RSS feeds are an example of information coming to you, instead of you going out into cyberspace and engaging in a time consuming search. News feeds are current whereas a website can be outdated. As defined by BBC News, “ News feeds allow you...to get the latest headlines and video in one place, as soon as it’s published, without having to visit the websites you have taken the feed from.” I subscribe to various blogs and websites using Google Reader which aggregates all my selected sites, allowing me to scan headlines and very quickly read new information. According to Richardson, “RSS could stand for “Reading Skill: Scanning”, or “Reading Skill: Synthesizing” (83).
RSS feeds function very well as a research tool. For example, given that I subscribe to more than 20 different websites, typing “RSS + Education” into the search engine of my Google Reader account quickly gave me access to timely and relevant information from authors I trust.
 |
| Searching Google Reader for information on RSS and education |
RSS in Plain English
Applications for Schools and Libraries
The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)’s Twenty-First Century literacies states that “twenty-first century readers and writers need to manage, analyze, and synthesize multiple streams of simultaneous information” (Richardson 73). News feeds can be a component of this skill because they deliver multiple viewpoints from a variety of sources. They are a "real-life" resource that can help students connect current events to the curriculum. In addition, RSS feeds are a part of information literacy since students conducting research have to perform a number of critical thinking tasks in order for RSS feeds to be effective : select reliable sources, use technology skills to add the RSS feeds to an aggregator, check their RSS feeds for updates, and understand and select the information that is relevant to their research task.
RSS feeds are also a source of teaching resources. They are a concise way of keeping up with new developments in any subject area since all the information is collected in one place (ie : the Google Reader account).
There are multiple ways of using RSS feeds in education. Here are just some of the simplest ones that I found doable and meaningful. Source: Free Technology for Teachers.
- If your students are writing blogs, subscribe to their feeds so you can aggregate all of them on your Reader instead of individually clicking on every student URL.
- Subscribe to a news site or a site of literary quotations so that writing or discussion prompts are delivered to you instead of searching all over the internet.
- If your students are doing research they can create a Google Alert and add it to their RSS reader to get updates each time new information about that topic appears on the web.
- Add an RSS news feed from the CBC to the library, school, or Social Studies website.
- Make the content of your class website available through an RSS feed and let parents and students know that an RSS feed is available to keep them up to date to changes on the website.
- Follow education experts and colleagues using Google Reader. Don’t only follow “experts” but also the teachers and administrators in your school and district. If we mutually subscribe to each other, then it is a time-efficient way to exchange teaching ideas and discuss issues.
 |
| Example of a student blog |
There are amazing examples of student blogs on the Internet, one place to find them being “student blogs” on Will Richardson's blog. Blogs are very easily used in any course that requires research, writing, and sharing reflections on the work being undertaken in the classroom. However, Richardson makes an interesting point that blogs are most effective when students and teachers are aware of how blogging differs from both pen-and-paper writing and electronic researching.
Here is Will Richardson's summary of blogging:
Not Blogging:
- Posting assignments.
- Journaling, i.e. “This is what I did today.”
- Posting links
- Links with descriptive annotation, i.e. “This site is about…” (Not really blogging either, but getting close depending on the depth of the description.)
- Links with analysis that gets into the meaning of the content being linked. (A simple form of blogging.)
- Links with analysis and synthesis that articulates a deeper understanding or relationship to the content being linked and written with potential audience response in mind. (Real blogging)
- Extended analysis and synthesis over a longer period of time that builds on previous posts, links and comments. (Complex blogging)
RSS feeds play a role in ensuring students access timely and accurate information. In addition, reading RSS feeds requires the use of higher order thinking skills such as analysis, evaluation, and synthesis. However, before accessing RSS feeds, students have to learn how to find credible information and be able to understand it. Blogs can be a source of information as well as a product that is published by the student for the world (however big) to see. The notion that in both cases students are actively participaing as readers, writers, and commentators is fundamental in understanding blogs and RSS as means to develop students' higher order thinking skills and their creativity.
