RSS Feeds for the Educator

Until recently, like the day before this was written, I didn’t exactly know what an RSS feed was. I’ve heard of it and knew a little about it, but I couldn’t teach someone about the meaning and use of RSS feeds.

After doing some research and finding five great sites that explain what an RSS feed is and how educators are using them, I feel much more confident about this web 2.0 technology.

Here are the sites I looked at:

What is RSS?
If you need to explain what an RSS is to your technologically unhip family member, then this is the site for them. Short, simple, and easy to understand. It talks about what an RSS is, why you would want to use it, and what “RSS readers” are and some examples of them.

Londonderry School District RSS Feeds
I was thinking of how my colleagues and I could use RSS feeds. That led me to how my district might use them. After doing a google search about “School districts and RSS feeds,” I was surprised by many schools are using this technology.

This site is one example of how school districts are getting their information out in new ways. Instead of important district information waiting to be looked at on the school website, the noteworthy news comes directly to the educator.

RSS Feeds for Teachers
This site has a comprehensive list of RSS feeds for educators. Even though it is a little dated, it still offers links to some great resources. Some example categories are:
-Education News
-Education Technology
-Science
-Music
-Art
-Math

If you are interested in expanding your RSS subscription list, then take a look at what this site offers.

RSS feeds college students' diet for research
I liked reading this article because it has specific examples of how RSS feeds are being used by students and people in the work force.

Ediriwickrema, an undergraduate at the University of Pennsylvania, says about RSS feeds, "It saves me a lot of time and energy. I can quickly find what I'm looking for without having to go from Web site to Web site, and I get the most up-to-date information."

Dave Panos, a CEO for the software company Pluck, describes searching the web the traditional way is, “like trying to find a needle in a haystack…(RSS) is a better way to stay on top of the information that’s out there.”

RSS (from Wikipedia)
Did he just reference Wikipedia? Yes, I did. Let me tell you why. While doing my research on RSS feeds used in education, there were a few questions I couldn’t find the answers to. So where did I go? Wikipedia.

What’s an aggregator? When did RSS first originate? What’s XML file format? All these questions were answered with help from Wikipedia. Of course, to make sure the information is correct I advise double-checking it on more reliable websites where the information can’t be added by any outside source. Still, it has a lot of useful and technical information about RSS feeds.