Reflections on Blogs and RSS (EDT-5410, Week 2)

Reflections on Blogs and RSS; EDT-5410, Week 2

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I think Blogs are a great way to communicate, especially across a great distance. Yes, this can be done via email, but with email, you must know the individuals address, and eventually you have to fish the email trail out of a pile of general email, or locate the appropriate file in which you’ve stashed the email. A Blog seems to be a more permanent, effective form of conversing over time; the fact that they are searchable is beneficial as well, especially after a length of time has passed.

At this stage of my limited experience with Blogging, however, I find the process a bit kludgy…nothing that time and practice won’t remedy, I’m sure.

Setting up the RSS feeds was very simple, and there are a multitude of them available covering every imaginable topic. I subscribed to a few related to educational technology, and am amassing reads rapidly; currently 56. The quantity of article “hits” could feasibly result in a large amount of time reading articles and jumping to other sites for “related” articles as my interest is peaked.

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The correlation of Blogs to Dale’s Cone – I think Blogs are similar to dramatization as the writer and reader experience the retelling of life experiences. The imagination of the reader is engaged as s/he develops abstract visualizations of the writer’s words. In some instances, the reader and writer may have similar life experiences, making their exchange even more meaningful.

The correlation of RSS feeds to Dale’s Cone – since RSS feeds are available in a variety of formats, they may correlate to Dale’s Cone in several categories, i.e., readings, video/television, or audio recordings.

Blogs and RSS feeds are yet another medium to help educators reach the individual learning styles of their students. As with all instructional tools, some students will benefit from a specific instrument more than others, thus validating the argument for utilizing a variety of mediums to ensure concept development and mastery by each student.

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As I was reading Dale’s Cone, I made the following note: The “two…major hazards in all teaching” (p134) as stated in the summation of this reading prompted the following thoughts/correlations for me: 1) on-line learning/instructional design must include varied activities – self-directed field trips, if you will, experiments, research, etc. – to ensure mastery of the subject. This is exactly what Siegel is referring to; engaging the learning on many levels to get their attention, keep their interest, and truly provide a rich learning experience.

Blogs allow students to connect with others in a variety of geographical regions allowing for insight from vastly different cultures, which enhances imagination and understanding of a topic from varying viewpoints.

RSS feeds allow for quick access to resources of information that might otherwise consume large amounts of time discovering. Additionally, RSS feeds are selected based on their direct relevance to a specific topic, inherently weeding out irrelevant information.