- Find TWO blogs of interest to follow
- Subscribe to them in an RSS reader of your choice
- Post which blogs you are following and which RSS reader you went with in the Comments section below
RSS READER
What is RSS?
RSS (Rich Site Summary) is a format for delivering regularly changing web content. Many news-related sites, weblogs and other online publishers syndicate their content as an RSS Feed to whoever wants it. RSS solves a problem for people who regularly use the web. It allows you to easily stay informed by retrieving the latest content from the sites you are interested in. You save time by not needing to visit each site individually. You ensure your privacy, by not needing to join each site's email newsletter. (http://www.whatisrss.com/)
What is an RSS Reader?
An RSS Reader is software that pulls together all the updates from websites into a single system. This keeps you from having to check all your favorite websites individually, you just go into your Reader and see all the latest content.
There is more than one Reader that you can use. Later, you will review a few of the most popular ones and select one that works best for you.
Here is a quick video from Common Craft on RSS:
What is the advantages to blogs? Here is a good infographic (and we'll be doing more with these later in the course) that shows you the many ways blogs could be used:
Your assignment is to find two blogs to follow that are of interest to you. They could relate to the field you teach or just to an interest of yours. Here are places to look to find educational blogs that might interest you:
- Edublog Awards: This is a compilation of blogs that have won awards in a variety of categories.
- http://teach.com/teach100: The Teach 100 ranks and scores the top 100 educational blogs.
- Five Good Blogs for English Teachers.
- Five Good Blogs for Math Teachers
- Five Good Blogs for US History Teachers
HOW TO FOLLOW A BLOG
Once you have found two blogs to follow, you should add them to an RSS reader. These are some of the more popular readers that you could use. Some are only available as apps for your iPad, iPhone or Android device. And some are available on the web as well as on your mobile device. You will need to think about what device would be the one you would use most to read your new blog content.
The readers are:
Feedly is the one that is most popular. It is available across platforms, on the web and as apps on your mobile device. Right now, though, their app for the iPad is having difficulty and they are updating it currently.
Flipboard is an app-only reader but it is visually pleasing as you read your RSS feeds like a magazine.
The Old Reader is a clean, simple interface. Nothing fancy, but keeps your posts organized.
FlowReader is a web-based RSS reader that is also streamlined and clean. You can view the full-article of your blogs or just a headline version to quickly select the articles you want to read.
You may find a reader that is even better. Go for it! Share with us what you found.
Add in the Comments section for this week which blogs you followed. Maybe there is one that someone else found that you might want to add to your Reader!
That's great. While blogs can be a good thing to do with students, I mostly like what they can do for me professionally and all that I can learn from other educators.
ReplyDeleteI am following dy/dan, Misscalcul8, and Teaching High School Math (all math blogs).
ReplyDeleteI am following freetech4teachers and teach.com/teach100 on The Old Reader feed.
ReplyDeleteLooking for special education links if any recommendations.....
Here is a link to "50 Must see blogs" for special education teachers. Maybe there might be something of interest to you here: http://www.edudemic.com/2012/08/special-ed-blogs-updated/
DeleteI'm following Jim Dillon at Teachers.com, Also enjoying CTQ bloggers Ariel Sachs & Bill Ferriter. On the Middle Web blog I'm enjoying Mary Tarashuk's blog. She teaches fourth grade too! Loved Ariel's post about not compromising and Bill's post about what NOT to do with technology in the classroom. This was particularly helpful to me.
ReplyDeleteWhat does he say NOT to do with technology? Might be some lessons in there for us! :)
DeleteIf you want to comment using an iPad or iPhone, you need to download Opera (the browser) to leave a post using the name/URL option.
ReplyDeletehttp://blog.williamferriter.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/9223386478_20cf5bb693_b.jpg
ReplyDeleteThis is the link to the post. He poses the question "What do we want our kids to know about technology?" He then lists wrong/right answers in a nice chart. His thesis is technology is a tool not a learning outcome.
Best,
Susan
Thanks for sharing the link. I like his thesis.
DeleteI am following dy/dan and pop culture happy hour
ReplyDelete