Taking notes on the web.
In a column of three years ago I described my vision of a web-based tool that would permit us to take notes, and save them, on the web:
Why shouldn't each web site, for instance, offer a Notes mode. When I click on the Notes button a mini-word processor would pop up which would permit me to jot down my thoughts on the particular page I'm visiting, while linking them to the place of my choosing on that page. Upon leaving the site in question one of a number of possibilities could take place: My notes could be forwarded to me via e-mail, a URL with a direct link to my notes could be forwarded to me via e-mail, or more simply, a link to the notes could be automatically placed in a Notes folder on my hard disk or on a pre-determined web page. Other people's notes could also be made available so that I could view their thinking as well.
Over the years I've found attempts at this sort of thing, though rather inevitably they don't succeed in becoming fluid and they disappear. It's become something of a holy grail for me because bookmarks are not notes, they're the raw materials from which notes are made, and we need something richer, something more robust than basic bookmarks in order to make a collection of pages a truly useful part of the learning process.
Go to: Why would you want to view that again?, or
Go to: What's in a name?, or
Go to: Bye-bye Bookmarks