(photo by ElektraCute)

 
DAMN!  Why didn't I read about Zotero 2 months ago?  I just finished my first research paper in 20 years and, let me tell you, it was not a pleasant experience.  Thanks to Innovate, the Journal of Online Education, I now know about Zotero, an open source firefox plug-in.  If you have a paper due soon check out the video tour.

Version 1.0 looks useful for an individual student, but what I am really watching is the server support in Version 2.0 that will let people share resources, urls, notes, etc.  Many K-12 schools have issues with student information being shared on the open internet.  Because Zotero is open source it could potentially be set up for a single school, creating a private version of a top rate research tool.  I will be watching to see how well it could be integrated into a Personal Learning Solution (PLS).  My wish list includes:

• Taking a class list out of the LMS and using that as the basis for sharing resources
• Adding access to student-shared resources from their profile page in the social networking site
• Adding folders of researches and notes to a student work portfolio
• Allowing teachers to get an aggregate view of what resources their students are using
• Allowing teachers to see how each student is doing on their research