ASCILITE 2004 Workshop

Weblogs, RSS and the coming revolution

Objectives	Participants will be introduced to and engage with weblogs and RSS Participants will explore and discuss the current and future possible uses of these technologies in education Participants will leave the workshop with the skills and knowledge necessary to investigate and implement aspects of weblogs and RSS in their organisations and teaching.
Intended audience	Instructional and educational designers and academic and support staff who are engaged in online higher education or are planning for the implementation or development of online higher education.
Facilitator	James Farmer is a Lecturer in Education Design in the Teaching and Learning Support Unit at Deakin University. http://radio.weblogs.com/0120501/
Details of activities	The use of Weblogs and RSS is expanding dramatically (Perseus, 2003) and finding increasing application in education. Weblogs and other personal and collaborative publishing tools are being used as publication outlets, reflective journals, research tools, virtual learning environments, class dynamic builders, professional development resources and to suit an array of academic, administrative and social functions. RSS ('RDF Site Summary', also known as 'Really Simple Syndication'), RSS aggregators and social software networking applications are the veins and arteries which give life to these tools, connecting users in ways that have not previously been possible: "RSS has been called the TiVo ... of the Web, the first "killer app" of the anticipated automation of social and commercial transactions online using the web's second-generation XML (extensible markup language) standard." (Bajak, 2004) This workshop is designed to introduce participants to weblogs and RSS technology and its current and possible application in an educational context. Participants will have the opportunity to discuss and reflect on the possibilities of these tools, to try then out and in doing so to move from the session, should they wish to, as fully equipped bloggers with a range of tools and skills at their disposal. Workshop format and activities Welcome and introductions Introduction to personal and collaborative publishing on the web What is a weblog? The 'blogosphere' Introduction to RSS What is the semantic web and RSS? The uses and applications of RSS Small Group and plenary exploration of the educational personal and collaboratively published web In teaching In learning In research Small group and plenary discussion of the current and future educational applications of personal and collaborative publishing and RSS in the semantic web Current application Future applications Individual and small group creation and use of weblogs and RSS aggregators Creation of a weblog Use of an RSS aggregator Plenary reflection on use Conclusion
References	Topics related to the application of weblogs, RSS and social software are frequently discussed in the facilitators weblog, 'incorporated subversion' [1]. Some articles on this have been published online in 'Xplana' [2], including 'The Potential of Personal Publishing in Education' (parts I, II & III). [3] http://radio.weblogs.com/0120501/ http://www.xplana.com/ http://www.xplanazine.com/archives/2003/10/incorporated_su_5.php Bajak, F. (2004). Web feeds let the users call the shots: RSS, rival standards aggregate the content you want. The Associated Press. http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4400653/ Perseus Development Corporation (2003). The blogging iceberg - of 4.12 million hosted weblogs, most little seen, quickly abandoned. http://www.perseusdevelopment.com/blogsurvey/thebloggingiceberg.html Williams, J. B. and Jacobs, J. (2004). Exploring the use of blogs as learning spaces in the higher education sector. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 20(2), 232-247. http://www.ascilite.org.au/ajet/ajet20/res/williams.html