Uses+of+RSS

=Group 2: Uses of RSS for Educators=

The expansion and improvement of the "social web" provides teachers and students with a variety of new tools and resources that can dramatically enhance the classroom environment. One such technology is RSS. This wiki defines RSS, identifies tools that make use of RSS, and examines some uses and advantages of RSS for educators and students.

**What is RSS?**
**RSS** (**//Really Simple Syndication//)** is a web-based format of disseminating frequently updated information in web-published resources. RSS information is provided in the form of headlines, often with summaries, followed by a link to the full story or its web page. RSS feed is most commonly represented on a web site by any of these colored icons:. Clicking on the icon will subscribe you to the feed of the information currently displayed on the website. Some websites, however, display a host of icons representing RSS feeds. To learn about the concept of RSS click [|RSS in Plain English].

**RSS Tools**
It is useful to understand the concept of RSS feeds by comparing two methods of receiving updated content. One is to subscribe through e-mail. Updates are sent to the subscriber's e-mail address. This is an example of the "pull technology," in which the user needs to retrieve the information from his/her mailbox. The other method is through RSS feeds technology when the updates to selected sources are"pushed" automatically whenever new content is published, without the user's mailbox filled with individual updates. With RSS feed you need to have a **feed reader** (aggregator) to consolidate all the updates in one place. Your computer web browser already includes the feed reader and any feed subscriptions you make will reside on this computer only. In order to subscribe and read feeds anywhere, regardless of what computer you use, you need a web-based feed reader. There are also programs available for mobile phones that allow you to access your aggreagator from any location.

One of the most commonly used readers is [|Google Reader]. This is a very versatile tool because many users already have a Google account and can use the reader as an additional Google tool. Other popular aggregators are [|Netvibes] and [|Bloglines]. Also visit [|RSS Compendium - RSS Readers] to learn about RSS readers broken down by platform (for example, for Windows, Blackberry, etc). The article titled "[|Windows RSS Feed Readers / Aggregators]" published in About.com mentions that there are sites that review and list the best RSS Readers available for several platforms. You can subscribe to your favorite sites' feeds and certain aggregators/readers will allow you to filter or do searches based on criteria that you define.

**Possible uses for teachers:**
-monitoring student blog posts (like Mindy uses) -monitoring student or class wiki projects -setting up a webpage aggregator that is topic/subject specific -monitoring bookmarks that other professionals have created via social bookmarking -keeping up with the lastest professional development information

**Advantages over current technologies**
There are many advantages to subscribing to RSS Feeds, and one of them is that RSS feeds allow educators to stay informed about the latest development in their field without having to search for the most current information. RSS feeds is a very efficient technology because updates are automatically "pushed" to the user's computer. The Educational Development Centre on its [|Technology Tools article] lists some of the advantages of RSS feeds: Simplyfying instructor's research, staying up to date with student activites, allowing students to easily keep up with a course, and targeting searching, among others. This [|article] written by Samir Kamble also describes the advantages and disadvantages of RSS Feeds.

**Possible uses in the classroom**
-students setting up a specific web search feed about their research topic -students monitoring their wiki project (like what we are doing now) -students monitoring teacher wikis -students monitoring teacher blogs

**Advantages over current technologies**
Some schools do not permit students to use personal emails; therefore, RSS feeds could prove beneficial for teachers to provide updates to students about classroom assignments, project deadlines/reminders, copies of teacher generated worksheets, etc.

An RSS aggregator collects resources in a single point of reference, thus saving search time, particularly in schools where students have limited computer access.

Links to resources
These links include information about types of aggregator software available, web based aggregators, and educator specific RSS feeds.

Credits
Newspapers Photo: "A Stack of Newspapers." (21 Nov. 2007) DRB62's photostream. Retrieved 13 Feb. 2009. http://flickr.com/photos/drb62/2054107736/ RSS icon courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. Retrieved 13 Feb. 2009. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Feed-icon.svg