On the other, the shift to reading a text alone is relatively recent. As recently as the 13th century, Marco Polo opened his Travels by wishing that “Emperors, kings, dukes, marquises, merchants and others who wished to know of the various part of the world and the people that inhabit them, take this book and have it read to you.” There was a clear assumption that the book would be interpreted by someone else for a literary (if not exactly literate) audience.

Going further back, St. Augustine of Hippo notes in his 5th century AD Confessions that St. Ambrose of Milan was the first person he, Augustine, had ever met who could read silently without moving his lips. Augustine was a grammarian and rhetorician to the Emperor, and moved in literate circles; this suggests that reading used to be a very public activity.

That we are returning to reading as a public activity — albeit remotely — should not strike us so much as unusual, as a return to our roots.

Why, you ask? To me, Diigo is a tool that you use during those quiet, reflective times. Alone to your work, Diigo is there to help you push that bright yellow highlighter across digital text, rather than the thin pages of a paperback. You don’t really use Diigo with a crowd. You use it during “me” time, when you’re in a reflective mood and capable to be attentive and think critically about what you are reading. For most students, I don’t think that type of “me” time happens very often during the 6-8 hours that they are cramped in a classroom desk with 30 other kids around them.

READ MORE: Extending Classroom Walls with Diigo on Raised Digital

I wrote about classroom applications of Diigo here: http://laptopsandlabcoats.blogspot.com/2008/10/diigo-social-bookmarking-for-classroom.html

I claimed that it was Part 1 of a two part series, but I never made it back around to Part 2…

As a recent publisher of an ebook, I’ve become a great fan of disseminating information electronically. This post has me thinking about how I’ll shape future products.