I’ve spent some time this week joining Bloglines, organizing the feeds I was already reading (imported from my LiveJournal account), and adding some new ones. I’m proud to say that I now subscribe to over 100 feeds (including my own blogs, and it takes me anywhere from 30-45 minutes two or three times a day to keep up with them. If things change, I’ll implement a reading schedule on myself.
One of the new feeds I added (and was rather surprised to find I wasn’t already reading it) is Weblogg-ed, where I found this post on using del.icio.us.
Now, the funny thing is that as I read this, I thought about how I use del.icio.us and Furl. As I read thorugh my feeds every day, I save any posts and articles that I want to blog on in the Tasks tab of Outlook, complete with date I want to write about it and where i found it. Once I blog it, I save it to both del.icio.us and Furl. Sometimes when I can’t find anything I like, I’ll go through “…and other people” to see what interesting links might be out there. Sometimes I find myself running in circles and have to look for links that go outside anything related to my own tags.
I’ve often worried that I was completely silly in my approach, but it’s nice to know that others blog in a similar format.
Posted by Rebecca as Weblogs at 10:21 AM EDT
No Comments »
Stephen Downes last week posted a link to this article from the Village Voice’s website on blogging in higher level academics.
It’s just a fascinating read, especially in light of the fact that blogs are not very widespread through academic researchers, but seem to be sprading through graduate student researchers.
Found via Stephen Downes
Posted by Rebecca as Current Affairs at 10:42 AM EDT
No Comments »
I’ m stil exploring the concept of folksonomies and tagging and trying to make sense of it all. This article on social bookmarking tools has been an interesting perusal in my readings lately. I’m still reading it, but I wanted to share it anyway.
What I thought was really interesting was that the first place I found this article linked. The post was talking about how some blogs are nothing more than link blogs, and I couldn’t help but think to myself, “Isn’t the origin of blogging in weblogs that were nothing more than link blogs because people wanted their bookmarks to be more portable?” We’ve evolved from these link blogs to blogs that may or may not link to some interesting piece of information and surround this link or main concept with personal reaction. Perhaps it would be worthwhile to see when, exactly, tagging entered the picture.
Found via elearningpost and Stephen Downes
Posted by Rebecca as Information Architecture at 8:46 PM EDT
No Comments »
There’s a potential aid to help identify students with learning disabilities sooner. It’s just fascinating. I think if we could determine ways to diagnose learning disabilities, then perhaps we’re one step closer to create learning plans that facilitate a student’s particular situation to help that student be successful in his learning.
Posted by Rebecca as Learning methods at 1:57 PM EDT
No Comments »
I’m blogging on the development of online content both here and at DesignNiche because I think it falls into both categories.
This article details how to select the best content developer based on their instructional design approach.
I’m still debating what to do about grad school, and admittedly with my interest in both education and technology, I am seriously considering pursuing an advanced degree in Instructional Design.
Posted by Rebecca as e-learning at 8:48 AM EDT
No Comments »
Moving back towards teaching has really been a great experience for me over these past two weeks. It’s made me appreciate the more alternative approaches available to students who just don’t fare well under the traditional education system.
The Seattle area actually has a number of alternative education settings. Homeschooling, charter schools, and Montessori schools abound here. At Amtgard, we have some kids from a local Montessori school who are working to put together a Renaissance Faire. It’s what actually brought them out to the park. In talking with one of their parents, I learned that the school has a mandatory community service requirement. From watching and listening to the boys, I’m going to guess this is a popular thing at the school as students get to choose where and how they do their hours every year.
I also volunteer with the Northshore Performing Arts Center Foundation a few hours each week. The office is located in the local school district building along with at least one magnet.alternative program. The students in this building are also required to do some sort of community service, so some of them choose to put in their hours with the foundation.
This morning while I was working, one of the students came in to see if he could do anything. He was given a task and sat down at the front esk to work on it. As various teachers and schoolmates came by, they asked if he was working on his requirement. His response: "No, I’ve finished my hours. I’m just down here working on this."
I heard that and just smiled. My parents raised me to help out where I can. A lot of kids today don’t get that kind of character education, and to see a situation where a student meets the requirement, but keeps on working just to help out was incredible.
I know some schools have a character building program in progress or in place, but I think more schools should consider implementing one.
Posted by Rebecca as Responsibility at 8:20 AM EDT
No Comments »
With the new realization that computers do not aid students’ learning, here is a thought on using computers as a tool to facilitate reflective learning (allowing the student greater chance for ownership of their learning).
If you are unfamiliar with the ELGG project, you might want to spend a few minutes looking around and seeing what Dave and Ben have been working on. Although I haven’t actively worked with my own ELGG in a couple of months, I really like how they view this learning space.
Posted by Rebecca as e-learning at 2:41 PM EDT
No Comments »
