Week 3 Report and Reflection

Hello all!

Brown, M. (CC) 2016

This week in ADED 1P32 focused on RSS feed readers and following blogs. I'm very excited to virtually get to know my classmates and engage in discussions with them. Educause described RSS feeds as customized, up-to-date resource for academic work. Due to the nature of my program in university, I definitely think that using an RSS feed reader, like Feedly, will help me to discover new medical studies and discoveries that will be useful for research papers and lab reports.

RSS feed readers allow for easier access to information in a digital environment. I think the best way to describe it is one central place for the broad scope of information that exists online. In terms of digital citizenship and digital literacy, tasks can be performed more efficiently on the web using RSS, especially when conducting research. These tools are beneficial for making the most out of the web. Instead of the user spending valuable time searching the internet for information, RSS feed readers are able to collect all of the information the user wants and presents it to them in one convenient location.

This week was my first time using a RSS feed reader and I have added it to the aggregate section of my PLE diagram. It is a useful way to organize information online by keeping it all in one convenient place. I would also consider it a good organization tool and could possibly include it in that section of my PLE diagram as well. This goes to show how diverse some tools are and that many digital tools serve more than one purpose for learning.

In my RSS feed this week, I came across another interesting medical article in the New York Times that discussed HPV vaccination rates being highest among Hispanic girls in poorer areas in the USA. Based on the social determinants of health, this article left me wondering what the cause of these different statistics was. The article mentioned that resistance to vaccines among richer people and promotion of programs that offer free vaccinations to poorer people may contribute to the differences. While reading a follow up article that was referenced regarding refusal of vaccination, I realized that health education is vitally important for all people with respect to the HPV vaccination (and not merely those in poorer communities who may not be able to afford the vaccine). In generating health education programs, statistics are crucial in determining where the need for more education lies within a country (in this case, it seems that richer communities need more education).

In the aforementioned case, it is important to debunk the myths surrounding the HPV vaccination. Due to the large amounts of (not always accurate) medical information that is readily accessible to people today, it is important to have health education programs that are both rooted in facts and research, and that also provide people with a better understanding of the benefits of vaccination. After taking courses in immunology and medical microbiology, I have definitely gained a better understanding of vaccinations, and always find myself doing research in this field to hopefully be able to pursue a career in which I am able to educate others to improve their overall health and reduce the risk of the spread of infectious diseases.

In no way am I trying to force anyone to go and get vaccinated; the aforementioned is simply just my opinion, and I hope that through my future studies in medicine, that I will become more knowledgeable in the field.

Thanks for reading my blog this week!

Megan