RSS Activities

Learning Activity 3-A-1

Subscribe to RSS Feeds

[No Submission]

1. Create a Google Reader account. (Step by step directions are available in Key Information.)
2. Subscribe to your instructor’s blog.
3. Subscribe to the feed for each of your classmates. Your instructor will provide a collected list of the class blogs in Forum > Facilitator Forum.
4. Subscribe to the comments feed for your own blog. (The URL for your comments is http://YOURBLOG.wordpress.com/comments/feed/ where YOURBLOG is the name you selected for your blog domain.)
5. Subscribe to any other blogs you have found to be useful or interesting. Feel free to subscribe to feeds related to any topic, not just this course.
6. Organize your feeds with folders of your choosing.

Continue to subscribe to blogs or feeds as you find good resources and try to read your subscriptions every day. Consider this part of your ongoing professional development rather than a one-time assignment.

Learning Activity 3-A-2

Blogical Discussion Forum

[Forum]

In Modules 3 through 7, you will have the opportunity for student-led discussion. Your facilitator will identify the student(s) to spark the discussion for that week. Each student will serve as a leader once during the course.

Leading the Discussion

On the week that you lead a discussion, you will select a topic or issue related to education. This can be about any aspect of education; it does not have to relate to technology or or the Read/Write Web. You are encouraged to build upon topics other bloggers are writing about and to link to their blogs in your discussion starter.

1. On your blog, post about your topic. Include a question to prompt discussion with your classmates. Be sure to post your discussion starter early in the week to allow time for others to respond. Your post should be 250-300 words.
2. On the Forum for Activity 3-A-2, post a link to your blog post to get the discussion started.
3. Monitor the discussion. Provide clarification or guide the discussion as needed.
4. At the end of the week, post a summary of the responses on the Forum.

Participating in the Discussion

During the weeks when you are not leading a discussion, you will respond to the discussions started by your peers. Depending on the number of students in your section, there may be 1, 2, or 3 discussions each week. Please reply to each discussion. These discussions will be worth a total of 5 points each week regardless of the number of discussions.