Committing to Brilliance by Reading RSS Feeds

The spark of a brilliant idea usually comes...whenever; however, it is important that you regularly feed your mind with new information. Brilliance and innovation take commitment. One of those is the commitment to learn.

Obviously RSS readers can help you tracking updated information at sites you want/need to follow (the news, work related blogs, etc.). However, commitment to brilliance and innovation means committing to feeding your curiosity; make sure to spend time reading those RSS feeds that just keep your mind turning.

What is RSS?

RSS (Really Simple Syndication or Ready for Some Stories) is a Web content syndication format that allows users to receive updates of frequently modified content from various sites, such as news sites and blogs.

Using RSS feeds, people can track updated content from a variety of sites in a central location. To access the syndicated content, users commonly employ a reader or agrregator which collects and displays the feeds to which they subscribe. RSS feeds can also be archived by browsers, such as Firefox and IE 7.

Common Features

• search/add for feeds from within the aggregator
• manually add feeds
• organize/group feeds
• take notes/annotated postings
• push specific entries out into another feed

Aggregator Tools

• Google Reader (http://www.google.com/reader/) —web based aggregator
• Bloglines.com (http://www.bloglines.com)--web based
• Newsgator (http://www.newsgator.com/)—web based aggregator
• Gritwire (http://my.gritwire.com/)—web based aggregator with social elements.
• SharpReader (http://www.sharpreader.net/)—downloaded desktop based aggregator
• Snackr (http://www.snackr.net/)--download desktop based "ticker" aggregator
• Feedburner (http://feedburner.com) - burn your feed to create email subscriptions or republish the feed as HTML

Blog-o-Sphere Search Tools

• Google blog search (http://blogsearch.google.com/)
• Technorati (http://www.technorati.com/)
• Blogarama (http://www.blogarama.com/)
• Blogdigger.com (http://www.blogdigger.com)

Strategies

• Locate and follow authoritative and appropriate resources.
• Locate and follow "new" sources to get new ideas and make different connections.
  
• Publish notes on process, resources, etc. in location that has RSS output so others can follow and provide feedback.
• Publish draft in location that has RSS output so others can follow and provide feedback.
• Publish final in location that has RSS output so others can follow process and final product.

Resources

• Needing a Gentle Intro to RSS Feeds (http://webworkerdaily.com/2008/05/06/needing-a-gentle-intro-to-rss-feeds/)
• RSS: The Next Killer App For Education (http://www.technologysource.org/article/rss/)
• Countdown to RSS: The Gateway Technology (http://idea.zanestate.edu/rss/)
• RSS: A Quick Start Guide for Educators (http://weblogg-ed.com/, click the "RSS Guide" tab)
• The Media Drop: Newspapers with RSS (http://www.themediadrop.com/archives/001588.php#more)
• Copyright, RSS, and Common Sense (http://www.rss4lib.com/2007/09/of_the_many_interesting_cans.html)
• Embed RSS on Any Webpage w/Java Script (http://feed2js.org/)
• The Ultimate RSS Toolbox (http://mashable.com/2007/06/11/rss-toolbox/)
• RSS and Education (http://www.rss-specifications.com/rss-and-education.htm)
• RSS in Education (http://www.slideshare.net/leonardstern/rss-in-education)
• Speed Read Articles with Google Reader
• Top Tools For Tracking Topics on the Web

More Resources (as an RSS Feed)

RSS Reader (Delicious:rrodrigo/rss)

RSS in Teaching & Learning

View more presentations from rrodrigo.