Blogs and RSS Feeds

I can already tell (yes, from only a single class session) that this is going to be a great semester. Blogs are going to be a big part of your experience, and I hope you do take advantage of it. Years ago (let's say circ. 1996) email really started to get popular. There were skeptics, who didn't buy into the idea and it's power, and look what happened! And now today this new technology/ integration tool "RSS Feeds", similar to email, being new might not be well accepted (only because people really don't understand their power and functionality) but nonetheless will make a difference in the way people learn and communicate. In an effort to better prepare you for this semester's experience and to cope with the rapidly evolving Technopoly in which we live please check out the following online videos to better understand what are Blogs and RSS Feeds:

Video 1: Intro to RSS feeds and News Aggregators

http://www.rssdomination.com/video.htm

This is a good visual overview of the topic. The video last for about 5 minutes and is a good intro to the topic even though the producers seem to be advocating the use of a particular news aggregator.



Video 2: Introduction to Weblog use in High School
http://wwwstatic.kern.org/gems/webteam/WebLoggingSmall.mov

This video introduces the use of blogs in a high school classroom. Several teachers and students are interviewed. It is a simple introduction to some of the possibilities of having students use blogs.



You should also read through the reflection journal assignment page. There are a few links in the resources section of the page that will lead you to more in-depth articles on blogs and aggregators.

Best of luck, and remember take the survey!