edtags.org community, you have the opportunity to save bookmarks and contribute to our growing collection of eduational bookmarks.
What else can you do on Edtags.org?

• use your own language to tag (add keywords to) you or someone else's bookmarks
• follow the reading lists of interesting educators
• use RSS (really simple syndication) to keep up-to-date on recent bookmarks, users, or tags
• upload and share your exemplary work--pre prints, course papers, working papers, images, etc.
• share readings online with your friends or group mates
• meet educators with similar interests
• sign up to learn more.

Tags are keywords you choose to describe your bookmark. They can be general words like "education" and "teacher;" or, they can be unique keywords such as a course number "t561" or something of your own creation "adam_to_read."

A general rule for tagging is to add enough keywords so that both you and other educators will get an idea of the website or article's content.

Edtags.org is a website that allows you to save, share, and discover bookmarks relevant to your courses and research. Here's a typical scenario of how you could use Edtags.org:

• You're surfing the web and find an interesting website, blog post, video, image, etc. that you would like to share with your friends, contribute to your class, or find again in the future.
• With one click you can save the bookmark to Edtags.org and add your own description of the site. You add your own keywords--as well as your course number (e.g., t502) or any unique tag--to label the bookmark so it's easy to find in the future.
• In your courses, you can use the News Reader (RSS) iSites tool set up on your course website. It constantly "reads" Edtags.org for anything labeled with your course's unique keyword (e.g., T560, A710d, T214, etc.) to display on any page of your course iSite. See an example of T-502's course web site using Edtags.org here.
• You visit Edtags.org, click on your course's tag (keyword) and discover related keywords that lead you to new articles. See an example of the "T502" tag here.
• You view the profiles of Edtags.org users (like me) who have saved interesting articles. You can also check out what tags they've used (like my tags) or what bookmarks they've saved to Edtags.org (like my bookmarks).
• You vote for links and articles you find interesting and particularly suited to your courses and research interests.
• You marvel at how easy it is to save, categorize, and recall your bookmarks ; )

The bottom line is that Edtags.org will help you share and discover relevant course materials.

Self Tags are a series of keywords that you use to describe yourself or your interests.

For example, I () use "dad, dog owner, ed tech, edd, edtags, humor, kathy, library, new cumberland, pennsylvania, tech, usma, websites, west point," each of which describes some aspect of my persona. When I or someone else click on these tags, we see a list of resources related to that particular trait or interest!

Edtags.org also incorporated "Self Tags" into user profiles in an effort to help you connect with others sharing similar interests. Soon you will see a list of related users.

You can read our blog post about self tagging for our thoughts on the matter.

You can display the most recently-saved bookmarks bearing your course's tag (keyword) on any page of your course iSite by using the News/RSS tool. In other words, every time someone saves a bookmark and tags it with your course number (e.g., t502, t214, etc.) your course iSite will grab the bookmark and display it on your course site. Here's a quick overview of how to put Edtags.org on your site!

STEP 1: Start with the big picture. Check out these examples to see what it can look like on your course site (look for the Edtags.org logo):

• T-502 (Learning Media that Bridge Distance and Time)
• T-214 (Teaching Mathematics)
• T-530 (Designing and Producing Media for Education)

STEP 2: Visit Edtags.org after you've saved at least one bookmark with your course's unique tag (e.g., t502,t214, etc.). Search for the tag by entering the course number in the search box and clicking "Search."

STEP 3: Click on your green course number now listed underneath the search bar. It will look like the image below with the course number and the number of times it is used to describe bookmarks in parentheses.

STEP 4: Move to the RSS button in your Edtags.org Tools (right side of your screen). Right click and Copy Shortcut (or copy link location for Firefox). This saves the URL to your clipboard. See the example below.

STEP 5: Follow the directions from the iSites manual on how to use the RSS/News Tool on your course iSite (requires HUID/PIN).

