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Reflection: Netvibes & Education
by Courtney Jeffries August 8, 2010

Summary & Highlights
Netvibes is a Web 2.0 tool that can be used by educators to create and share customizable dashboards (see Table 1). For example, a librarian can create a Netvibes dashboard for a local library by including the widgets for popular news pages, local weather, and the library's Twitter feed. Thus, Netvibes provides a means for educators to collect a diverse group of sites and put them in a single place for users to easily locate. At the same time that Netvibes can be used for aggregating different information, it also can be used to collect information on a specific topic. In this case, educators could put Netvibes in student's hands so that they can generate their own start pages based on a particular research topic. Students could use Netvibes' "watch" feature to track recent current events, such as updates on the oil spill in the Gulf. Netvibes is a distinctly social tool that allows its users to share content and get content from others through its Public Pages and Friend and Follower features. Our Task #2 paper (see below) highlighted a number of ways in which Netvibes can be linked to the New York State curriculum.



The features I've mentioned above allow for endless opportunities for Netvibes' use in the educational realm. Both teachers and students can use Netvibes to access, find, collect, filter, and share timely information. Certainly, Netvibes is a great tool for information seeking and organization.

Constraints
During this assignment, I observed a few constraints of Netvibes. In consideration of it's educational uses, Netvibes does not necessarily provide its users with reliable sources. Widgets and feeds would need to be carefully selected from trusted websites in order for Netvibes to work within the educational setting. (Of course, it could provide some great lessons for information literacy classes!) Moreover, the content provided by the widgets and RSS feeds of Netvibes reflect current information. In order for students to understand a topic's history, they may need to use another tool for investigation. Finally, Netvibes may not prove beneficial in all subject areas. We found it especially helpful in the sciences and current events. Not all teachers may find this tool useful in their classrooms, and all classrooms will most likely use it as a supplementary tool rather than a primary tool for teaching.


 * Table 1. Example of a Netvibes Dashboard**

Supplemental Materials
Nicole, Kristen. Pageflakes Targets the Education Market Too. Retrieved on August 8, 2010, from @http://mashable.com/2007/12/04/pageflakes-education/

Stephens, Michael. Creating a Librarian’s Info-Portal with Netvibes and RSS. Retrieved on August 8, 2010, from @http://tametheweb.com/2008/01/02/creating-a-librarians-info-portal-with-netvibes-and-rss/

Welker, Jason. Spice up your Online Learning Environment with Netvibes Ginger. Retrieved on August 8, 2010, from @http://www.utechtips.com/2008/03/06/spice-up-your-online-learning-environment-with-netvibes-ginger/