Week 2 Reflection

Reflection Activity Week 2

            The blog as a form of communication or expressing ones thoughts continues to amuse me. When I setup my blog I was wondering how many people would really want to read what I had written. Then there was one place that showed how many hits I had already received, and it amazed me that after only a few minutes, people where reading what I had written. I am still concerned because I don’t know who the people are reading my information. I have never blog or read anyone’s blog before. After posting mine I read several friends’ blogs just to find out what people write in their blogs. It just seems to me that blogs in some cases are a venting station or they want someone to care about what they are doing in their life so they blog it. I can see how people get so involved with blogging and spend lots of time with it.

            I had never used RSS Reader before as well. At first it was hard to decide what feeds to include in my RSS. What did I really want to have updated on a regular basis? Then I started to search the Web to find sites I may want to include. It really opened up my world as to want is available. I can see how the RSS would be helpful. Now it just continues to update for me. I don’t have to put the website in or hunt it in my favorites. It lets me know how many new posting are listed. Some of the sites I decided on where the CNN News, one on elementary art projects, all the blogs for my classmates, and I even included one on technology for elementary teachers. The hardest part for me was getting all the blog URLs for my classmates. When I went into their blogs I could not find the little icon that would allow me to “load it” to my RSS so I had to copy and paste each blog address in. I am sure there is an easier way, but I was unaware of it. The one thing I have noticed is that I don’t want too many feeds in my RSS at least not at first. Even though it will update me when something new happens, I don’t want to get overwhelmed with so much information and updates that I don’t look at any of them because it feels like information overload.

            I always thought Wiki was an encyclopedia, but now I realize the vast information and tool it could become for anyone. In Language Arts, students could  work in teams to do a book report. The first page would be the summary of the book and each student in a group would have a character from that book.  Each student would have a link from the summary to talk about a specific character. The summary students could work on at different times yet see the changes and updates that each member presents. With a multi-grade classroom this would allow one person to be working on the summary while I am teaching the other student something like Math.  It would be a good comprehension strategy using computers.

            I believe that RSS would best fit into the Contrived Experiences mentioned in Dale Cones article. RSS feeds filter out unwanted information and updates you only on the information you requested. Therefore it filters out a large amount of additional information which can be overwhelming and distracting.

            I believe blogs would fit best in two categories. The first being “Exhibits” because for the most part you are only a spectator reading various blogs. You are looking at the world through someone else’s eyes.  It would also fit under “Direct, Purposeful Experience” if you are the person creating and sharing the blog with others. You are having direct contact making the blog and relating information to others.

            “Computer imagination” can create new and exciting possibilities for students. Students can read journal entries of an Antarctic explorer through the use of a blog. Because of time zone differences, the blog would become the primary meeting spot and updates for the students.  The journal can provide information that would further the students’ knowledge on a particular subject. The journal/blog would draw them into a different world and into the day to day activities of an explorer. Multiple schools could collaborate on a project (such as researching a problem the explorer was having) by using the one blog spot.   

            An RSS feed could help with Science class. More and more websites are coming up with live cam footage of various animals “nesting.”  Using an RSS feed students could easily find the information and be updated on a regular basis. Students could have a journal beside the computer and record the happenings of the animal(s) at various times during the day. There could be several sites on animals on the RSS. This would eliminate students needing help in locating the website. Additional feeds regarding the various animals could be added in that location so all the information would be in one spot with continual updates.