Journal 7: Mining for Gold

Bigenho, R. (2009, March ). Mining for Gold. Learning and Leading with Technology, 37, Retrieved April 2, 2009, from http://www.learningandleading-digital.com/learning_leading/200904/

The article Mining for Gold is about RSS feed (Real Simple Syndication) and how it can effectively be used in the classroom. RSS feeds can be set up to blogs, podcasts, and news searches to a particular topic, and then whenever that topic comes up in a blog or article, it goes to you. This saves lots of time searching through Google for pertinent stories, as all you have to do is turn on your computer and all the information you care about is waiting for you. You are also notified throughout the day whenever new blogs and stories are posted. An example of a use for this is if I was a super fan of Mariah Carey. Any time new info came out about Mariah, I would be notified. Think how useful this is for obsessed fans and possible stalkers!

What is a good use for RSS feeds in a classroom environment?
RSS is great to use in a variety of classrooms. For example, in a US History class, the teacher can set up a web-based learning management system for the class, and have the RSS feed set to topics that relate to what the class is studying. If students are learning about the Alamo, they can also read about current Mexican-American relations, about anniversary celebrations for the Alamo, and even reenactments or blog posts from other classes elsewhere that are studying the same topic.

How can RSS help a teacher with time management?
An RSS feed can save tons of time for educators. Instead of spending lots of valuable time searching the internet for authentic and useful websites and news stories, an RSS feed finds all this for you, and is constantly working, so you have the most current information 24 hours a day. Also, if a teacher has students post assignment to individual blogs, instead of repeatedly visiting blogs to see if the students have posted their work, an RSS feed automatically notifies you when the specific assignment has been submitted.