- What are your early impressions of using a blog and what was your experience using an RSS Reader this week? Any surprises, pleasant or otherwise?
Blogs are a good way to get out your own personal point of view. I also see why bloggers are so popular. I see it as a way to get out information that is not filtered by the mass media.
RSS Readers are a convent way to have all the information that interests you in one location. No longer do I have to go to each individual site to get the information. I can just click on feed if that subject interests me. I am also alearted when new information becomes available again saving me time and energy. The only negative I see is that it limits you to information that you want so you could miss other things that may interest you.
- Which part(s) of Dale's Cone do you think each tool (Blog, RSS) lends itself best to and why?
Blogs: Direct Purposeful Experience. Because Blogs "involve our feelings and perceptions (Dale 1969)".
RSS: Verbal Symbols. Because an RSS Reader only provides words, it is up to the reader to interpret the words. If a user were to click on a feed it will take them to the information directly which could contain other visual symbols like charts, maps, and diagrams. I would even say that the direct information could fall under still pictures, drawings, radio, and recordings. Since most sites included hypermedia there could be video, audio, and images.
- Considering Siegel's concept of "computer imagination", what do you think would be at least one "imaginative" educational use of each tool (blog, RSS) that takes advantage of each tool's inherent strengths? That is, what do you think you and/or your students could use these tools for that they might not be able to do with other more simple or low-tech tools? Or, as Postman might ask, what is a problem to which each of these tools is an answer?
Well the answer to the Postman's question would be personalization, collaboration, and effectiveness. Blogs and RSS Readers allow users to personalize the information they want to receive. Users otherwise have to go to a book or newsstand to search out information that interests them. There would be no other way (other then the internet) to find information they want through the mail. Users can search and subscribe to information that they want to learn or know about. It is much easier to collaborate with these technologies. A user would have to send separate letters to each collaborator then wait for a response from each then infor the others of the others responses. Blogs and RSS feeds create one central location for sharing information. Blogs allow comments and RSS readers allow you to view all blogs and information in one central location.
You are certinally familiar with blogs. I think you summed up the purpose of blogs and RSS with personalization, collaboration, and effectiveness. Wish I had come up with that concise, accurate answer.
ReplyDeleteI found it interesting that you placed the RSS reader under verbal symbols, and your justification of it makes good sense. It wasn't how I had viewed it, but can see why it would fall there.
Margie Springer
I to like the publishing portion of the blogs. The publishing of personal or professional documentation for others to evaluate.
ReplyDeleteI did not place the RSS reader under verbal symbols because many of the sites I linked to also had video and interactive capabilites such as email responses or comment areas.
Ginger
I was also thinking that a RSS Reader is more than verbal symbols. Perhaps it matters which one you are using, but Google reader filters images, videos, audio, etc...
ReplyDeleteI do agree about the personalization and effectiveness of the technology. In the educational realm, it offers an accessible way for students to comment on each other's work, and view the comments of other students as well. All of it contributes to the overall learning experience.
I like when you give a negative of RSS feeds being that you would not get other information. Although people like reading further about what interests them if you are someone who doesn't go looking for new ideas you may find yourself limited in some ways. I hadn't thought of this idea.
ReplyDeleteI like how you said that Blogs are "unfiltered" material before it gets to the mass media. Since their inception many blogs have become vital tools to leaking and sharing other sources of information about a particular topic or news story that either weren't known before or were filtered out for one reason or another by a particular news media source. Blogs seem to be a key answer in the in "new media" of the internet to keep traditional sources open, honest and on their toes about going after important stories and the underlying information.
ReplyDeleteWhen I think of the students of today and tomorrow I think of the mass of interconnectedness and how those blog sources will be key for them getting truthful, accurate information. Though grated their is a lot of garbage out there.