Wikis & RSS feed

                Chapter four Wikis: Easy Collaboration for All defines “a wiki [as] a Web site where anyone can edit anything anytime they want.” (p.55) Wikis are a tool that everyone has access to as well as the power to create, erase, add and change ideas and topics written. This tool opens a door to the way in which people publish their work. A question was raised as to how do people know if the information that they read on Wikipedia is accurate in regards to the fact that anyone can change it; it was answered that, “there are vastly more editors who want to make it right than those who want to make it wrong.” (p.56) As I read about how an entry was made for a earthquake it made me think of a blog in the aspect that the entry was create just after the earthquake happened; it documented an actual event at the time of occurrence. The difference is that anyone can add information to it; thus adding perspectives from other affected areas, people, pictures, etc.  I have always heard a warning about using Wikipedia but after reading this chapter I feel as though people do not understand the editing that thousands of people to do wikis to try and ensure that the information they are gathering is correct.

                Chapter five RSS: The New Killer App for Educators explains the process and idea behind RSS (Really Simple Syndication). “… What RSS feeds allow you to do [is] to [use] a type of software called an “aggregator” or feed collector. The aggregator checks the feeds you subscribe to, usually every hour, and it collects all the new content from those sites you are subscribed to. Then, when you’re ready, you open up your aggregator to read the individual stories, file them for later use, click through to the site itself, or delete them if they’re not relevant.” (p.72) RSS is not something that I have a lot of experience with; I have noticed the RSS feeds on websites but overlooked them because I was unfamiliar with it. However, after reading this chapter, I think I would try to set up an aggregator and see where it leads me; it seems like it could be a useful tool that is easy to establish.  Subscribing to the right RSS feeds can bring in new hot off the press updates to you and students. Older students might find use to follow their favorite topics for a month and write about everything that happened in that month.

                Keeping Up, 2.0 Style is a quick article that promotes the use of RSS feed.  The author discusses how she uses RSS feeds to keep up with what is going on in the literacy world. She also explains how easy it is to follow and gives users freedom from having to check several sites to try and keep up with the changes, especially during busy days and schedules. She remarks that “it allows us to choose exactly what types of information we want to find and what sources we want to follow, and have all that delivered to us on a regular bases.”

                Digital Literacies is another quick article that discussed wikis as a new digital literacy that is becoming a better known tool. The authors give a quick description of wikis and a quick overview of how wikis work. They also encourage the use of wikis in the classroom and provide resources and websites that are helpful for the promotion of wikis.

                Radical Change and Wikis: Teaching New Literacies is an in depth article about how to incorporate wikis in a sixth grade classroom.  It began by explaining a quick overview of wikis and how the “radical change” created a new literacy.  The article then goes on to describe the study in which students in elementary and middle school use new literacies, such as wikis, e-literature and other software in the classroom. The author shares some of the thoughts of the students as well as the researchers working on the study. Finally, she discusses the process of incorporating new literacies and provides thoughts on engaging students in a new literacies process.