Pods, Blogs and RSS:
Syndicating the Learning
Process (Web v. 2.0)
Ray Schroeder
Office of Technology-Enhanced Learning
University of Illinois at Springfield
Heraclitus – Prescient Philosopher
Heraclitus by Flemish Painter Johannes Moreelse
"The only thing constant is change itself."
Heraclitus 500 B.C.
Distance Learning Coordinator
Circa 2006
Confronting constant change in the technologies and
pedagogies of distance delivery the 21st century!
Objectives
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Examine emergence of Web 2.0
Contemplate the challenge of when to move
to the next generation
Consider some key 2.0 technologies in DL
Look at the syndication thread that ties these
technologies together
Gaze into the future
Continuing discussion/collaboration
Web 2.0 in Education
What is the next BIG (or little) thing?
Web 2.0 certainly is the context of what is coming!
 It is NOT static – not the web page of the ’90s
 It is a platform that is:
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Dynamic
Interactive
Engaging
Syndicated
Origin of Web 2.0?
Web 2.0 in Education
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Web 2.0 – So, what are some examples in
education?
If you want to find out what 2.0 means to
Education, you have to turn to a 2.0 tech – Wiki!
http://cpitwebtwoinfo.pbwiki.com/
In common: Dynamic, Interactive, Engaging,
Syndicated and constantly changing!
Choosing the Right Tools and
Techniques at the Right Time!
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Plethora of choices
How does one make a commitment? How long
is that commitment ?
Licensing
 Retraining
 Bifurcation of delivery modes
 Supporting multiple analogous systems
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Need to conduct on-going review and aim for
annual replacement/renewal cycle
When Do We Move to the Next
Generation?
Driving forces
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Innovators and early adopters
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2.
Financial Considerations
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3.
Both faculty and students
Example: open source movement in CMS/LMS
Competition – what our peers are doing
Mitigating factors
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1.
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Knowledge
Licensing commitments
Transition woes (the reluctant, hosting, support, training)
An Example
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Wikis
http://cpitwebtwoinfo.pbwiki.com/#Wikiplatforms
 http://rayschroeder.wikispaces.org
 http://rayschroeder.pbwiki.com
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Next stage in collaborative environments
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http://www.writely.com
Evolution is the wrong word – as Heraclitus
would remind us - “constant change”
iPods and Podcasting
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iPods
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First iPod released Oct 23, 2001 – latest (?) generation is the
fifth generation
http://www.ipodreview.co.uk/#1
http://www.md3d.com/ (6th generation mock-up by md3d)
Podcasting = iPOD + broadCASTING
iTunes version 4.9 and more recent aggregates the
podcasts (using RSS) and auto-transfers them to iPod
Podcasts can be heard on computer or iPod
Now they are shared http://ed-cast.org
Enhanced Podcasts
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Change comes to podcasting!
Enhanced Podcasting
Enables insertion of graphics, photos, video
 Enables chapters
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Example (open with quicktime)
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http://web.mac.com/margaretmaag/iWeb/Site/Podcast/Podcast.html
http://web.mac.com/rayschroeder/iWeb/Site/Podcast/Podcast.html
M-Learning arrives!
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Students no longer need to be connected
Brief Reality Check
Technology for technology’s sake does not cut it.
Exercise:
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Recall your favorite class (f2f or online)
What made it so special?
1.
2.
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The textbook?
The classroom?
The view out the window of the classroom?
OR was it……..
Interaction - Engagement
… the interaction with the instructor and the
other students in the class?
Recall Web 2.0:
Dynamic
 Interactive
 Engaging
 Syndicated
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Podcasting is dynamic and syndicated, but where
do we engage and interact?
Student Podcasting
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Students respond in kind via podcasts
My colleague Burks Oakley uses a simplified
podcast mode for student podcasts:
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Posts up to a five minute podcast to your blog!
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http://audioblogger.com 415-856-0205
Automatically hosted, RSS generated
And students can also post text, image or videos
Blogs
While podcasts grew out of blogs, they have not
supplanted blogs as a teaching/learning tool!
 A blog created every second
 Comment modes encourage interaction
 Team blogs enable engagement
 The “Blogosphere” is an incredible network
with massive worldwide reach
Ray’s Blogs
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Techo-News – begun in 2000
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Developed as a tool to share current research with
students in graduate seminar
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Selected current readings for required critiques
Ed Tech – begun at request of state board of ed
Online Learning Update
Turned into something more
 Reach and Impact
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Reflections – not just text
RSS
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“Really Simple Syndication” RSS 2.0
Xml format – concisely describes a site
Enables a variety of tools to access and
manipulate the feed
iTunes, Sharp Reader, Yahoo, Firefox … all offer
RSS aggregation
Have already seen dynamic web sites
The thread that links many Web 2.0 apps
Syndicating the Learning Process
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Open Knowledge Initiative of MIT
Open Source Movement – Moodle / Sakai etc.
Sharing of Learning Objects – Merlot, Ed-Cast
Inter-institutional team teaching – UIS:
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Chicago State University (HBCU), Northeastern Illinois
University, Warsaw School of Economics
Movement to open access to scholarly journals
Web 2.0 technologies – syndicating via RSS
Breaking down institutional walls – opening education!
Where to from Here?
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We have dynamic, interactive, syndicated,
engaging applications and sites
Next steps commonly come from convergence
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Ubiquitous – WiMax? xMax? BPL? Gigabeam?
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Motorola and Nokia announce cell/wifi phones
Integration of devices
Phone/PDA/iPod/Computer all in one
 OQO tablet $2,000
 Projection Keyboards $199
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Ray’s Crystal Ball
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This second half of the first decade
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Access, access, access – broadband via seamless mix
Mobility – via merged devices (true m-learning)
Computers shrink into enhanced cell phones
Open source rules – 3rd party support rises
Distance learning becomes norm not exception
Learning no longer from a single sage – but an ever-growing
network of living, dynamic sources syndicated across the net
Key will be to look beyond the newest deployments to
those in the pipeline – begin looking two steps ahead
Contact
We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately. – BF
Ray Schroeder
http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/onlinelearning/blogger.html
Schroeder.ray@uis.edu
217-206-7531
http://onlinelearningupdate.com/MDLA.ppt