Following blogs about technology and voice conferencing on my RSS reader was an interesting process. Although RSS readers are suppose to make it easier to catch up on your favorite blogs, I found myself spending more time on my computer because started reading more blogs than I had before I used an RSS reader. I must admit, using the RSS reader was much quicker than finding all the information on separate websites.
What worked the best was that it was a great way to start to learn about something without having to a bunch of research. I will soon be co-teaching on voice conferencing and it was nice to start do learn what people are saying about it and what is currently happening in the field. When I start to research more about voice conferencing I feel as though I have an idea where to start.
I also used the RSS feeder in my itunes to download podcasts about Voice Conferencing. Unfortunately, there were not many podcasts on the topic and the podcasts I listened too were far to advanced and technical for me to understand. Maybe after a couple of months of learning about Voice Conferencing I will understand what the podcasters are talking about.
If done differently, I would have tried to find blogs that posted more often. Some blogs only had a few postings or none at all over the two weeks. This made it difficult to learn how blogs interact with each other. Before picking blogs, it would be worth checking to see how often the blogger posts and only follow blogs that do post on a regular basis.
I could use RSS readers in my classroom by having students follow their classmates' blogs. Students could post their writings on their blogs and make suggestions about the writings by commenting about the postings. Having students use a reader would make it easier for them to follow their classmates blogs without having to search all over the web.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Monday, October 20, 2008
RSS blog III
In Skype Journal blog there is an overview of IPEVO speakerphones for VoIP. There is a detailed review of the phone and advice on how to get the phone. What was most interesting was that at the bottom of the blog was a link to another review of the phone on Engadget, another blog I am following in my googlereader. Engadget, gives a brief description of what the phone can be used for and gives additional information that Skype Journal did not provide.It appears as though the voice conferencing blogosphere is pretty small since it was difficult to locate blogs. It makes sense that I found a link between two of the blogs I'm following since the bloggers are most likely following other blogs about voice conferencing.
I wonder if any blogs have linked to my blog to send readers to get more information...
Friday, October 17, 2008
RSS blog II- Skype users increasing
Reading through all of my RSS information on Voice Conferencing has been interesting. Two of the blogs I have subscribed to have posted similar information. Both Skype Journal and VoIP Watch have mentioned Skype's increase in users. VoIP Watch links to an article on another blog called TMCnet. The article mentions that based on a report by Pike and Fischer "approximately 8.5 million U.S. households will start using VoIP for their home phone service by 2010, which would bring the total number of VoIP connected households to about 30 million". That's alot of users. Skype Journal also mentioned an increase in Skype accounts and an increase in Skype minutes.
Both these blogs mention an overall increase in users of Skype. Beings more and more people are using Skype, chances are more students are going to start to use Skype. How have our schools increased their use of Skype for educational purposes? Since Skype is fairly new, it may take some time for teachers to figure out how to use Skype to help student learn. Teachers should start to ask their students their ideas about using Skype since chances are, many of the students may already be using Skype in their homes.
Both these blogs mention an overall increase in users of Skype. Beings more and more people are using Skype, chances are more students are going to start to use Skype. How have our schools increased their use of Skype for educational purposes? Since Skype is fairly new, it may take some time for teachers to figure out how to use Skype to help student learn. Teachers should start to ask their students their ideas about using Skype since chances are, many of the students may already be using Skype in their homes.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Using RSS
For my Emerging Instructional Technologies class I have set up an RSS feed to learn more about Voice Conferencing. I am using googlereader for my RSS account and am impressed at how easy it is to use. Instead of having to search for blogs everyday and to see if something new was posted, new blog posts will show up in my googlereader. It makes everything so much 
simpler and saves time. The first screen shot is of my googlereader. The second screen shot is a closer view of how I have organized my information. I have different folders for the various sites and blogs I have subscribed to. Two of the folders are for blogs of my classmates for two of my classes this semester. Other folders are News, Money, and Technology. The blogs I have subscribed to for learning more about Voice Conferencing are delivered to my technology folder. The blogs I chose to subscribe to are ones that are up to date on Voice Conferencing and post often. When there is a new blog to read, the folder will be a darker, bolder blue and have a number behind it. This is so easy to use! 
I am also using igoogle as a center to get information that I usually search for everyday. Igoogle is nice because most everything I usually go to separate websites to find is at one location. By to subscribing to different applications that display all my information I usually go out to find in one location. Some of the applications I have chosen show the latest headlines in education and the world. I have created tabs to organize my information. My tabs include home, fun stuff, news, education, books, and Scrabble.RSS feeds can also be used on Itunes. By subscribing to a podcast, Itunes will automatically check to see if there are any new podcasts. If there are, the podcast will download by itself. I have been subscribed to many podcasts for awhile. It is so convenient and I don't have to worry about missing my favorite radio programs. To learn more about Voice Conferencing, I have subscribed to some podcasts that are about Voice Conferencing and VoIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol). The names of the podcasts I subscribed to are called Blue Box: The VoIP Security Podcast, The VoIP Exerience, VoIP Users Community Conference, and Ted Talks.
