Writing a weekly article on Web 2.0 tools has given me the opportunity to see many very exciting tools that are often on the cutting edge of Web technology.  Unfortunately, it’s been a bit of a challenge keeping track of which Web 2.0 apps I’ve written about and which I haven’t.  Of course, the easy solution would be to make a list (which I did), but even that hasn’t been the best solution.  Fortunately, I came across this week’s Web 2.0 Weekly featured app just in time: Symbaloo.

Symbaloo allows the user to easily create a page of visual links and then share (or even publicly publish) that page.  I created a page of all the Web 2.0 Weekly apps in about 30 minutes.  Symbaloo lets you do more than just create a page of links, though.  You can add blocks that connect to search engines, blocks for email contacts, even blocks for RSS feeds.  If you want to have your students use the Internet for an assignment, but want to restrict them to using only certain sites, Symbaloo is perfect.  Symabloo could also make a nice PLN tool for keeping track of RSS feeds and websites you want to remember.

Strengths:

• Free
• Easy to use
• Large degree of customization
• Numerous pre-configured “blocks”

Weaknesses

• No way to lock shared page
• Some modules are still in development
• Shared page URLs are long and complex
• Language switch (see below)

Symbaloo is free and there is no need to register if you are planning to use it from only one computer.  Symbaloo does rely on cookies, however, so it may be best to create a free account to ensure your work is safe.  I did encounter two issues while using Symbaloo that are worth noting here.  I far as I can tell, there is not a way to prevent someone from changing a page that you’ve shared or published.  The other problem arose while I was looking into the system requirements for Symbaloo (which I never found, FYI).  Somehow, the display language for the site was switched to Dutch.  I was finally able to change it back to English with some difficulty.

To use Symbaloo, you’ll need an Internet-connected computer equipped with a modern Web browser (with Javascript enabled) and, to be safe, the latest versions of the usual helper apps (Flash, Java, etc.).