A4.8: Week 4 Reflection

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.

A4.3: Reflection on Searching the WWW

Linsey Cushing
September 12, 2007

Reflection on Searching the WWW

When I search the Web for information, my first spot to visit is always Google. After reading this information, I realized that although Google is the number one search engine, it still does not find every option that is available on the Web. I learned that when comparing search engines, many factors besides number of hits and amount of information available come into play. Yahoo Search is named as the second best search to Google, followed by Ask.com. I realized when reading this information that I have hardly ever accessed either of these search engines when doing research. I have been cutting my resources short and not even known it! Although a lot of information about Google, Yahoo, and Ask.com was available, I found that it was too over my head to understand. Even after reading what these terms were in the glossary, I still was somewhat lost. However, I found that I learned a lot about search engines in general. I was very surprised to find that search engines do not actually search the Web; rather, they have a certain database that the “spider” searches through in order to find the Web sites that I see after a search. I always thought that when I did a search engine, it was searching the entire Internet for sources. From now on, I plan on searching Google, Yahoo, and Ask.com for information so that I can get a variety of hits. Another aspect that I found interesting and surprising was that some Web sites are “invisible” to the search engines and therefore cannot show up as a hit when I search, even if these sites contain my topic. To find this invisible information, you have to search sites such as Google Scholar or belong to a group that subscribes to certain advanced searches, such as ERIC or PsychInfo. My advantage is as a Marshall student, I have access to EBSCO Host and I can search through this for many invisible Web sources. Another thing I had never heard of before today was Subject Directories. These Web sites allow you to connect to sites that are selected and maintained by certain people. For example, at www.lii.org , librarians compile the information. I will keep this type of search engine in mind when I’m looking for a specific topic. I really liked the ITools site and Keith Stanger’s site because each one is filled with search options that I did not have before. I will definitely use both of these sites in the future.

What I learned today about search engines and subject directories will be very beneficial in the future. It will impact my work because I now know that searching just Google does not give me nearly the amount of choices that I could get by searching Google, Yahoo, Ask.com, and some specific subject directories. I plan on utilizing many of these Web sites when doing research for this class and also in the future when I am doing research. This will help me to find valuable information much faster and also lets me not settle for mediocre information because it was all I could find. Hopefully, utilizing what I learned today will improve my research in the future and will be reflected in my final product.

A4.2: Chapter 5 – Richardson

Linsey Cushing
September 12, 2007

Richardson, W. (2006). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

TAP:
This chapter discusses RSS basics and is geared toward educators. The purpose of the chapter is to inform the reader about RSS, describe how to download and access RSS, and persuade the reader to use RSS.

Claim:
Because of the ever-expanding amount of information that is available on the Web, organization can be overwhelming at times. However, RSS is the solution to this problem. As the title of the chapter quotes, RSS is “The New Killer App for Educators” (Richardson 2006). RSS is a necessary addition for every educator and student because it allows the user to log onto the RSS aggregator and view which Web sites, Weblogs, wikis, etc. have been recently updated instead of having to search each individual site. RSS saves time for the user while also improving critical thinking skills.

Evidence:
RSS, or Real Simple Syndication, allows the user to set up an aggregator, which does the searching for you and sets up the RSS feeds. Then the user selects which Web sites, blogs, wikis, search engine topics, or newsgroups are of interest and adds these to the RSS feed. Finally, the user fine tunes the RSS feed by choosing whether others can see what he or she subscribes to, how often the aggregator should check for updates, and how long the information should be saved. When the user goes back to the RSS feed, he or she will see that the Web sites that are updated are highlighted. This way, the user does not waste time going from site to site but instead has all the updates available on one. The user must learn to glance at the new information and determine whether it is valid, useful information or simply something that came up and is useless to the user. This aspect of RSS is particularly useful in the classroom because it can help improve students’ critical thinking skills and judgment. RSS is also very beneficial to teachers because it allows them to create an RSS feed for the students’ blogs. When researching, RSS is useful because you can use search engines such as Google to search for a particular topic and have the aggregator add any updates to Web sites about the topic or add any new Web sites created about the topic. The same can be done for news searches such as Google News and Yahoo News. As Richardson concluded the chapter, he said this: “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).

Connections:
Before taking CD 315, I had never heard of RSS. When I first started reading about it, I was somewhat confused. However, this chapter really clarified how beneficial RSS can be if I look at the updates on a daily basis and teach myself to differentiate between useful information and updates that just need to be deleted. I am amazed at all the different sources that can be added to an RSS feed. I was really surprised that even a Google topic search can be added to the aggregator instead of a true Web site. I am planning on using an RSS feed in the future for my research project and I am excited to see where it leads me. I can definitely see RSS being commonplace in the near future because it saves you time while also organizing information. This reading directly relates to the article I read a day ago, 7 Things You Should Know About RSS. However, this put the basic information from that article into perspective while actually giving me Web sites I can use and directions on how to create the necessary information. As I have said in previous connections, this is yet another addition to the Read/Write Web that will bring users together while also saving time and energy. This information about RSS will be very useful in my career as a speech-language pathologist because I can add Web sites such as ASHA to my RSS feed so I can be updated on new information while also adding general topics concerning my specific area of study to be updated on. If my clients have blogs at school or home, I could even add those to my RSS feed to keep up with their daily lives outside of the clinical atmosphere.

A4.2: 7 Things You Should Know About RSS

Linsey Cushing
September 10, 2007

7 things you should know about rss (2007, April). Retrieved September 10, 2007, from http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7024.pdf

TAP:
This article discusses basic facts about RSS and is geared toward students and professors. The purpose of the article is to inform the reader about RSS and its uses.

