Blog on Blogs. RSS in your RSS Feed.

            The idea of using a blog is not a new one to me.  I created my first blog back in high school on a site called Xanga.  This was in the pre-Facebook and Twitter days, but one could argue that the way a high-schooler uses a blog such as Xanga was/is essentially the same as using Facebook or Twitter just a little more long form.

            My first real attempt at a blog was a few years following, and what a mighty attempt that was.  It was intended to be an analysis of the correlation of professional sports teams getting new uniforms and those same teams finding new success (yes, I realize this seems weird and you may judge me for it, but you should look into it sometime).  I made one thorough post, with all the good intentions of following it up with another solid post…but that second post never came.  Yet.  I’ve still got the same ideas in my head.

            My first REAL real blog came as part of an assignment for a technology class in college.  My class partner and I were to create a blog discussing a variety of topics related to the use and missuse of technology in our modern world.  We made some good posts, but once that class was over, so was the blog.

            I have dabbled in other blogs over the years since, but none too seriously, must just an attempt at procrastination.  Though I have too much experience in half-baked blogging (note: all of my old blogs still exist somewhere in the vastness of the internet), I see the definite benefit, especially for educators.  It provides a way to share experiences in a not-so-condensed setting as you may find on some social networking sites.  Allowing for more long-form posts allows for thorough posts that give full descriptions of experiences.  Blogs also allow for a wide variety of feedback from a wide variety of sources, not just “friends” or “followers.”  Blogs can be a medium for the community of learners that is so important to education.

            The RSS feed is something with which I am familiar, but I haven’t had a chance to play around with it in a while.  So far, my re-introduction has been enjoyable, allowing for a wide variety of sources to be streamlined in one location.  Though an RSS feed does eliminate some of the visual elements that may have contributed to the original article, the main messages are easily and efficiently conveyed.  I do, however, wish there was some way to shrink and expand posts on Google Reader so that it would be more efficient to just get a preview of articles in order to decided if I want to read them instead of having to scroll all the way past a full article that I don’t want to read.

            Blogs and RSS feeds seem to fit best at the top of Dale’s Cone: Verbal Symbols.  With the exception of pictures that may be included in a post, blogs and RSS feeds are a very abstract method of communication, even more so that Dale states that “spoken words belong lower on the Cone than written words” (p. 127).  One aspect that I wish Dale had spent some time discussing is the fact that written word, such as blogs, allows for more processing time.  When conversing with someone verbally, immediate response is expected.  Immediate response necessitates immediate processing of what had been said, and sometimes that prevents ideas and thoughts from being fully developed.  But with written word, the reader can read at their own pace and can easily go back as many times as they want to make sure they did not miss part of the written conversation.

            This leads easily into the “imaginative” uses of blogs and RSS.  Blogs can allow for effective communication between teachers and students and also among students.  Students can process the information at their own pace and can review the material easily as necessary.  It also allows for students and teachers to provide feedback to each other in a less formal (and, for some, a more comfortable) environment.  Not only does it allow for students to process at their own pace, but also to respond at their own pace as well.  Replies can be written and edited as much as desired, allowing for not only the original posts to be well developed, but the response of others as well.

            RSS can provide a condensed, efficient source of information for students.  With all of the distractions around, both in terms of technology and non-technology, any means of reducing distractions in today’s world is welcome.  By putting necessary information in on place, RSS, in a way, provides an online “convenience store” of information and news, eliminating some of the need to venture into the unfamiliarity of some areas of the Internet world.

            Now Postman might argue that some of the “problems” that tools such as blogs and RSS “solve” are caused by technology itself, I would rebut by saying that they may not be full solutions to any problem, but instead are good alternatives that can facilitate learning and communication.  Providing alternatives, and, thus, differentiating, allows for learning to happen in a variety of ways.