SimplyBox is a free browser plugin that is part:

• screen capture tool
• screen touring application
• organizer
• collaboration tool

According to the website:

“SimplyBox is a free service to Capture, Share, and Organize ANYTHING you find on the web”

Using SimplyBox, you capture images, videos, or text from web pages and organize these screen captures into boxes (thus the name SimplyBox).  You can then organize boxes into containers.  Add comments to your screen captures, and even return to the original web page(s) to see your clippings in context with the click of a button.  (Watch a brief demonstration video.)

SimplyBox in Flock 2.0 Browser

Boxes (collections of screen captures) can be shared with others for collaboration.  You can invite anyone to collaborate on a box, whether they have a SimplyBox account or not.  Collaborators can visit the sites represented by the screen captures in each box and post comments on each capture.  If they also have a SimplyBox account, they can even add other captures to the box.

I can see SimplyBox being used for learning:  Instructors can create boxes with information relevant to their current topics and invite students to view, comment, or even add to the content in the boxes.

I can see SimplyBox being used for organization:  Think of “boxes & containers” as a visualization of bookmarks.

I can see SimplyBox being used for work:  Organize various web sources into boxes in preparation for blog posts, research papers, or presentations.

I can see SimplyBox being used for collaboration:  Use boxes to collect and share resources with colleagues and to collaborate with project team members in pursuit of a common goal.

SimplyBox in a Learning Scenario

SimplyBox is available for Internet Explorer 7 (or higher) and Firefox 2 (or higher).  It is compatible with Windows and Mac.  My default browser is Flock 2.0, the Social Browser, and SimplyBox works perfectly with this spin-off of the Firefox 3 framework (although SimplyBox is not willing to advertise this at present for support reasons).

I initially had a bit of trouble getting SimplyBox to work properly in any browser.  I found a feedback form, which I used, but I really didn’t expect a response.  I am glad to report that a SimplyBox team member answered my query and was able to quickly help me get the tool working.  (Find contact information here:  http://simplybox.com/index/contact.)

Here’s a tip for anyone who decides to give SimplyBox a try.  After installing the browser plugin, you will need to sign in to your SimplyBox account by clicking the Settings button on the SimplyBox toolbar.  You will be prompted to enter a user name and password.  You may need to use your email address as the user name rather than the user name you chose when you signed up for the service.  This was the fix that their helpful support team shared with me.

SimplyBox, as the name implies, is simple to use, and it is worth investigating if you want to:

• add a little Web 2.0 spice to a traditional classroom setting
• visually organize your thoughts and resources for current and future projects
• share and collaborate with others