Thing 11: RSS Feeds

There are a lot of websites out there, and most of us have certain websites that we check regularly. Now that we are all "following" different colleagues' blogs, we have even more websites to check. What if you could check for updates of all your favorite blogs, online newspapers and other regularly-updated sites by visiting one simple page? That's the beauty of RSS, which stands for Really Simple Syndication. You may have noticed that some of your favorite websites have little orange icons that look like this:


This orange RSS icon lets you know that you can subscribe to the website using a news reader such as Google Reader or Bloglines. You simply have to create an account* with one of these news readers and then start adding websites that have RSS feeds. Watch this Common Craft video to learn more about RSS feeds and Google Reader:

Your job for Thing 11 is to sign up for either a Google Reader (no need to sign up, you already have a Google account) or Bloglines account, add the blogs of the colleagues you're following, plus at least 3 other blogs, online newspapers, or websites to your reader. Chances are, some of the websites you already visit a lot have RSS feeds available! Post about your experiences with Google Reader or Bloglines, if you think you would use it, and how you could use it professionally.

If you'd like to keep things really simple, use Google Reader; you already have a Google account (if you're logged into your blog, you're already logged in to your Google account!). Here's how to set it up:

1. Go to Google.com
2. From the "more" drop down on the left-hand top of the page, select "Reader"
3. Now, go to your favorite, regularly-updated website (see some suggestions below) and find the RSS feed icon (shown above...usually orange, but not always). Click it. You'll be asked if you want to add the feed to your Google Reader or your Google Homepage. Choose Reader.
   
4. Repeat step 3 for other newsfeeds/blogs/sites.

Now instead of going to all these sites daily to read what's new, you go to Google>Reader (log in) and the news comes to you!

Here are some education-related sites with RSS feeds to get you started:

• Cedar Rapids Gazette (look for the RSS icon on the right-hand side column, about half-way down)
  
• Education News- The New York Times (scroll all the way to the very bottom of the main page to find RSS icon)
  
• U.S. Department of Education (on the left-hand column, you'll see "The Blog" - the RSS icon is to the right, but it's the same color, so it looks hidden)
  
• NPR (scroll all the way to the bottom, in the black section prior to topic lists, you'll see RSS; they even have an Education-specific feed you can choose)

Discovery Exercise:

• Sign up for Google Reader or Bloglines
• If you've followed any blogs from your companions in 13 Things, they should already show up (in Google Reader)
  
• Add at least 3 other blogs, online newspapers, or websites
• Write a post reflecting on your experience with RSS feeds and news readers

*Our Google Apps for Education currently does not include Google Reader. You will need to use the Google account you created when you set up your blog. I understand more Google tools, including Reader, will be available for educational users sometime this fall.