RSS … or the Key to the Magic Kingdom
RSS is that magic tool that I have been waiting for! I moved away from the Internet (and surfing) some years ago, and just never really got into blogging because I felt absolutely overwhelmed by all the stuff out there and found it simply too time consuming to wade through all the garbage for the nuggets that were actually of use or of interest to me.
RSS will tempt me back into the pool again by letting me set up links and feeds that are of specific interest and of use to me. An aggregator such as Google Reader will wrangle new material from these sites, blogs, and pages that I have selected and collect and send me updated stuff in a condensed form, rather than my having to manually go to all those sites and surf through everything to find new posts and material. I can then decide which material I want to read and what can get chucked–a HUGE time saver…. Now will it also do the laundry for me?
RSS is extremely important for educators, since students will be able to control and locate information that is germane, rather than endlessly plowing through useless stuff. Teachers can set up specific RSS feeds or link the class to each others’ sites. It is all about controlling the rate, content, and flow of information and using time efficiently. However, like all powerful tools, students need to be taught how to use RSS effectively.
Right now, for my own blogging use, I plan to use RSS to set up feeds from several blogs that I’ve begun following in the last few days, and, like all newly-converted, I plan to tell EVERYONE about RSS, since I’m sure half the people I know have no clue it exists!!!
Blog on baby!
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Hey, we just gotten to this part – RSS- and you are miles away. I love your write-up. They’re great, and I think you are a great teacher, too. Thanks for visiting my blogs and leaving a comments. Please come back again.
Have a great day,
austen
January 28, 2008
I certainly agree with you Gina. With our busy lives, we need to make good use of our time. Using RSS we can avoid students getting lost and it is a way of helping develope readng and critical thinking skills. It is great that you are alredy planning to tell everyone about it. I think a link to the video will be useful.
Consuelo
January 29, 2008
Dear Gina,
You got it! RSS is the essential element of blogging that can make us readers of other bloggers and help us sort through all the myriad of information out there according to our own interests.
For example, I realized you wrote about RSS just because I saw it on our pageflakes aggregator. Amazing, isn’t it? Through RSS we can connect and establish true conversations.
Thanks for sharing the potential it holds in education and, certainly, in our personal lives!
January 30, 2008
Speaking of getting lost in the greatness that is the internet! This is a random response to your blog since I saw your comment in the avatar section of the edublog blog. I couldn’t resist connecting with another Gina who is a teacher! I am Gina and I teach middle school in Michigan but I often visit my sister who lives in NYC (well, recently Staten Island).
I am a recent convert as well and learn more every day. I recently set up a blog to try to get a group of design tech teachers sharing information across our county. I hope I dont end up sending stuff out into the web universe to a vacant audience! Good luck with your students- I am sure any form of communication practice will help them develop their english skills.
Gina
January 30, 2008
I am glad you came back to use the Internet, Webgina – what are your favourite blogs to use with the students in class?
January 30, 2008
Dear Gina,
I’m of the same idea with you. I also begin to tell my friends about RSS, blogging, google notebook, igoogle and many other things i have been introduced for the last two weeks. It’s amazing, isn’t it? It enables us to connect not only to our favourite sites but also to our friends
I’m looking forward to sharing it with my students next term.
Keep sharing,
Warm Hugs,
Sibel
February 4, 2008