The past week presented a number of interesting and informative projects. Constructing a group project on the social network Facebook, creating a bookmarking account and completing the PBworks learning course had its share of challenges, but in the long run was both a rewarding and pleasurable experience. Our assignments included linking all of the tools together and then critiqueing the work of other group members.
Here is my wiki at PBworks
http://blearningtech.pbworks.com/w/page/38902685/Welcome-Page Microblogging, Bookmarking and Feeds
Here is my wiki at PBworks
http://blearningtech.pbworks.com/w/page/38902685/Welcome-Page Microblogging, Bookmarking and Feeds
Are twitter, delicious and Google reader household names? Maybe not in all households around the world but there is no question that they are quickly becoming proverbial icons; prolific instruments of our communications and sharing. Consequently, unless we are tuned in to their relevance we may miss something or someone.
Twitter is a micro-blogging tool, originally created “to send quick updates (tweets) to anyone who… (is) following” (Richardson, 2010, pg 86). Tweets can only be 140 characters long. However, 140 characters of information create an enthusiastic, enduring link of questions and answers, and URL links between millions of followers.
It’s no wonder that twitter has become the fad in politics, and it’s “not just for profits” (2008, ¶ 1) claim the online Corporate Eye. In fact, we might even speculate that President Obama’s tweeting won him the presidential election; as he enduringly “maneuvered the social networking stratosphere… gather (ing) large, massive followings”(¶ 1). According to the Corporate Eye “The world has rapidly moved toward technology and there is absolutely no slowing down”(¶ 6). From a political standpoint, “politicians”(¶ 6) have to “go where their voters are”(¶ 6) and right now that’s twitter.
How about delicious? It’s one of a number of social bookmarking services where individuals, organizations business and virtually anyone can spread their interests and/or gain information through bookmarking links by use of tags, chosen by the user. Consequently, diverse tags are a downfall for some bookmarking sites. For example a particular learning blog can be tagged by a user as “learning, schools, edtech” (Richardson, 2010,pg 91) etc… The Delicious site is unique in its ability to connect “resources” (pg. 90) with “similar” (pg. 90) tags.
Speaking of education, Delicious is a resourceful site for both educators and students. The application makes searching for particular subject material less complicated and time consuming, compared to using a search engine.
If you like the idea of having the NYTimes delivered to your email, blog, wiki or webpage on a daily basis, you would be interested in acquiring a feed. Really Simple Syndication (RSS) like, Google Reader affords a user subscriptions to his/her favorite news sites, blogs, and/or web pages. Google Reader also offers an “integrated feed search” (Google Reader, 2011), which delivers feeds that interest you based on your subscriptions. Unfortunately, this feature is not always an advantage as not all information qualified as matching your interest is acceptable to your viewing. Like twitter and delicious, the unique aspect of a feed is having easy accessibility to information and contacts along with the continual flow of updated information.
Today, being tuned in requires understanding the relevance of Microblogging, bookmarking and feeds.
References
Google Reader (2011) A Quick Tour. Retrieved May 02, 2011 from http://www.google.com/intl/en/googlereader/tour.html
Richardson,, W. (2010) Blogs, Wikis Podcasts and Other powerful Web Tools for Classrooms. Corwin.
Corporate Eye (March 19, 2009). The Effects of Twitter on Politics – It’s Not Just for Profits. Retrieved May 02, 2011 from http://www.corporate-eye.com/blog/2009/03/the-effects-of-twitter-on-politics-its-not-just-for-profits/
