This week we are going to explore Google Reader as a means to gather a load of information into one place. Google Reader is an aggregator. It collects the information and newsfeeds that we tell it to collect and then creates a link on our own personal page that we can log in to and get to that information that it gathered for us.
Clearly, you can see the time saving potential.
RSS is what is used to help make all this gathering possible. RSS stands for Really Simple Syndicate, but it's basically a universal method to enable you to keep up with things online that you feel you need to be updated on.
RSS can be used with an aggregator such as Google Reader and also as a direct email. Aggregators work particularly well for those things that get updated often, email for the less frequent updates. You'll have to decide what "frequent" means to you!
Remember, you can always delete the feed.
9) a) Explore the following links to give you more details about RSS and newsfeeds.
Excellent 3 minute video called "RSS in Plain English" - http://www.commoncraft.com/rss_plain_english
A Beginner's Guide to RSS and Google Reader - http://www.10e20.com/blog/2007/10/05/beginner-guide-to-rss-google-reader/
Google Reader Help Videos (by Google) - http://www.youtube.com/GoogleReaderHelp
Official Google Reader Blog (Beginners Section) - http://googlereader.blogspot.com/2009/01/google-reader-for-beginners.html
9) b) Create a post on your blog about your findings. What did you find interesting? How might you use RSS for your classroom or Professional Development?
10) Create a Google Reader page and add at least 5 newsfeeds to your account. (If you already have a gmail account use the same login, it's part of the Google Suite of Apps - you probably saw that on one of the videos above).
Use the videos from the Google Reader Help Videos or the Google Reader Blog above if you don't feel like experimenting.
Now would be a good time to click the little RSS image on the main page of this 23 Things blog, that way you get an automatic notice when I update for the coming weeks!
See below for an image that shows you were to click for the rss feed...
Posts