STEP 6: Paste the Edtags.org RSS link into the RSS Source and click "Save" (shown below):

The best way to get started is to do the following (in order):

1. Register for a Edtags.org account.
2. Update your profile to select your proper Harvard affiliation, enter your name (optional), and put a little something in the description like "I'm a 2nd year HGSE doctoral stuent and TF for the T-214 Teaching Mathematics course" (optional).
3. Save the Edtags.org bookmarklet to your browser. Click here to install the bookmarklet..
4. Find an article relevant to your course and save it your Edtags.org account. Ensure that you tag it with your unique course number (e.g., t214, t502, etc.).
5. Set up the News/RSS reader on your course iSite (see FAQ about this) with a feed to your Edtags.org course tag.
6. Introduce Edtags.org to your students and have them visit this page (Edtags.org/tf.php).
7. If you require assistance, contact the Edtags.org project team (via the feedback form) and request an in-class short presentation.

Yes, we currently have one video demonstating how to install the Edtags.org bookmarklet on your IE6 browser.
We will work this semester to create more videos.
All videos require Flash (download here).
This brief tutorial will show you how to add the Edtags.org bookmarklet to your Internet Explorer 6 () browser.

• Watch the here!

We believe that the best way to introduce Edtags.org is through demonstration and use in your course. That said, we would love to help. Invite a member of our team to do a 5-10 min. presentation in your class!

• Show them the quick (1:40) video on saving bookmarks.
• Send your students to Edtags.org and have them read the TF page (http://edtags.org/tf.php).
• Insist that your students save the bookmarklet to their browsers so they can form the habit of saving bookmarks quickly.
• Tell your students to use the course ID number (e.g., t502, t214, etc.) as a tag for all bookmarks relevant to the course.
• Encourage your students to surf the Edtags.org website to become comfortable with its functionality.
• Above all, you as an instructor must model and reinforce the behavior of saving bookmarks to Edtags.org REGULARLY!!!

If your students are curious about the bookmark format on Edtags.org, you can show them this diagram:

YES--with one HUMONGO exception...Please do not upload copyrighted material that is not yours. Unlike Trech, we ain't down wit Other People's Property (obscure Naughty By Nature hip hop reference).

• Edtags.org allows you to upload files with several common extensions (.doc,.pdf,.ppt,.jpg,.gif, and more); however, we limit the upload size to < 2.0mb. This is so we don't overload our server ; )
• Visit the upload page to upload documents.

As a teaching assistant, you are likely the one updating the website. In many cases you are a co-teacher and role model to students in the course. » That said, model the behavior of saving and sharing bookmarks with the course and the students will likely follow suit.

While we designed Edtags.org with ease-of-use in mind, we understand that the documentation (at the moment) is a bit light.

• If you need help with anything regarding Edtags.org, please use the feedback form to email us.
• Or, stop Adam Seldow in the library and ask him for help. That is, of course, if he is not dead asleep on the couch. In that case wake him carefully because he is a trained ninja.

• All Edtags.org members have the opportunity to save bookmarks as private. This means that they are the only ones who can see them. The bookmarks are protected by their password.
• Anyone can choose NOT to register, participate, or even blink an eye at Edtags.org. Any registered member may also terminate their membership and have their bookmarks and tags purged at any time. Simply request account termination via our feedback form.
• Edtags.org is maintained OUTSIDE of Harvard. It is not affiliated with Harvard. Your data is sitting on a server in California. In fact, it's in the same building that the servers for MySpace.com are located (purely coincidental). Treat this website as you would any other interactive website. Only share data that you are comfortable with the whole world viewing!
• Please report any misuse of the site immediately via the feedback form.
• Above all please realize that your participation in this website is voluntary.

If you, your professors or your students have privacy concerns not addressed on the site please contact us via the feedback form.

This is a bit tricky, but it can be done...Saving articles you found through the library system often requires the use of your HUID and pin. Unfortunately, the link to the article is time sensitive and will therefore expire shortly after you save it to Edtags.org. Here's what we recommend...

• Save the record from the OPAC (online card catalogue) instead of the article. Often the record has a persistent link that you can copy and paste to Edtags.org.
• Save a reference to the article through the publisher's website.

Never, under any circumstances, is it okay to download a copyrighted or licensed article to your computer and upload it into Edtags.org.

Nada. Your bookmarks stay on Edtags.org until you delete them.

• We encourage you to export all of your bookmarks to your computer on a regular basis, and upload them to one of several compatible websites (particularly del.icio.us) which have similar functionality to Edtags.org.
• We encourage you to use Edtags.org in your future and concurrent courses--and in your future jobs in the education field.