RSS Feeds & Blogs in Education

I don't know about anybody else in this course, but I'm starting to want the latest in technology. The only problem is, I'm cheep. I would love an iPhone, new laptop, and desktop computer, but none of those things are coming anytime soon. Now that I have an iGoogle, Facebook, Blogger, and probably soon, Twitter account I want a device that can instantly go to these sites and other things. Someday, someday.

What value do you see in using a blog either as a teacher or with your students to share ideas?

Blogs can contribute a lot to a classroom's discussion. They can be used for assignments, assessments, classroom participation, debates, Q & A, or just to build relationships. Blogs need to be used consistently and with structure in order for them to work. There needs to be a format for students to follow and it needs to be done a regular basis or it becomes a hassle or discombobulated throughout the year. If there isn't a structure students could become lost and it would be difficult to assess grades if that's its purpose.

How might you be able to use blogs and RSS feeds in your professional life?

Blogs can be used between students and teachers, teachers and teachers, teachers and administrators, teachers and parents, teachers and community members, or all of the above. It is a great tool that can connect people or bring people into your classroom that ordinarily wouldn't have the means to do it. Administrators can see what you are doing in your class and can contribute their input from their cushy desks or golf cart. Parents can respond when they can. People from the community can drop their two cents in on how things are in the real world. For example, maybe you're working on a virtual budget for students who think they can make it on their own without getting a high school diploma. People from the community can respond with a pleasant wake-up call.

RSS feeds are great for professionals because they save time. If you need news or resources related to a specific topic, boom, it's right there on your iGoogle page. You can pass this information onto your students too. Now they can have a page with all the websites they think they need.

For what uses do you see teachers and/or the LMS using blogs in your school in the near future?

In my school, I don't see the use of blogs being used much. Our staff was just given our own webpage to create, and not many teachers are taking advantage of that resource. Blogs could just be another thing to add to the pile of things to incorporate in their classroom. I think a lot of our teachers are stuck in teaching they way they were taught. We need to adapt to how the kids are learning. It's in front of a computer screen. It would be great if we could have mobile computer labs for students to work on. Right now the one or two labs we have can only hold one class per hour.

What uses might you suggest that focus on 21st century skills and higher level thinking?

I like the potential blogs can have incorporating the community around students into their education. They can learn real life skills that they will use daily. When I was in elementary school we had a computer lab full of Macs that were state of the art back then. I was also lucky to have parents that let us use a computer at home during that time. When I would go to school for computer class, I was teaching the teachers and other students what to do. It was great! It prepared me for now.

Value in Blogging

My dad can always be found on the computer. He checks his email, reads news articles, is an expert in Photoshop, and does video editing. I'm not him. Sure, I'll check my email, read news articles, check some sports websites, and update my Facebook page every now and then, but it's not the focus of my day.

This is how I currently view the value of blogging. On an imaginary priority list of my daily activities, writing and reading a blog are right near reorganizing my sock drawer. I'm curious to see if this course will change my view or cause me alter my priority list.

Blogs can be a great tool, and be useful, but they need validity. I've been known to read a couple blogs on the Green Bay Packers, and it's true, anyone can write a blog. A lot of the information in a blog is unnecessary and a waste of time to read.

You may have picked up on my rather opinionated view of blogs. Maybe I think this way because I haven't found my special blogs yet, or I haven't given it a chance. Well, I'm giving them a chance. I don't do well with change and tend to resist it, but who knows with blogs.

When it comes to a classroom setting I can see more value with blogging. This was shown to me in our first online cohort class in which we were required to write a blog about an assigned weekly reading and comment on other student's blogs. It was easy to write our blogs and easy to comment and read the comments of others. Communication was easy in a situation where no one ever met. Specifically, in my classroom, blogging could be a great way for my students to learn computer skills and begin to expose them to this emerging form of communication. It works well for parental communication too.

2 Blogs of Interest

While pursing through the 100's of possible blogs to read from, I started to realize there is a lot of information I do not want to read about. I think it's great that anyone can express their feelings to the world, but frankly, I don't want to read about it. With that said, I have found a couple sites that have interested me, but won't have me running to the computer in the morning to read the latest post.

2 Cents Worth, by David Warlick was interesting to me. He wrote about anything, and included a little education too. I liked the images he posted and his writing style. It was easy to read and didn't feel like a text or a published article I had to suffer to get through. How much of his writing can I use to influence my education or teaching? I have no idea. I just enjoyed the content.

http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/

This week in Education, is different blog that posts all sorts of education related articles that you typically won't find in one place. It's a good blog for professional development, because it will keep you abreast of the current events in education.

http://www.thisweekineducation.com/

What I want to get out of this course

I hope to become fluent in many different forms of technology to enhance my teaching, and my everyday life. In order to keep up with the ever changing world, I will need to learn to accept these new forms of technology.

I'm only 28 years old, but I feel a lot older when looking at all the new technology. Tweeting, blogging, uploading video, Facebook, and everything an iPhone can do amazes me. I've dabbled in Facebook and blogging, but I feel like I have an obligation to never Tweet to a single person so long as I live.

This course has caught me a little off guard. I feel overwhelmed and disorganized. I feel like there are assignments on three different pages with ambiguous requirements. I hope I don't miss anything.