- Includes a screen dump of your RSS pages that:
- Has at least 4 new feeds including at least one blog
- Above is my screenshot to my RSS page. I have "A Blog About History," "Anderson Cooper 360," "Michigan News," "ISTE Connects," "EduTech Today Newsletter," "CNN.com," "NPR Topics: Education," "Cross Article RSS Feed," "Weblogg-ed," "ReflectionsOnMSUEducation," "Michigan Sports," two "Freep" sponsored RSS's, and the standard weather, date & time, google latitude, and youtube gadgets included on my page.
- Describes at least one comment you have added to a blog
- After seeing an update through my CNN RSS feed about potential jobs related to increased oil drilling I decided to give it a read. I am very interested in the use of natural resource, environmental issues, and job issues. These topics also relate to my instruction as a social studies educator. The article talks about a potential of 1.5 million new jobs, but the number is based on one given by the oil industry, and also would come at the cost of lessening the regulations that are currently in place. I found one fellow reader simply noted the potential jobs as a reason to move forward with the place. I decided to comment because I wanted to make sure he realized this is a biased and theoretical number. Another commenter also added that these figures do nothing to project the long term cost/harm caused by the action.
- Describes your experience of tracking changes to these pages routinely (for example, check your RSS page on at least 3 different days and describe the differences in postings across those days)
- I think using an RSS tracker is soon going to become a regular habit of mine. I noted that each page didn't update their page very many times a day, and that typically updates occurred as a flurry of action. I put content wise sites on my list, but also personal favorites and found using the RSS feed a pleasant way to check ALL my sites at once and pick and choose which articles I truly wanted to read. I found myself reading more intellectual pieces as opposed to sports articles or the like.
- Describes what you have learned from the contents of the new feeds you have been tracking
- I found a new blog about History that reports about recent findings. I enjoy it because it is written in the context of today, as opposed to a textbooks framing of yesteryear. For example, there was an article about prehistoric artifacts that were found in wyoming and date up to 7,000 years ago. But the perspective is more based on the discovery, and then the research related to explaining why these artifacts should even exist in this place using historical data of weather and climate. I also read an article about parents fighting over the pledge of allegiance, which I didn't even think was an issue anymore, nor used in schools. I went on to ask my sister, girlfriend, and several other friends who are all teachers about the topic. I found that my sister (Grosse Pointe) and girlfriend (Rochester Hills) still perform the pledge at their schools. None of my other friends in the state, or out of state, did anymore though. I found I was particularly pulled towards atricles dealing with economics (too much GI money to for profits, cost of unions, cost of oil) which I found funny, because even though I am certified to teach economics (which really isn't the same...) I've never really thought of myself as a person keen on economic issues as much as social. Perhaps it is really the obsession of Americans with money forcing all the articles to revolve around it. Finally, I found a compelling if not witty article about the uncommon core in which the author is admittedly using a liberal bias.
- Describes how you might apply either the content of your RSS page, or the capabilities of your RSS page, in your own setting
- I liked how the teacher used RSS feeds in “the seven things” you should know article. He basically had his own webpage, but also put his students in groups and made them make pages too. Then he had them all RSS each other. I think that you could even do it smaller scale, having people work on projects which each having their own pages linking them by RSS and thus being able to see the growth each is making. But it also works in the sense that students and different groups can get ideas from one another. As a teacher of social studies, I think having students RSS me, and also current events websites would be really exciting. That way we would all be linked no matter the location to the same current events. This would allow us to be able to view the same content at a similar location from various sites. I think RSS has a lot of possibilities!
- I liked how the teacher used RSS feeds in “the seven things” you should know article. He basically had his own webpage, but also put his students in groups and made them make pages too. Then he had them all RSS each other. I think that you could even do it smaller scale, having people work on projects which each having their own pages linking them by RSS and thus being able to see the growth each is making. But it also works in the sense that students and different groups can get ideas from one another. As a teacher of social studies, I think having students RSS me, and also current events websites would be really exciting. That way we would all be linked no matter the location to the same current events. This would allow us to be able to view the same content at a similar location from various sites. I think RSS has a lot of possibilities!
CHECK OUT MY NEWEST RSS UPDATE:
Monday, October 10, 2011
Reflection on RSS after two weeks of use:
Using RSS has been an interesting experience. There are things I like about it, and things I am not as keen on. I decided after about a week to make iGoogle my homepage. I liked being able to see articles on various sites pop up instantly. I found that I visited my regular sites about just as much anyways, but educational sites much more. Honestly, a lot of that has to do with the fact that I do not regularity seek out articles on education, but rather wait until they find me. After seeing an Anderson Cooper piece on bullying in school, I shared the link with two teacher friends, Annie and Jenny. Annie decided to actually use the videoblog in her classroom. It was exciting for me because I am taking the year off and working part time at a non-teaching job and attending classes full time. It made me feel as if I am still having some influence in a classroom.
To fully utilize having an RSS page, I think I will need to change the way I use the internet. I have a mac (which goes to sleep every time you close the screen) and I am not in the habit of ever closing my internet browsers, which means I rarely go to my homepage, because I am never getting “on the the first time.” What this means is that I only went to my RSS page when I was actively thinking about it, which is only a couple of times a day. That may sound like a lot to some, but for a person who spends multiple hours a day with their computer it is very little. If I want to fully realize the potential I will have to alter these habits.
Changing habits is tough to do, but I am definitely capable of it. Just as an example of why would be simply because I read a story called “Twitter on Snowday.” The basic of the story is that a girl woke to her father telling her she had a snowday, only to find out when looking on her twitter account there her phone that her teacher was still intending to provide a lesson for the day to his students, but through twitter. The idea was amazing to me. 1. I cannot imagine how that would even function, and 2. I can't believe the level of participation that the teacher experienced. But it is truly this story that inspires me to want to try even harder at learning how to use technology in the classroom. If someone had his classroom abuzz about history while home for a snow day. If those students can adapt to that, I can certainly start using RSS more often.
ALSO AT:http://reflectionsonmsueducation.blogspot.com/2011/10/reflection-on-rss-after-two-weeks-of.html
