Monday, October 27, 2014

Reading, reading, reading

Every morning when I wake-up, I look forward to breakfast...
Image used under Creative Commons license via https://flic.kr/p/7ZATv7 

...seeing my son's adorable smile (I realize I am biased!)


...and catching up on the latest education and technology happenings on the internet.


Not necessarily in that order!

Rather than clicking through a handful of my favorite *education-related bookmarks to see if anything new has been posted, I access Feedly, an RSS reader.  Prior to July 1, 2013, I used and recommended Google Reader for the same purpose, however it has since been retired

RSS stands for rich site summary or really simple syndication.


I currently subscribe to over 200 educational blogs and content sites.


Some of my favorites include AllThingsPLC.info (learning about other district's collaborative learning team efforts), dy/dan (Dan Meyer is a former math teacher turned Stanford graduate student), Educational Leadership RSS feed from EBSCOhost (links to database entries whenever this periodical is updated), SCSD Media Services: Making Connections and the Iowa Department of Education's YouTube channel.

While I try to read all of the articles each day, inevitably the RSS queue can quickly pile up!  It is not uncommon to miss a few days reading and then to see over one hundred unread items!  Fortunately, it is easy to mark all as read or to sift through the items quickly using Feedly's keyboard shortcuts.

In addition, I try to spend a few minutes every few months pruning the feed (removing sources that are no longer active and seeking out new feeds).  The best part about having an RSS feed reader is that a person can customize it to fit his or her desire to consume content.  I think of RSS feeds as an individualized newspaper and professional learning source.

Do you have an interest in using an RSS reader?  I would be happy to help you get started!

-Matt Townsley

Resources:





*In addition to education-related sites, I also subscribe to a number of sites related to hobbies and other personal interests.  

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