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.