As far as blogging and RSS feeds go, I am not new to the technology. I actually had an account already set up at blogger.com. A blog I posted to ONCE, and has since then, has sat empty. I have understood the appeal of blogging, but I guess I never thought of anything interesting to say. Which is an interesting thought in itself, because how many blogs out there are in fact interesting? Who knows? It is a technology that is available to anyone and everyone who wants to put their thoughts out there.
My RSS feed on the other hand, has been quite useful for entertainment purposes. I have several entertainment based feeds that I follow including EpicFailBlog, certain Facebook pages, and You Are Not A Photographer. My RSS feed tends to be something I go to when I am bored. I can see the usefulness of this when it comes to this class though. My RSS feed is linked to an application on my Android smart phone. I can pull it up anywhere and anytime I want. The only problem I have found so far is that some websites that link to the RSS do not post all of their information to the RSS reader. I follow WoodTV.com for breaking news, which happens constantly, however a post pops up on my RSS maybe once a month.
Siegel’s article Falling Asleep at Your Keyboard, reminds me of the advantages that technology like RSS feeds and blogs can bring to the classroom. The ease of use can be beneficial to parents, students, and the teachers, at the same time. Siegel points out that these types of computer imaginations has several advantages like being able to control what is seen, creating a community of users, and the ease of updating. Parents with several children or schools in their family could easily follow all the necessary people or place on one RSS feed, and eliminate visiting each schools website individually.
As a student and a teacher, I can see the benefits of both blogging and RSS feeds in the classroom. Students could follow teacher’s blogs on RSS to keep up on information and homework, while teachers could use the same technology to keep up with student reflections and written work by utilizing blog feeds instead of physical paper. The increasing popularity of smart phones makes this technology even more useful, as the ability to go mobile becomes more prominent.
While all of these things prove themselves quite useful to me, I had a difficult time placing them in one single level of Dale’s Cone of Experience. I found that the RSS feed and blogs have the ability to cross several levels depending on the type of media being posted. For the most part I feel like these technologies fall into the “Recordings, Radio, and Still Picture” category, even though the name may suggest otherwise. While the majority of blog and RSS posts are written word, many members choose to post photos, videos, diagrams, recordings, and similar media to enhance the “following experience.” While most of these types to posts tend to fall into the top half of the cone, Bloggers could also use links to sites that enhance the experience like virtual exhibits or tours, or interactive models and simulations, which fall into the lower part of Dale’s cone.
While the technology of RSS and bogs misses out on the hands on or real life experiences that Dale’s cone suggests are the most valuable, they can definitely make the learning experience more interesting for students and manageable for parents and teachers.
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