Ced0535: Week Three Reflection

So... I've established my license from Creative Commons; I've created a Flickr account and have finally posted my pictures from my trip to Rome; I have set up my Google Reader with RSS feeds and am checking in as often as I think of it. How can I have done so many things and still feel like I haven't completed anything?

This is the first week in a very long time where I feel slightly out of my league. I get the concept of everything, but I'm used to instant feedback and seeing things finished. I feel like the things we've done in the past two weeks have been a little like fishing; I have baited my hook and now am waiting for things to come my way. The problem is that I feel a little like I've dropped many different lines all over the place, and I'm spending time trying to make my way around to check to see if anything has nibbled yet. Let me make my list, so I can visualize what I've been doing:
1. Twitter
2. Flickr
3. Google Reader
4. Creative Commons
5. Facebook
6. Plurk

Is it any wonder I'm confused? I think part of my confusion is the fact that I feel like there's so much to keep track of now. I have a difficult enough time managing my four email accounts, let alone all this other stuff. In addition, as I stated, I understand the concept of things like RSS feeds, but I still don't quite understand how I can make the most of them. For example, I see Twitter has the RSS feeds, but when I clicked on it, I was asked to enter an admin username and password. That confused me, so I exited out. I love the concept of having everything come to me instead of going to all these various locations. So clearly I have more studying to do.

In terms of my students and what I can use this week in my classroom, I have more thinking to do. I like the idea of students uploading their photos to photo sharing sites, such as Flickr, but again I know I'm going to run into trouble with their age. Even when I had them establish their Ning accounts, the minimum age was 13. I have to admit that I had them agree to the age so that we could work the Ning. I am feeling the same way about Flickr, Twitter and others. I'm not sure what the age requirement is or if there is one, but even if there isn't, the site asks for name, etc. At what point can my students honestly answer the questions that they are asked when registering to all these different places? Currently, I don't envision incorporating sites like Twitter into my curriculum. I don't think any of them "tweet" as yet, and I'm not sure if they would really get into it. They enjoy the more personal feedback they get with emailing or chatting. I think sites such as Twitter might actually bore them after a time. I know, on the other hand, they would love it if I let them open Facebook accounts, but then I'd feel obligated to constantly monitor their usage, and that challenge is way too big for me. I do, however, like the idea of teaching them the RSS feeds. I agree with some of the articles we read that with so much info on the Internet, we have to teach students how to find the info they need without overloading them. RSS feeds would really help them keep track of reliable sources and information. The challenge would be walking through Google Reader with them and finding sites they'd like to watch. I think I would begin by having them locate info of their own interests and adding them. Then we could move into sources for classes. Another must would be teaching them how to organize their sites.