Technology Blog- RSS Feeds and Readers

RSS Feeds

I have been using RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds (and aggregators) for quite some time, on a personal level. I had my own Blog, with Blogger.com starting around 2005-2015ish. It probably ended before that, but every couple months, I would add some content. Around that time, I also learned about a feed reader. The one I used at the time was Bloglines. I used that one for many years. When it closed down, I went over to Feedly I did not like it because I was so used to Bloglines (I don't like change sometimes). When my district went to Google Apps for Education, I was about to try Google Reader, because it was Google. Unfortunately, it was also around the time that they were shutting down Google Reader. Haha. So, I stuck with Feedly.

These days, any website that doesn't have an RSS Feed, will not likely get my support, as I don't want my email clogged with newsletters and I will never remember to head to the site again. While I do not check it daily, I would have a hard time living without my aggregator. Since many of my topics are either about Christianity or education, I read things that are similar. Trying to remember what I already read at a particular site would be difficult to manage. 

It would be interesting to try a feed reader in the classroom, though with my 2nd graders, that could be more work than it would be worth. With the upper grades, it could be more useful, but then you start getting into potential content issues and it would be difficult to maintain the accountability for the students. As far as the ISTE standards, it would be important to focus on getting students to be good digital citizens, in picking topics or sites that are appropriate for school. The idea that anyone can be checking out your blog helps with Communication as well. 

If my students were older and had access to a blog, using the feed reader would be a good way to keep track of any new posts. Though, I think that idea would be better suited for an older group of students.

Even if I didn't use it specifically in the classroom, I use it often when I come across a new article or blog post that pertains to my classroom situation. Whether it is a new tool, teaching strategy, activity or combination, this is a valuable tool I use often. If it ever left, I do not know what I would do. Maybe read a book. :-)

Derrick