RSS Reader

I have always been amazed at the amount of information coming to us, it either causes me to shut down and back away or try to organize in a way that I can manage it without becoming overwhelmed. As more and more cooperative information gathering and reporting continues to happen, the more important it becomes to have assistance in organizing what is essential to the task at hand.

Although it takes some time initially I can see the benefits of a "Read Simple Syndication" program to allow the "real simple" user to keep track of all information that pertains to an interest or career.

I decided to test this new concept before using it with my students in the classroom. So I set up a RSS that would help me gather information about pottery, one of my favorite passtimes. I did then first by subscribing to a few blogs of interest. I then decided to expand on that so I went to Googlealerts.com and filled in the search terms, with pottery. I quickly learned to carefully define what I was looking for and put in terms like "mixing glazes" and "throwing clay" that way I got more of the behind the scenes information I was looking for. I also created on aggregator for the handmade baskets that I make, it helped me find some valuable information about techniques and other designs, what fun!

I can certainly see the benefits of using RSS feeds with my students. When I begin my unit on Global Warming, it will save me lots of time feeling like I am just stumbling across worthwhile information. It will also benefit the students in many ways, information will be at their fingertips and updated regularly, how quickly education is changing!! How important it is that we change the way we teach our students to learn.