week two--9/13

Again, I know I am late with the post. It is my goal to stay on track with my blog entries from now on. In week two I read about RSS, blog, podcasts, wikis, and how to use them with education. I actually already knew about the items I read about. It makes things so much easier when you already have a grasp on the concept! I've used wikis for past assignments. They make working in a group a lot easier.

Some things that I learned this week:
A wiki is a collaborative web page with simple online editing tools for building content. If you refer to the online encyclopeida Wikipedia, then you're using a wiki.
The term wiki comes from a Hawaiian word meaning 'quick'. Wiki software was developed to give people a quick way to collaborate on a document. Read a full history of the development at Wikipedia.
How to get started:
There are hundreds of wiki programs to choose from. Find a list of wikis here, and try them by clicking into the sandbox.
You can create a free wiki at pbwiki.com, StikiPad.com or wiki.com.

A podcast is the verbal form of blogging, and are really just audio files embedded in a weblog newsfeed.
There is free service at Odeo.com to subscribe, download and listen to podcasts.
You do not need an iPod to listen to a podcast — you can listen on your computer or many other digital music players.

A blog is a type of web page. They are frequently updated pages with the postings arranged reverse chronologically (newest at top). Blogs use lots of links to outside sites, pages and search engines. Usually written by one person, blogs often include a way for readers to leave their own comments.
How to get started:
Create a free, blog at blogger.com or Wordpress.com — it takes all of three minutes.
Once you've got your blog started, it's easy to write and publish a post.
Hello! If I can do it...you certainly can.
Subscribing to newsfeeds
Most weblogs and many news organizations automatically publish a newsfeed (known as RSS, RDF, Atom or XML, and often shown with an orange button). A newsfeed is the same content as the weblog but it can be read in many email clients or newsreader programs, such as Google Reader and Bloglines. Use a newsreader to efficiently track multiple blogs and news sites.

The orange RSS button(which I can't show a picture of--because I don't know how) on most weblog home pages is the newsfeed. Right-click and save the link to subscribe to the newsfeed in your newsreader.
I am going to add an RSS feed to my blog. Wish me luck!