Delicious website...

Hello classmates!  Here is the link to my new Delicious page...

http://www.delicious.com/heather.fuss

I already have some educational sites posted.  Some that I use frequently, some new!  Enjoy!!!

Wiki Site

My wiki site can be viewed at:  http://heatherfuss.pbworks.com/FrontPage

After reading "What Is Web 2.0: Design Patterns and Business Models for the Next Generation of Software," O'Reilly talks about seven different principles that make up the Web 2.0. On page two of the article the second principle is that Web 2.0 harnesses collective intelligence.  I think that this means that the web no longer displays information that is published by certain media agencies, such as Web 1.0 previously did, and that information is currently being created by users of Web 2.0 themselves.  Today you can find SO much information that covers about any topic you can think of.  Practically anything you want to find information on, you can these days!  Anyone can view O’Reilly’s article at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2.0

   One website that comes to my mind when thinking about this is Wikipedia.  Wikipedia can be found at http://www.wikipedia.org/.  At this website you can find all kinds of information, add information to existing documents, and even edit information.  Wikipedia is an on-line encyclopedia that is always changing, as things in the world around us are constantly doing.  O'Reilly states that the lesson here is "Network effects from user contributions are the key to market dominance in the Web 2.0 era." (p.2)

Another great example that fits O’Reilly’s suggestions is Yahoo or Google.  These both began as a way for millions of internet users to easily find information on a particular topic, but now has since developed numerous topics with a wide range of information to be collected.  Both of these search engines are very popular and produce such a wide range of information to users that its limits are near impossible. Yahoo can be found at:  http://www.yahoo.com/ and Google can be found at: http://www.google.com/. 

Week 2 Reflections

Heather Fuss

EDT 5410

Dr. Horvitz

Blogs: I have to admit that this is the very first blog that I have ever created and used.  I have seen other blogs created by friends before, but have never used my own.  So far, I have really enjoyed using a blog.  As I become more and more familiar with using a blog, I think that I will create another blog for personal use after the class is done.  It is a great tool to keep people updated on various things, especially family and friends that live far away.  I have been thinking about the idea of using a personal blog for work related purposes.  I am a third grade teacher and it is amazing some of the stories you can tell about the funny and creative things your students do.  I think keeping a blog would be a great way to share of the stories and experiences with family, friends, and even other teachers.  I also have really enjoyed having the RSS reader on my blog.  It makes it so much easier to see new items and articles that I would normally “hunt” for individually.  Another feature I really like about the RSS feed is that it shows you headlines so you can decide right then and there if you want to pursue reading the article or not.  It sure is convenient!  My experience to date, although short, has been a very god one.  I haven’t had any “technical difficulties” yet (not to my knowledge anyway), which has made the process go as smooth as possible.  This has been a very enjoyable and fun thing to create so far.

Blogs/RSS Feed & Dale’s Cone of Experience: I feel that both blogs and RSS feeds fit in more than one area of the Cone.  I think that the part of the Cone they both fit in the most is the Direct Purposeful Experiences section.  I think that both items fit well here because using blogs and RSS feeds are direct, firsthand experiences that are helping make up the foundation of our learning.  The experience that we are getting by actually using the blogs and RSS feed are both of “educational value and they are leading us in a purposefully to an objective or goal,” (Dale, 1969).  Another reason I feel that blogs and RSS feeds fit well in this part of the cone is because without having the hands on experience in setting them up and actually using them, we may not truly understand how they work and function.  Direct Purposeful Meaning gives us that opportunity.  I also feel that the blog and RSS fits into Visual Symbols on the cone.  I feel that blogs are appropriately placed in this part of the cone because they can give you a sort of timeline to follow.  As you update and post things on your blog, you can follow along by date on a daily basis.  If a person is using their blog daily, or even weekly, to update on specific topics there is a clear timeline to follow the events.  The RSS feed tends to resemble a sort of chart that has important pieces of information (they are also in order by date).  All the information in an RSS feed is placed in an easy to read way without taking the time to look up each individual site to find topics that are of importance to you. 

Blogs/RSS Feed & Computer Imagination: After reading through Siegel’s article “Falling Asleep at Your Keyboard: The Case for Computer Imagination,” I think a blog would work well with students to share information with other school districts, or even districts in other states/countries.  This seems to be more feasible for high school students to have more access to on a daily basis in a computer class of some sort, but I think it CAN be done at any level.  Blogging can cover various writing topics that need to be addressed in schools, and even be taken as grades.  Students can also learn how to add sound, pictures, video, etc. to their blogs, which also hit on various technology standards that are to be taught in various grade levels.  Not only can blogs be beneficial for student learning, but it is also a great way to teach them about tools that they have access to through the internet.  Blogs can be used for a variety of assignments to be completed and graded electronically, saving on paper at the same time!

RSS Feeds can be used in a student setting to find specific information related to school topics in a filtered manner.  Having an RSS Feed presents information in a clear and appropriate manner.  It also presents information in a timeline, as well.  By only showing important headings, students can easily scroll through to look for certain topics that they know may be somewhere on their feed.  I believe this would make their work and progress less time consuming, as well as being able to be edited more closely by the teacher in the classroom. 

Week 1 Reading Reflection

After reading both assigned articles, I have many different thoughts and questions arise. When looking over Beyond Technology Integration: The Case for Technology Transformation (Reigeluth, 2002), the first statement that really stuck out to me was “To date, technology has had minimal impact on K-12 education in the United States.” Although I know this article was written quite a few years ago, I totally disagree with this statement. When I look at the school that I teach at, each and every classroom is equipped with numerous forms of technology. Each classroom (K-12) has an interactive Starboard, document camera, voice enhancement, projector, etc. Granted, we did not have all this equipment at the time the article was written, but there was still some form of technology at that time. I absolutely agree that technology enhances a classroom setting and allows teachers to “transform teaching methods in ways that can result in a quantum improvement in learning.” I think technology is a very powerful tool that should be used to its fullest potential!




One statement that I do agree with in this article is that “Society is undergoing massive changes that are creating new educational needs and new educational tools that both require and enable a new, learning-focused paradigm of education …” I think that we have come a long way in the past years when it comes to integrating technology into the classroom. It amazes me to see the tools I have available now as a teacher compared to the tools we had in the classroom while I was still in school. Each year it seems that there is more and more out there to enhance the learning experience for the classroom. I think the massive changes can be very fun and exciting for many teachers, but for others it can also be overwhelming and scary. I think that the way the new technology is presented and used is a huge indicator of how teachers will put it to use. To me it all goes back to the professional development…if the new technology is presented in a clear cut manner and has continuous tech help as it is being used, it will more than likely be accepted easier and quicker.



After reading Of Luddites, Learning, and Life (Postman, 1993), I thought the article was much more “entertaining” than the first. I can relate technology in our school to Postman’s example with the Honda Accord. I can see how this example is related to a strong question that is debated still today… is all the new technology really solving the problems in education? I would describe myself as one of the more advanced technology using teachers in my school district, but I can also tell you that I cannot keep up with ALL the new technology programs and tools. I do think that technology is a great thing and I am all for it, but sometimes it sure seems like it can be too much!



I must say that I do agree with multiple points made in Postman’s article. I really like how he used everyday situations to tie into educational technology issues. I thought it was well written and thought out…even if it is rather old for a technology article!