D/B2

I have had some experience using Blogs as far as posting and reading other user's posts. Occasionally I would post a comment if I felt strong enough about what was being discussed. I really thought it would be much harder to set up a Blog than it was. You can do so much more with a Blog as well. I was just goofing around with it but I was able to add video, pictures, and RSS feeds which makes it so much more interesting and interactive! I have subscribed to many RSS feeds without really knowing what they were until I took this class. I have a Twitter account as well and get instant updates on my cell phone to whatever site I am following much like the RSS feed on my PC.
I think Blogs would be located in the verbal symbols area of the Cone. I say that because the medium is mostly written words which are abstractions. I can use this Blog for instance as an example. As a student I am engaged by responding to posed questions in a thoughtful way. The only physical element of this Blog is using the keyboard to formulate my ideas. I am primarily thinking vs. doing anything concrete or physical. Here's a question though -what if I used a Blog to post just a picture or a recording or a demonstration would it still be at the verbal symbols level or lower on the Cone? Perhaps it would depend on the response I was looking for? RSS feeds would probably be in the same area of the Cone too. Most of the RSS feeds I subscribe to are written words although some are video-there is very little physical action involved. The E! RSS feed also wants subscribers to comment on the stories they post so there can be quite the discussions-case in point is the death of Michael Jackson!
I can see awesome applications in my classroom for both Blogs and RSS feeds! Certainly I could use both tools in class discussions where students do exactly what we are doing in this class. Not all students will participate in a verbal class discussion because they're shy or whatever but if they could post their ideas and responses you might get better class participation! I think it would also lend itself to more in-depth or critical thinking responses if students are not constrained in the dynamics of the classroom setting. I taught Science and could see myself using a Blog instead of a Lab Experiment Notebook even a class Wiki for results of an experiment could be really fun! Perhaps I would use a Wiki also for student projects where group members would have to contribute. In the past I had my students do a monthly current science/health article that they found from newspapers or magazines-instead they could subscribe to different RSS feeds to get the latest news and then write on them. A Blog would be an excellent way to keep my parents informed about what is happening in my class. I used to send out letters and emails but it would be so much easier to have my student's parents subscribe to the class Blog! I think Postman would agree Blogs/RSS could be the solution to the lack of class participation in discussions or student engagement and in poor communication between teachers and student's parents. These are just 2 problems which I think could be improved if teachers used these types of tools and I plan to use them in my classroom!