RSS Aggregator's - Keeping Up to Date

I have recently discovered the rather complex sounding but very simple RSS (Really Simple Syndication). It is currently allowing me to monitor every new post made by my peers in a single place. A simple tool you may think, and indeed it was easy to set up and is relatively user friendly, but it has become essential when trying to keep up to date with online information. The world wide web is complex, changing and continually growing and it is important that, when a relevant piece of information or source is found, that it be useable and monitorable. RSS Feeders give us this ability.


Its applications for the teacher are just as important as those for the student. There is a maze of information and suggestions available online that can become an important resource for teachers. By using an RSS feeder, teachers can monitor favorite and useful websites for up-to-the-minute information, ideas and suggestions. An RSS Feeder could also be used to monitor new postings from student blogs and is a way to streamline ongoing formative assessment of these activities.


Students too can benefit from using RSS feeders in conjunction with blogs so as they can monitor their peers posts and respond appropriately. Responding to peers ideas and thoughts allows students to learn and operate in a collaborative environment and is associated with the "Relate" component of engagement theory (Kearsley & Shneiderman, 1999). Within a project such as the 'Creating a Diet' idea explained in my posting "Blog-a-what? Discovering Blogging in Education," an RSS feeder could also be utilised to monitor incoming information from relevant online sources, and thus be able to contribute new information to the project as it becomes available. In this way student learning is self-directed, gaining a "sense of control over their learning" (Kearsley & Shneiderman, 1999) and the teacher, rather than being seen as an authority on the topic, can become a 'learner' too.


RSS Aggregator's can be used in many simple ways to benefit both teachers and students and to enhance the learning experience.


Reference List
Kerasley & Shneiderman. (1999). Engagement Theory: A Framework for technology-based teaching and learning. Retrieved 1 Match 2010 from http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley/engage.htm