Chapter reactions

Chapter 3

I have stated in my first chapter reactions that using new technologies affiliated with the Internet can be very useful and helpful in and with education. Blogs are just one of these technologies that are available for use in the classroom. To be honest, I think blogs can be very useful in the classroom. Blogs can give the students an opportunity to interact on a level that will increase their analytical and critical thinking and writing skills. A student can give their views and opinions on the text or article that is assigned. They can also have the opportunity to let their classmates respond to what they have written.

I also stated that I had my doubts about blogs as well. The book does explain the dangers when it comes to creating blogs. It talks about how people from the outside can get into the student's work and give them advice that may not be suitable for the direction of the class. But the danger that this chapter sort of touches on is the assessing of the blogs. The book states that the teacher does not have to grade each blog that each student post. I can see where this assignment can be seen as just an assignment where the students just want to get it over. But the point of these blogs are to open up new level of thinking and ideas. If the teacher treats this as just another assignment for the kids to do, then I fear that they won't get exactly what they need to get out of the blogs.

Chapter 5

In reading chapter 5, I had never heard of a RSS. I didn't know what it stood for and I didn't what kind of use it should have in the classroom. I have come to find out that RSS feeds can be very useful to anyone around that is an avid blogger. These can help you narrow down your search from blog to blog to save time and energy. One thing from the book that I truly liked was the fact that teachers can create an aggregator so they don't have to route through each student's blogs. Through the RSS feed, each student's blog can be fed through by posts. This seems to be a teacher's best friend. This can help save time for the teacher that can be spent on something else involving the classroom.

Even after reading the chapter all the way the through, I still was kind of confused on how a person could use RSS feeds outside of the education spectrum. But after I looked at the examples of RSS feed sites, it totally makes sense. A person could be sent weather feeds, airport delays, or any other feeds that affect the daily routine of life. This throws this useful technology right up there with the rest that we have discussed thus far in the class.