RSS feeds and readers

I’ve spent the past few days beefing up my knowledge of RSS feeds and feed readers, as part of my Web 2.0 Tools course. As with most of the other tools we’ve explored so far, I had a basic working knowledge of RSS, but neither a deep understanding nor an idea of how to integrate it into the classroom.

Prior to this course, I had an account with Google Reader, and a subscription to two blogs of personal interest to me (Parent Hacks and Get Rich Slowly). After reading the text and articles for this course I realized that I was merely skimming the surface of what RSS can do. I was using my reader as a repository for things I was already reading. I had never thought to use it to locate more resources and expand my literary horizons. As part of this unit of study, I did a Google search for the terms “technology education RSS,” which led me to several blogs of interest. I selected a few to subscribe to, and then headed back to Google Reader to see the result. While there, admiring my handiwork, I noticed the link labeled “Discover” and found lists of recommended feeds based on my existing subscriptions. How exciting!

Of course, this all falls into the category of RSS for personal use. I have not yet branched into the technology integration aspect of this particular tool, but I see a few paths opening in front of me. I have two ideas, in particular. We have a Bioethics class that does not use a textbook – the curriculum is based entirely around online resources. I envision having the students select a topic of interest to them (cloning, bias, etc) and then create RSS news feeds using keywords for that topic. They will be able to keep track of new information about their topic as it is published, and could serve as the “expert” for their class in that particular topic. This project will meet several of the NETS*S, including Research and Information Fluency and Technology Operations and Concepts, and could ideally address all of the NETS*S, depending on what the teacher requires the students to do with the information they receive through the feed.

The other recommendation I will make is to a US Government teacher. His students could set up news feeds on the topic of politics in general, or the presidential election in particular, from a variety of websites and then compare the information being published from the different sources. For example, how do the headlines from Fox News compare to the headlines on the same day from NPR (National Public Radio)? Or compare the headlines from CNN with those from the BBC or other foreign news agencies. This activity could take place daily or weekly throughout the semester, and would touch on almost all of the NETS*S.

I’m looking forward to getting started with RSS with my teachers, both for their personal and professional use, and also for their classrooms.