Thing #9

Thing #9: Useful Library-Related Blogs and News Feeds

As an aside: I find that to add things to my Google Reader, it is just as easy to Ctrl-C the URL and then add it to the subscription list manually as it is to push the little orange button and follow all the steps to get it added.

I find Google Blog Search to be the easiest and most relevant of the search tools. (The list of quality winners from the Edublogs awards was handy, though that's not really a search application). I found Topix to be irritating, visually confusing, and unhelpful. Technorati is also visually unappealing, and when I entered the search term "Library2Play," it returned four results, none of which were actually that blog.

I found a few good teaching blogs, which I added to my reader. This is one of my favorites. I hope it will inspire me to steal use some of her ideas, not least more educational videos. Like this one! CUTE! (Not that I'd put mine on the web.)

Thing #8

Thing #8: RSS Feeds and Readers

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication? I never knew that! If "simple" is in the name, why, even I must be able to do it!

Today I started a feed on Google Reader and added some blogs both by people I know personally and ones I know only by e-reputation, including:

23 Tech Time
Library2Play
This Is the Stuff Adventures Are Made Of
Education Wonks
NYC Educator

...and some others.

So, now that I'm an RSS adept, I'm in a position to answer the Big Questions. The first being, what do I like about RSS and readers? Well, the obvious benefit: the updates come to you rather than you having to search out the updates. Or, more commonly, having to remember that there are updates in the first place. It's a great way, in short, to ensure that all your favorite and most useful blogs and news don't just gather metaphorical electronic dust, forgotten in the terabytes of data rushing down the information superhighway.

Now, how might I be able to use this technology in my school or personal life? The latter is easy: I read a lot of blogs and news sites and am prone to overlook some sources as the reading pool gets wider. Professionally, my answer is that, while RSS is obviously helpful simply as a time saver on an individual level, it would be a strategy-changer if a single school's administration and faculty were all on board with blogs, or there were a list of suggested education news web sites, or something of that nature. For example, if for example our tech guy had a blog, and everyone had him on their Google Reader, he could post non-urgent updates, suggestions, and observations to anyone who wanted to see it. The same goes for an admin blog, grade blogs, etc. That's how I see an RSS feed making a huge difference in my professional life. As the Library2Play site says, sharing information is the key here.

Finally, how can teachers (and others) use readers or take advantage of this new technology? ...Er, didn't I just answer this?