For Class Discussion:
The topic of RSS is also closely related to finding and evaluating information in a connected world (week 4). All are to manage information more effectively and efficiently.
The topic of RSS is also closely related to finding and evaluating information in a connected world (week 4). All are to manage information more effectively and efficiently.
- RSS in Plain English by Lee and Sachi Lefever (3.5 minutes)
Popular Tools - Course Google Site at https://sites.google.com/site/idt351sp2012/
- Google Reader
- Bloglines
- And more RSS tools or feeders - Some are for desktop and platform specific
- RSS Mix (web service) - If students work on research or web search, their search URLs can be combined and created into a RSS feed
- If you know HTML code and DreamWeaver, this service automatically converts any RSS feed into a JavaScript code, which you can add to a layer. If your page has a panel or column where updated RSS news contents can appear, this is it! (RSS to Javascript)
- Pageflakes, Netvibes, vs./& iGoogle - Each tool allows you to add many panels/flakes to a single web page. The first two allow you to organize panels by different RSS feeds (if the web site provides RSS feeds).
Further Resources - search URLs or Wiki page history can become your
Reader subscription, but be aware, unless
- Google's News Advanced Search - If results are good, can copy the search URL to Reader's subscription field
- Blog search from Google or Technorati's watchlist - same action as above can be done
- Moreover or Syndic8 - they claim, their search are more targeted to social media and results provide easy RSS subscription
- Google's news sources when you use the Blogger or Reader
- Google Scholar, DigitalCommons@UConn, DASH, eScholarship - inside each source, you can find the RSS subscription feature
You can comment on any of the
following:
- How has your access to Web resources of your career/major interests expanded? Did it create information overload for you or were you able to organize your RSS to manage the quality and quantity of information?
- After your lab experimentation, any unique or major strengths of an RSS tool? Which tool did you try? What is your plan for using an RSS for teaching or learning?
- Anything to consider in adoption or implementation (e.g., how learning from RSS can be shared among class or institutional members, etc.)
- Or anything related to the course (material, assignment, etc) or your learning experience in terms of using RSS
While I had heard about RSS feeds previously and was somewhat familiar with their function, I had not tried subscribing to them until today.
ReplyDeleteNow I can see how they can be incredibility powerful tool.
I will address the first topic "How has your access to Web resources of your career/major interests expanded? Did it create information overload for you or were you able to organize your RSS to manage the quality and quantity of information?"
After creating an Google Reader account and typing in the search term "Instructional Technology" I was met with a large amount of results. These results were layed out infront of me in an organized and easy to manage fashion. I could immediately see the value of being able to search and quickly read and scan the results. I ended up subscribing to eight feeds related to "educational technology".
I could see how if not edited an maintained it could lead to some information overload, but in this case it is important to keep up with the information flow and continually edit and refine the feeds to find the ones that are truly relevant to your search topic.
For example many of the search results were related to job postings. Google reader may prove valuable to me after graduation in searching for job posts. This would be an easy way to see update listings and could prove to be a real time saver.
So in recap, RSS feeds may initially look like a little bit of information overload, but proper searching and editing of the feeds will ultimately prove to be a real time saver. I can defiantly see how they could expand the knowledge base of a user about a particular subject in a quick and easy fashion.
I have heard about it about but I never actually had the chance to see what it really was all about until now. RSS seems quite easy to use. It is actually a wonderful thing in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteI spent quite a few hours just searching things on Google reader. I can probably spend all day doing so. For example, one of the first things I typed in music in Google reader and quite a few pages of interesting sources popped up and it also gives you a way to subscribe to them to make your life easier. I also typed in concerts because they are my favorite place to be and again, I got some interesting pages. I even subscribed to some of the pages under concerts.
Since there were a few pages of the topic I chose, which was music, and some of them seemed to be pretty old if you go towards the end. The beginning of the search it was all newer and recent stuff. I think Google reader should edit some of their stuff to avoid overload. There were some cases where I could see it being overload.
Overall, RSS is a simple tool to use and a lot of people can benefit from it.
The internet works in different ways; we can access information and information can also find us. Most commonly I see this when Twitter recommends people I should follow and LinkedIn recommends new groups for me. These are most common for me because I am on these sites daily.
