Back Again

After reading through the assignment sheet for the lab that this blog is a part of, I realized that my posts are supposed to be at least 200 words in length to count for credit. My last post saying that I had nothing to say was nowhere near, so I'm back. I have to admit that I hate having to post a certain amount to a blog (my last class required 600 words a week). It seems so much harder to think of things to say when you have to say something (if that makes sense). Anyway, I thought I could talk for a little while about my experience with wikis, blogs, RSS feeds and podcasts. Most of my experience with wikis and blogs comes from my last semester as an undergrad. I had two classes (one for my creative writing minor and one for my professional writing minor) for which I combined two projects into one bigger one. The final result of the project was a web site which I created for a young adult group in Ft. Wayne that performs West African music and dance. (They're pretty cool by the way. Their site is at http://www.trje.org and mine is at http://www.westafrikanoralliterature.weebly.com.) Anyway, the one class required a blog and at least 600 words a week in postings. The other required either a blog or a print log of the project. I chose a blog and used the same one for both classes, posting at least my required word count about the project and the kids I was working with (it is here on blogger). The professional writing class also required contribution to a class wiki about profession writing and our projects. So, I got some experience with both in the same semester. The interesting thing is that about halfway through Michael Schaefer from deepblog.com contacted me through my blog and asked some questions about the classes and how we were using blogs. He had found my blog through a link on the wiki. Turns out he was trying to study how blogs are being used by different people for different purposes. He seemed pretty interested in our use and we exchanged a couple of emails. That's the main reason (and to maybe draw people to my website) that I left the blog up after the project was done. So that's my blog/wiki experience. As far as RSS goes, it's pretty new to me, but I am beginning to see its potential. I may keep up on a couple of my feeds after this lab is over. Podcasts are a little more familiar as my cataloging prof uses them to give instructions to the class. They work out really well for an online class and make material easier to understand. I have "heard" other students say the same, that they are especially good for those who learn better by hearing than by reading. I guess all in all these technologies are as valuable as you make them. They can be used for fun, to keep up on news and events, and even for education. I don't think that web based and distance classes would be what they are without some of these "hot technologies." They (web based classes) have come a long way even since I began college only 5 years ago. I think they have really helped give web based education the potential to rival the on campus/in person kind. Of course that's just my opinion.