I recently started using Scoop.it and I have to say that I'm becoming very impressed with it. Scoop.it is a web tool that allows you to literally "scoop up" any website that relates to a topic someone is interested in. I started with one called "Digital Tools for Educators" to begin with. I liked the options of adding bookmarklets or extensions for browsers like Google Chrome similar to that of Evernote or Diigo where I can come to a site and just hit the bookmarklet to "scoop up" the site and paste it to my topic page. They have an introductory video on Youtube that is fairly slick but only shows some of the features. They advertise it to be a "virtual magazine" of sorts. The layout is visually appealing compared to a regular website with just the list of links to click on. Links are good but sometimes they don't provide enough quick visual information to let the viewer know instantly if that site may be of interest and it is passed on by. Scoop.it changes this way of listing great sites by adding a visual image from the site, a quick blurb relating to the content and ways to instantly share out a site via social media such as Twitter, Facebook or link sharing.
The aspect of community is very strong in Scoop.it. I already mentioned that you can share out a site from a scoop.it page to either Twitter or Facebook. They also provide the link in case you want to share it on Google+ or on a blog. From there you can also integrate your Twitter and/or Facebook community into your Scoop.it account to receive notifications on what others are creating topics on. It will alert you if anyone from your community has created one and the topic. If you have a Scoop.it page and go to someone else's page, there is an option to "re-scoop" a site and add it back to your own page. A new feature has been a community search tool where you can type in a topic or keywords and see other Scoop.it pages that have similar content and even follow their Scoop.it topics to receive notifications on new sites added that may be of interest to you.
The latest feature,that I'm playing with is the option to add Scoop.it widgets to your blog. Here is one for my Scoop.it "Lowton's Scoop on Digital Tools for Educators"
Here is the one I started later, "Lowton's Scoop on Digital Storytelling"
I love the interface and the widgets are quite appealing. I struggled with having the widgets work on Wordpress so if you view this on my Wordpress blog, it won't look the same. (Any help fellow Wordpressers?)I can see lots of uses for this great digital tool and the features that they are adding make it very user friendly and share-friendly. Currently, it says Scoop.it pages can be made by invitation only but you simply sign up and they will send a confirmation email to grant access. The next topic I'm working on is "Lowton's Scoop on Social Media in Education" and I'm looking forward to scooping up great resources for it already.
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