Web 2.0 Chapter 5 - RSS: The New Killer App for Educators

RSS or Real Simple Syndication - What? OK so we have another acronym in education and technology. I don't think there are enough acronyms in education or technology. All joking aside, if you are an educator then RSS feeds are definitely something you should be aware of. In a simple explanation RSS allows the educator to create something like an online newspaper with only information they want to read about. Instead of going through the electronic paper to see what topics they are interested in they only see things that they have previously marked as being interested in or subscribing to. Think of it this way: You spend an afternoon browsing through the Internet doing searches for a specific topic and find some great weblogs. You select those that you like the most and can subscribe to them using Google Reader or your own chosen reader. (Not every blog can be subscribed to yet.) The next time you go online you can go to one web page and it would have a small preview of every blog you subscribed to. This way you can quickly scan your personally created reader page and pick those articles that you want to see more on. You can save a great amount of time by not having to go all over the Internet finding what you already know is of interest.

I know the above information makes it sound more simple than many believe it to be, but if you go to http://www.google.com/reader you can try it for yourself. You will find that with a little time spent you can create a new favorite website because you can pick all the content. The time spent will be well worth the effort. I think that the most time consuming component is finding blogs that allow subscribing to which I have an interest in. One website that has a number of links with RSS tools can be found here. http://directory.google.com/Top/Computers/Software/Internet/Clients/WWW/Feed_Readers/

Web 2.0 - Chapter 4 - Wikis: Easy Collaboration for All

Wikis - What are they, how do they work, are they reliable sources of information and how can they be used in schools? Not to long ago the word wiki wasn't known by many people. Now many people have heard the term but many still do not know what it is. In a much simplified definition, a wiki is a website where people can participate in creating an online encyclopedia of sorts. An encyclopedia??? If you remember using books called encyclopedias for research while in school then you probably didn't grow up using the Internet everyday. While encyclopedias contain a wealth of information the accumulation of the information, the sorting and organizing and eventually the publishing of the information in book form can take awhile and changes or updated information doesn't appear until the next release of the books. Online Wikis can be changed almost instantly. Different people can contribute to the wealth of information with their own expertise.



Reliability of the information on a wiki is the most concerning to many educators. After all, if anyone can contribute to a wiki how reliable can the information really be? The answer to this isn't technical but more of a numbers issue. If you consider the number of people that would like the information on a wiki to be accurate versus the number of people that would like to see false information posted those looking for accuracy will (should) win. This is where it is important for educators to place emphasis with students that multiple information sources are needed for reliability. Students should not trust anything from anyone or everyone but rather should look for multiple sources of the same information, compare the material found and make decisions based on what they find as far as accuracy. The same methods that applied when doing research with magazines, books, encyclopedias and other sources still applies today when using online resources.



What are your favorite Wikis? Do you have some websites that you have found a good educator wiki? What uses of a wiki can you think of for a class, hobby or student activity? Do you have a wiki that you have found that you think would work for teachers? If so please post your thoughts on Wikis and be sure to share a wiki favorite of your own if you have one.

Web 2.0 Discussion - Chapter 2 - Weblogs: Pedagogy and Practice

The use of Weblogs is increasing in schools as the technology becomes more available in education. I found the information regarding the use of Weblogs as a tool to highlight and share best practices interesting. Related to this is the idea of using the weblog as a building block for school web pages. If you click on the title of this Chapter 2 unit you can link to our school website to see what teachers have websites listed. It is a surprise to me, knowing that several teachers use weblogs, that more teachers have not asked to put their weblog on the school website.

Anyone that would like assistance before next weeks discussion group or would like to schedule a time in the near future to have assistance creating a blog please email me. I would be happy to assist any way I can. If you would simply like to have a site you created linked to the website then email Dan Kane or myself and we will post the information.

I would urge everyone to visit as many of the sites listed in Chapter 2 for some ideas.

Web 2.0 Discussion Group Book Review

In Will Richardsons book, "Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms", Chapter 1 is about the Read/Write Web. As the use of the internet continues to change, more educators are learning how to utilize the resources for classes. As schools ask educators to step out of their comfort zones and try new and challenging things with their students, the need for training increases along with a need for time to utilize what is learned by the teacher. What catches your attention in the first chapter of this book? If you click the title above you will link to Will Richardsons website.

Safety For Students Online

With the number of our students using the internet what should we be doing as educators to help them make responsible choices? There are many websites available to students to help them realize what responsibilities they should choose and how to stay safe. One of my favorite sites is i-SAFE. It provides many resources that are free to educators and children. Check it out by clicking on the title of this post! (To use the best parts of this website you need to create an account but you can surf it for information without an account. The account is free!)