This week we took a look at online photosharing, such as flikr and Snapfish; continued our Twitter accounts and thought more about blogs and wikis. But, the predominant topic of this weeks' work had to do with RSS feeds.
RSS or Really Simple Syndication is an online tool used to streamline the process of collecting articles and resources online. As I learned about RSS, I set up my own Google Reader account to begin playing around with the tool in order to get a better sense of how it works. Right off the bat I could see how powerful this application could be for anyone who needs to eliminate time spent searching for information online. URL's can be entered into Reader as a way to subscribe to specific sites' feed. Also, keywords can be entered into Reader which then generates a list of related sites from which to choose.
Aside from the obvious perks of using RSS, I learned that educators can use it to monitor blogs used by their students which I think could convince more in the field to have their students create and maintain blogs in the classroom setting. I imagine that the idea of trying to monitor blogs for an entire class, or for 6 classes of individual students, could be a daunting task. Using RSS in this environment cuts down the amount of time necessary to go into each individual blog--the updates are sent directly to the subscriber.
Finally, I learned what a fantastic application RSS is for students to use in school. Not only does it provide students with the most up to date information on any topics they may be researching, but it also helps students develop the skills of being able to select the most relevant and credible information out of all that is sent through the RSS feed.
I can see using RSS both personallly and professionally. I think it is something the leadership of my company can use to stay on top of trends in education and educational technology. I also believe it is something we could introduce to our students; particularly at the middle and high school levels. The more we can expose our students to in terms of tools to help with productivity, the greater the edge they will have in their regular classrooms and beyond.
I like your idea of how students could use an RSS feed. I really hadn't thought about it from a student standpoint. It could be a great tool for an ongoing project that a student might have. However, in our district, most blogs are blocked for students. Do you see that being a problem elsewhere?
ReplyDeleteAnother way to use RSS feeds would be to have the students each report once a week on an article that they find in their feeds. As long as the feeds are related to the course material, it might be a good way to have them bring their own input into the class. Plus it would keep the subject interesting for the teacher.
ReplyDeleteSue---
ReplyDeleteI also was excited to discover all of the capabilities that RSS feeds had to offer. This tool is certainly extremely valuable inside and outside of the classroom. I liked your idea of having blog assignments brought to you. This would also work great for a teacher who has asked students to create and update their own websites. This way they could see those updates without having to go find twenty plus different links.