ReplyDeleteFinding information on Google Reader on my field of study, Graphic Design, I found an assortment of information that I could go through. Posts on tutorials, projects, trends and ideas were all wrapped up in to this one search of my topic. I was not overwhelmed because some subjects intrigued me and others did not. I quickly knew which articles I would subscribe to and which ones I would pass over.
One question I have in this field of Graphic Design is how do you stay up to date? Having this information out on the web scattered all over the place I was unsure but seeing how Google Reader can organize and do the work for you, it answered my question. I am now able to stay up to date on what is happening in the industry of Graphic Design and now may be more aware of the next trend that is coming.
Even though, there is a vast amount of information out on the web, knowing what to search for and how to search for it will allow you to easily manage and organize all the information not causing any information overload and allowing you to gain quality information any time you want.
Overall, my understanding for RSS is applicable now to my life. I know how to use it and what it does. Knowing this information I am now capable of expanding my interests and expanding my knowledge of this field or on any topic I am interested in.
I have always heard of RSS but i never used it. From the knowledge that I have learned about it, it is basically a way to get topics based on your interest. This reminds me of social networks. Now on social networks they have recommendations to you based on what you have done, who you follow, or what you search mostly. When i tried Google Reader I thought it was interesting to give me information on what I want to know and not a lot of miscellaneous information that could be avoided. It also puts the most relevant things you search for before the other information. Overall, I think RSS is very helpful and gives you a lot of things that might be in your interest.
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ReplyDeleteThe only news feed that I knew about was Facebook and Twitter. That is where I would be able to find my latest information about my friends and family and maybe even some celebrity gossip. I chose to use Google Reader because its google. I really like how google is able to connect everything together, such as gmail, blog, reader and much more.
ReplyDeleteGoogle reader was very user friendly and I was able to find a lot information about different topics and even be able to subscribe to certain account to keep up with the news. I try searching the word smart board and wasn't able to find a lot of information but when I type technology there was tons of information that came up. Video and post that I could preview and look at, and if I found something that I really like I could subscribe to it and each time that I log in I would be able to new information on technology.
I think that RSS is a very great tool because it keeps the user update on all current information. Sometimes you might need to search for certain topics and it will appear on your new feeds.
RSS feeds are a really useful tool to keep updated on information that you choose to subscribe to. Whether you want to stay updated on news on CNN or your favorite blog RSS feeds save you a lot of time.
ReplyDeleteInstead of wasting time looking specifically on the pages separately RSS is a really powerful tool and I find it very useful.
After using Google Reader to look up videos to subscribe to I realized that I could subscribe to the IDT 351 blog so I would see any updates that were made to the site. It makes it a lot easier to keep track of my assignments that way.
Overall, learning about RSS has been really helpful to my learning experience and I plan on using this tool for both my school and personal life.
Before taking a further look into RSS, I had heard of the term, but I never knew exactly what it was. After my further look into RSS, I learned that RSS feeds are documents of information that really helpful. RSS feed allows people to say updated on the latest of almost any information online.
ReplyDeleteThe RSS feed that myself and my group members chose to explore further knowledge into was Google Reader. Google Reader is tool that helps people keep track of all of the interesting things the web has to offer. Google reader also allows people to subscribe to different websites that will help users stay updated on their favorites.
Overall, Google Reader is a very sufficient tool in supplying users with latest information. It is helpful, and can be used in both the classroom and home.
I quickly came to realize how helpful the RSS reader was designed to be. I searched for “Graphic Design” and realized the opportunity for constant updates in terms of new programs, creations, innovations, and personal blogs.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the personal blogs that were in my search results. Professional advice and information is really helpful in staying up-to-date in the always changing technology scene of Graphic Design.
There was a lot of information overload was huge. I had to search for specific terms that pertained to my interests and I was able to organize my RSS to manage the quality and quantity. It is important to search for what is necessary. Successfully managing a feed will only allow for better information on the related topic.
I’ve always seen the RSS logos and have heard of them but never really knew what they were until i watched the video given. I now feel like they are very effective and can save a lot of time and energy. I like how the video compared RSS to being like Netflix opposed to going to the video store. For people who mainly get on the same sites for information and for bloggers this is definitely the best route to take. After viewing the video I am really considering signing up for an RSS myself to start saving some time when I am browsing the internet.
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