Thing 7 - Learn About RSS and Set Up a Feed Reader

What do you like about RSS and newsreaders?

• I love that I don't have to look for the information; rather the information comes to me. With the RSS feeds that I subscribe to I can see at a quick glance the "hot topics" or the "newly released" information important to me and my job. I can also view any recent blog posts that I follow.
• I also love that everything is in one spot. It is easy to view, forward to others or simply delete the topics for that day. I think that keeping up on the news topics allows me to keep informed about trends and helps we share pertinent information to those I work with. At that point I can easily choose to read one or all the items from the various feeds in which I subscribe.

How do you think you might be able to use this technology in your school or personal life?

• I think I can use this professionally to keep updated on current educational trends in Michigan and throughout the world. By having everything in one place it saves time which is a personal “time” benefit to my family.
• In schools, these feeds also will keep teachers up to date on current happenings about education and about their content areas. The feeds will allow teachers to interact with others as they follow blogs of content area specialist like themselves.

How can educators use RSS or take advantage of this technology with their students?

• Teachers can also get feeds on their students from classroom blogs that are set up for student use. They can also encourage their students to set up RSS feeds based on their own preferences of news as well as current happenings related to the specific content area and/or community news. The opportunities are endless.
• Let’s continue to use technology tools to make are job more efficient and allow us to view important information from various sources in one convenient location.