Linsey Cushing
September 14, 2007
Week 4 Reflection
Aims and Objectives:
This week, my goal was to get all of my work done before the weekend because I have two tests on Tuesday I need to study for and a wedding on Saturday. I didn’t do very well because it is Friday night, and here I am typing away! My other goal was just to try not to stress too much about this class. When I saw how much we had to do this week in addition to my other classes’ work loads, I was quite overwhelmed. However, I’m trucking along and slowly making progress!
Declarative Knowledge:
This week, the I learned about Wikipedia, RSS, and searching the Web. I did not know that Wikipedia was the eighth most visited Web site in 2005. Considering it’s popularity, it is probably higher today. I also learned that Wikipedia has a Discussion tab where editors can give their reasoning for editing the page so that others can search for bias in the article. Most of our readings for the week focused on RSS, or Real Simple Syndication. When you apply to an RSS feed, you select the Web sites that you want searched. Then, an aggregator searches these sites for updates and whenever it finds one, that site is identified on your RSS feed. This way, you no longer have to search sites for updates, saving you time and effort. RSS is the solution for organizing the overwhelming amount of information that is currently available on the Web. As author Will Richardson said, “RSS is a powerful, flexible tool that…will be changing our information gathering habits for years to come. If you don’t try any other tool…, you simply have to start using RSS” (2006). Finally, I learned about searching the Web for topics. I learned that there are three types of search tools: search engines, subject directories, and the invisible Web. Search engines are databases such as Google and Yahoo that allow you to type in a topic and search for results. Something called a “spider” searches through the database and returns to you with results, known as “hits.” Subject directories are for specific topics and are created by people interested in this topic. Finally, I learned that some Web sites are “invisible” and cannot be picked up by search engines or subject directories. The most important thing I learned about searching the Web, however, was that you should search more than one area when looking for information.
Procedural Knowledge:
This week, I learned to how to properly search the Web for information in search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and Ask. I learned how to manipulate the wording of the topic so that different numbers of hits will come up when I search for it. I also learned how to subscribe to an RSS feed in Chapter 5 of Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms. Finally, I learned how to subscribe to a professional mailing list when I joined one that related to my topic about cochlear implants.
Conditional Knowledge:
The knowledge I acquired this week will be very helpful in my future, especially in the near future for this class. We are in the beginning stages of a research project, and the information I learned about Wikipedia, RSS, and searching the Web will all be very useful when I am searching for information on my topic, which deals with cochlear implants and literacy. For example, I will probably use Wikipedia as a starting point for research but not as a main source because it is ever-changing and therefore hard to cite. An RSS feed would be helpful in identifying when new information is added to sites involving cochlear implants and literacy. The information I learned about searching the Web is already coming into play because this week, we had to search different search engines for our topic. Also, the mailing list that I joined will aid in my research. As a pre-professional, this information is useful because I am learning to incorporate technology into my future career, which will be essential in the future. I’m sure that I will use an RSS feed to keep track of Web sites that pertain to speech-language pathology. As a citizen, Wikipedia is a great place to become part of the global community. I could help to contribute to Huntington’s page on Wikipedia to fulfill my duty as a citizen.