It seems like an overwhelming amount of information, but RSS will help to make it easier to learn about Voice Conferencing since all the information is going to my googlereader.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Second Life Science Tour
This is a tour of some science related locations in Second Life. I've included the surl (Second Life url) and a description of the location
1.NASA Education Island
http://slurl.com/secondlife/NASA%20eEducation/183/129/29
Even though this location is currently being updates, when completed it should be a great resource. Educators can find ideas for using NASA related information in science and mathematics.
2.Science Friday
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Science%20Friday/248/165/27
On Friday, listeners of NPR's Talk of the Nation can meet here to listen and discuss Friday’s topic, which always relates to Science. Also, there is additional information linked to websites. This is great place for educators to keep up on what is currently happening in the science community.
3.Sploland: Home to interactive museums of: Science, Human Perception and Humor. Science Exhibits and Exhibitions.
http://slurl.com/secondlife/SploLand/128/128/29
This location is crazy! There is so much going on all around you. There’s different areas to the location: Splo Central, The Orbital Experience, Mount ‘Splo, The ‘Splo Giftshop, and the Molecular Dance Floor. I think this place would be a good site to have students explore to get ideas. It is also fun for a science teacher to see how traditional ideas can be presented in interesting ways.
4.Abyss Museum of Ocean Science
http://abyss-secondlife.blogspot.com/
After arriving at the location, you can go on a self-guided tour. The tour includes areas like the boardwalk, a sculpture garden, Underwater observation pods, Observation deck and Imagination Garden. This site has models of historical undersea crafts, undersea creatures, a fishing game and undersea pods to observe the ocean. This site is interesting for a teacher a landlocked area to use because it makes learning more about oceans interesting.
5. Moody Gardens at Galveston Island
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Galveston%20Isle/82/116/27
This location is modeled after the real life Moody Gardens in Galveston Texas. The Aquarium Pyramid, Rainforest Pyramid, and the Discovery Pyramid have interactive demonstrations and science experiments.
6. Popsic Future Lounge: The Second Life home of PopSci.com (the Web site of Popular Science Magazine)
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Future/186/68/30
This location has an area to relax and discuss science related ideas with others. In the circular building, there are links to articles in Popular Science Magazine.
7. Starry Night Art Gallery From SciArt Media
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Siringo/19/98/34
This location has images you can purchase that relate to science and nature. Although this location does not offer information, I think it is a good resource to use if you are creating a house for a science classroom.
8.European Science Island
http://slurl.com/secondlife/European%20Science/48/213/25
This is a place to meet for discussions and has interesting things to visit like the interactive globe and real time weather maps. What I liked most about this location was that it had a spot to get notes cards listing locations in SL on topics such as geoscience, human geography, regional geography, climate/weather. The location did have some publications to read, but many of them were in languages other than English.
1.NASA Education Islandhttp://slurl.com/secondlife/NASA%20eEducation/183/129/29
Even though this location is currently being updates, when completed it should be a great resource. Educators can find ideas for using NASA related information in science and mathematics.
2.Science Fridayhttp://slurl.com/secondlife/Science%20Friday/248/165/27
On Friday, listeners of NPR's Talk of the Nation can meet here to listen and discuss Friday’s topic, which always relates to Science. Also, there is additional information linked to websites. This is great place for educators to keep up on what is currently happening in the science community.
3.Sploland: Home to interactive museums of: Science, Human Perception and Humor. Science Exhibits and Exhibitions.http://slurl.com/secondlife/SploLand/128/128/29
This location is crazy! There is so much going on all around you. There’s different areas to the location: Splo Central, The Orbital Experience, Mount ‘Splo, The ‘Splo Giftshop, and the Molecular Dance Floor. I think this place would be a good site to have students explore to get ideas. It is also fun for a science teacher to see how traditional ideas can be presented in interesting ways.
4.Abyss Museum of Ocean Sciencehttp://abyss-secondlife.blogspot.com/
After arriving at the location, you can go on a self-guided tour. The tour includes areas like the boardwalk, a sculpture garden, Underwater observation pods, Observation deck and Imagination Garden. This site has models of historical undersea crafts, undersea creatures, a fishing game and undersea pods to observe the ocean. This site is interesting for a teacher a landlocked area to use because it makes learning more about oceans interesting.
5. Moody Gardens at Galveston Islandhttp://slurl.com/secondlife/Galveston%20Isle/82/116/27
This location is modeled after the real life Moody Gardens in Galveston Texas. The Aquarium Pyramid, Rainforest Pyramid, and the Discovery Pyramid have interactive demonstrations and science experiments.
6. Popsic Future Lounge: The Second Life home of PopSci.com (the Web site of Popular Science Magazine)http://slurl.com/secondlife/Future/186/68/30
This location has an area to relax and discuss science related ideas with others. In the circular building, there are links to articles in Popular Science Magazine.
7. Starry Night Art Gallery From SciArt Mediahttp://slurl.com/secondlife/Siringo/19/98/34
This location has images you can purchase that relate to science and nature. Although this location does not offer information, I think it is a good resource to use if you are creating a house for a science classroom.
8.European Science Islandhttp://slurl.com/secondlife/European%20Science/48/213/25
This is a place to meet for discussions and has interesting things to visit like the interactive globe and real time weather maps. What I liked most about this location was that it had a spot to get notes cards listing locations in SL on topics such as geoscience, human geography, regional geography, climate/weather. The location did have some publications to read, but many of them were in languages other than English.
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