Claim:
RSS is a means of organizing Web content so that the subscriber can easily organize information and not have to visit each specific Web site to see if it has been updated. RSS is being used by college students and professors in several ways to keep in touch with one another and also to inform users about new updates for classes or Web sites.

Evidence:
RSS is a protocol that connects subscribers to an RSS reader or aggregator that searches selected Web sites for updates and automatically downloads these updates for the user. RSS allows the subscriber to simply log onto the aggregator or reader and view a list of the selected pages and the ones that have been updated are highlighted or display some type of indicator. This saves a lot of time for the subscriber because instead of looking at each individual Web site, he or she can simply look at the list and see what has been updated and visit those sites. As the article states, “RSS has become the pipe through which content flows from providers to consumers…users decide exactly what content is allowed through that pipe” (2007). Subscribers to RSS decide which Web pages to subscribe to, how often the RSS should search for updates, and how long the newly downloaded information is kept. RSS feeds are becoming very popular on college campuses, both for students and professors. Students can keep in touch with their professors, be updated on coursework and course locations, and be notified of new information about their majors. Professors can share class information with students and be updated about their colleagues’ studies. Universities even have RSS feeds for the university in general, sharing updates with the student body about upcoming events and announcements. RSS allows users to organize information on the Web so that it is more manageable and less time consuming.

Connections:
When I first started reading this article, RSS seemed to be one of those complicated computer things that I would not understand and never use. However, after I finished the article, I think RSS is a brilliant idea. It allows me, as a subscriber, to sit back and not attend to my information while it personally does a constant search for updates. The next time I access my RSS , I will be able to see all of the Web sites that I have personally selected and I can view which ones have been updated since my last visit. This is so much easier than what I have been doing during my time as an Internet user. I am used to having to visit each Web site that I enjoy and searching to see if it has been updated. If I employ RSS to the site, I will no longer have to waste my time searching because it will be right on the RSS feed. I think that RSS would be very useful for college classes as it was described in the article. This would be easier than an e-mail and also not require much time on the part of the professor or the student. In a way, the e-mails that I receive from Facebook about people writing on my wall or commenting on my photos are like an RSS feed because I am notified of recent changes before I even view Facebook. This information is related to what I’ve been reading because RSS is used for blogs and wikis to update users of new information. It is also another addition to the Read/Write Web list of collaborative efforts. RSS will impact my future as a speech-language pathologist because I’m sure I will subscribe to many different Web sites that concern my field. This way, I can view the newest updates on methods for therapy or information about disorders immediately after they are posted on a site. I also will probably use RSS to keep up on my colleagues’ studies.

A4.2: 7 Things You Should Know About Wikipedia

Linsey Cushing
September 10, 2007

7 things you should know about Wikipedia (2007, June). Retrieved September 10, 2007, from http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7026.pdf

TAP:
This article discusses basic information about Wikipedia and is geared toward students and teachers. The purpose is to inform the reader about Wikipedia.

Claim:
Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia that is open for anyone to access and edit. It allows the users to control the topics and how much information is included about each topic. Wikipedia gives students the opportunity to take part in a collaborative learning environment that involves participants from around the world. Although there are downsides to Wikipedia, it is overall a beneficial source of information.

Evidence:
According to this article, Wikipedia is the eighth most-visited Web site in the United States (2007). The reason for Wikipedia’s popularity is it is in the hands of the people. Users visit Wikipedia to read information and edit information that is incorrect. Wikipedia offers many links to other useful Web sites about the topic. Although colleges are skeptical about using Wikipedia, students tend to find it a very useful site for learning general information about a topic and also to find other sources to compare the information to. A unique aspect of Wikipedia is its Discussion tab, which allows editors to describe why they changed or added something and also gives a place for users to ask questions. This allows users to search for any bias that may exist in the article. Wikipedia also has a feature where out-of-date pages and pages without sources are flagged to warn readers about possibly inaccurate information. The most common critique of Wikipedia is that anyone can add information to the site, even if it is inaccurate. However, Wikipedia has several sites that are protected and can only be edited by administrators. Semi-protected pages require editors to be members of the site for at least four days. One downside of Wikipedia is that when information is cited to Wikipedia, it could possibly be gone when someone else searches for the information. However, unless the page is protected, this cannot be fixed due to Wikipedia’s dynamic nature. Wikipedia allows students to become part of a global learning community, giving them experience with creating unbiased information while also critiquing and accepting criticism.

Connections:
This article was easy for me to relate to because I have accessed Wikipedia many times throughout the past couple years. I have never edited a page, but I have searched for many different topics and found accurate, good information. Now that I have learned more about Wikipedia, I plan on editing in the future so that I can begin taking part in this global activity. I think it is great that so many people are willing to collaborate and create something on this large of a scale. I identify with this article because many of my professors’ views are borderline with using Wikipedia as a source. Most advise me to use it as a starting point but not to actually cite it in a paper. However, like this article said, Wikipedia often has up-to-date information that other reliable sources, such as World Health Organization, have not added to their sites yet. Therefore, I believe that Wikipedia is reliable and should be allowed as a source. This article directly relates to the information I’ve been reading about wikis because Wikipedia is a wiki. It also relates to the Read/Write Web because this is another project that involves the collaboration of many in order to be a success. This information is useful for my future as a speech-language pathologist because I am sure that many of my clients will use Wikipedia as a “reliable” source of information when researching their diagnoses. If they find conflicting information, I will have to utilize my knowledge about Wikipedia to explain to them that this is not technically a medical site and advise them to go to another site, such as WebMD.