What do you get when you cross Amazon's user recommender system with educational technologies? If you guessed EdShelf, then you are CORRECT!
EdShelf is an amazing socially-curated discovery engine website run by Mike Lee, a parent and former software engineer. The story of EdShelf's "second life" is a wonderful testament to the power of kickstarter, social media and the dedication to press on. Read the story of how Ed Shelf was pulled from the "failed education dot.com" grave HERE.
Well, I for one, am glad that EdShelf was saved because this ONE is special. When I first started teaching college, I ran a pet project called TechTeachers. The basic idea was for teachers using technologies in their classroom to share their best practices with others. It was an electronic bulletin board where a teacher would post their information to meet up with teachers who were interested in using technology to teach the same subjects. Fast forward, 25 years later...it is finally nice to see a similar idea of user recommended technologies and shared knowledge. I expressed this sentiment to Mike Lee (creator of EdShelf) in an email when I joined in early 2015. I'm sure I've mentioned this wonderful site on this blog before so it may be familiar to those of you who are regular readers.
If you have not already looked at this company, take a look right now. If you already have an account, go back to the site and make a comment. The value of this site is in the many, many educators and techno-fans who contribute by commenting on what technologies and tools they like and how they use them.
So, what are my favorite features of EdShelf? There are many...like I said, this ONE does it right. I'll start with the "lists" at the bottom of the home page.
List of Technologies by Category
There is an extensive list of tools featured on EdShelf. There are categories such as 3D Modeling, Accessibility, Audio Creators, Book Searching, Bookmarking, Classroom Management, Video Content, Voice Recognition and Wiki Creators, just to name a few.
List of Technologies by Subject
If you are interested in tools by subject, you can use this index to find what you are looking for. From AP to Civics to Computer Science to Dance, SAT and Writing; you are bound to find your topic. If you don't find your topic, you can simply start a new section by creating a "shelf".
List of Technologies by Age
I've seen the age list on some of the better resource websites but not all of them. EdShelf is definitely on the right track with this one. You can search for ages 1 through 22+ which gies credence to the fact that EdShelf was created for everyone not just teachers who want to find technology. Would be great if there were listings by grade though. Perhaps PreK through 12, college and professional?
List of Technologies by Platform
Then there is the listing by platform which is helpful if you are not entirely online. There are choices for Web (or cloud), Web with Java, Flash, etc. Also included are options for iPad, iPhone, Android Phone / Android Tablet, Mac, Windows, Google Chrome, Physical Product.
Now, let me talk about the great features of EdShelf.
Shelf
A shelf is a collection started by an account holder at EdShelf. Here you can create a list of your favorite tools. When you create a listing, you get to rate it with the system below.
Your shelf can then be shared with others, followed by others, and displayed so that others can comment on it. Another neat feature is that you can print your collection by URLs or QR codes (this makes the entries scannable by mobile devices). Teachers can give collections to students as additional resources for paper projects.
One of my favorite features from Edshelf.com.
Featured Tools
Another section that I really like is the featured tools section of some of the most popular tools that people on the site consistently write about. This section takes you right to the "hot" tools which is helpful for educational bloggers and techno-geeks like me who like to acceptance and usage trends in technology.
Other Features
I also like that there is a "Trending Tools" section for what is being talked about by EdShelf participants. This type of feature on a website like this is few and far between. There is also a section for member reviews. It is nice that these reviews change on the front page as this really draws you into the site to spend a little time searching.
I also love that if you are an app or tool developer, you can add yourself into the EdShelf system. As of this writing, this particular feature are still being worked on but will be available soon. So, if you have created a tool, there is a form to fill out. Then, the submission is moderated so that the quality of the submission is kept consistent.
The Power of Social Curation
The real power of EdShelf is that it allows for social curation. The best way to describe social curation is to think of the recommender system at Amazon. How many times have you bought a product at Amazon based on what someone else thinks? I do this all the time. As a matter of fact, whether someone else likes a product is the third of my top three reasons why I might buy a product. This is under need (#1 reason) and price (#2 reason).
EdShelf uses social curation wisely by allowing users to freely create shelves, pick any tools for their collection and write about them. This freedom of choice really encourages anyone to participate which fulfills a basic human need which is to help others. With that said, EdShelf does have editors' picks which is a way to oversee the self-creation process. So, the folks at EdShelf will give you their favorites which does help to sift through the content and user reviews.
I should mention that there is the usual "follow this" technology and connections to social media which only level up the features at EdShelf. This enhances the ability to share tools on users' websites and blogs through FB, Twitter, Google +, etc.
Final Thoughts
Although EdShelf is for anyone interested in teaching themselves or others with technology, those who work in education should definitely use EdShelf. It is a great tool to create, share and connect with other educators around a great subject - technology.
I highly recommend this resource website to educational media folks, technology coordinators and content providers. You'd be surprised at the number of folks I've talked to who did not know about EdShelf. It's just a matter of time. I'm just putting my hat in the ring for this gem of a service. It's FREE and full of passionate people who believe in the power of technology in education.
