Week 4 is going to introduce you to the concept of RSS feeds and aggregators. Don't you just love all of the crazy terms you are learning as we explore these online tools? Diigo, RSS, Aggregators - sounds like a foreign language. :)
Here is a short video clip that does a great job of explaining the concept of an RSS feed.
RSS in Plain English
And now, a similar explanation of Google Reader:
Google Reader in Plain English
Now it's time for you to access your own Google Reader account. Go to http://www.google.com/reader and log in with your normal Google account information (the same info you use for your blogger blog - should be your school email address and whatever password you use). The first time you log in, you will see a welcome message and recommended feeds. We will be adding some feeds to your reader for Thing 9.
Getting Started with Google Reader
Your task is to add the feeds of all of your classmates' blogs and our 21 Things blog to your reader. Remember, you can find their blog addresses on the sidebar of our course blog. Now you won't have to visit each site to see if your colleagues have posted new content. The content will come to you! I encourage you to keep posting comments on each others' blogs so that you are able to share thoughts and ideas. Here's a video to show you how to add a blog to your Google Reader:
How to Subscribe to a Blog in Google Reader
Your final task is to write a post on your blog sharing your thoughts and experiences with RSS and Google Reader. Specifically think about how this can benefit you as a teacher.
For the over-achiever ;)
Add the feed of the blog you shared with the group during Week 2. You might add the feeds of other blogs shared by your colleagues that you found interesting. Challenge yourself even more by searching for new feeds of interest by typing in a topic into the Add Subscription box (this was shown in the Getting Started with Google Reader video). If you find a blog you like, add the site to your reader. :) If you find something you think the group would like, be sure to share the site address with everyone by adding a comment to this post.
For my teachers who have already been using Google Reader:
This is your chance to clean out your feeds. Get rid of those sites that you have subscribed to forever, but don't really read the content. Don't let your reader get cluttered and so full of content that it is no longer useful to you (yes, I speak from experience). Update your content and find some new feeds that are actually of interest to you now.
Thing 9:
Optional tasks:
Thing 8 - Learn about RSS and set up a Google Reader account
RSS is basically a special type of computer code that lets users know when new content is added to their favorite websites. It's called an RSS feed because you are basically being fed information instead of having to go out on your own and find the new information. The new content comes to you in a special program called an aggregator, or feed reader. The feed reader we will be using is Google Reader.Here is a short video clip that does a great job of explaining the concept of an RSS feed.
RSS in Plain English
And now, a similar explanation of Google Reader:
Google Reader in Plain English
Now it's time for you to access your own Google Reader account. Go to http://www.google.com/reader and log in with your normal Google account information (the same info you use for your blogger blog - should be your school email address and whatever password you use). The first time you log in, you will see a welcome message and recommended feeds. We will be adding some feeds to your reader for Thing 9.
Thing 9 - Add feeds to your reader
Now that you have accessed your Google Reader account, it's time to add some sites to your reader. Watch the following video to learn how to add sites to your aggregator and how to read the feeds once you subscribe. (Note: This video shows the old format of Google Reader, but the concept is still the same.)Getting Started with Google Reader
Your task is to add the feeds of all of your classmates' blogs and our 21 Things blog to your reader. Remember, you can find their blog addresses on the sidebar of our course blog. Now you won't have to visit each site to see if your colleagues have posted new content. The content will come to you! I encourage you to keep posting comments on each others' blogs so that you are able to share thoughts and ideas. Here's a video to show you how to add a blog to your Google Reader:
How to Subscribe to a Blog in Google Reader
Your final task is to write a post on your blog sharing your thoughts and experiences with RSS and Google Reader. Specifically think about how this can benefit you as a teacher.
For the over-achiever ;)
Add the feed of the blog you shared with the group during Week 2. You might add the feeds of other blogs shared by your colleagues that you found interesting. Challenge yourself even more by searching for new feeds of interest by typing in a topic into the Add Subscription box (this was shown in the Getting Started with Google Reader video). If you find a blog you like, add the site to your reader. :) If you find something you think the group would like, be sure to share the site address with everyone by adding a comment to this post.
For my teachers who have already been using Google Reader:
This is your chance to clean out your feeds. Get rid of those sites that you have subscribed to forever, but don't really read the content. Don't let your reader get cluttered and so full of content that it is no longer useful to you (yes, I speak from experience). Update your content and find some new feeds that are actually of interest to you now.
Here's a checklist of this week's required tasks:
Thing 8:- Watch the video RSS in Plain English
- Watch the video Google Reader in Plain English
- Access your Google Reader account
Thing 9:
- Watch the video Getting Started with Google Reader
- Add all of your classmates blogs to your reader
- Add the 21 Things course blog to your reader
- Write a post on your blog sharing your reflections on RSS and Google Reader and how it can benefit you as a teacher.
Optional tasks:
- Add the blog you posted about in Week 2 to your reader
- Search for new feeds and add them to your reader - share those feeds with the group by posting a comment on this week's blog post
- For those who already use Google Reader, clean out your feeds! :)
No comments:
Post a Comment