RSS stands for Real Simple Syndication. RSS makes it possible for readers to "subscribe" to the content that is created on a particular Weblog so they no longer have to visit the blog itself to get it. Here is an excerpt from the book, "Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms" by Will Richardson. (From page 71) You can access book excerpts at this site:
http://books.google.com/books?id=6PFjF9BQe2AC&printsec=titlepage&dq=blogs+wikis+podcasts+and+other+powerful+web+tools+for+classrooms&psp=1&source=gbs_toc_s&cad=1#PPA36,M1
"For instance, say you're a political science teacher and you've found twenty or thirty Weblog and media sites on the Internet that are consistently publishing interesting and relevant information for you and your students. Finding the time to click through to those sites and keep abreast of any new information on a regular basis would be nearly impossible. but what if you only had to go to one place to read all of the new content on all of those sites? Wouldn't be so difficult, would it? Well, that's exactly what RSS feeds allow you to do by using a type of software called an "aggregator" or fee collector. The aggregator checks the feeds you subscribe to, usually every hour, and it collects all the new content from those sites you are subscribed to. Then, when you're ready, you open up your aggregator to read the individual stories, file them for later use, click through to the site itself, or delete them if they're not relevant. In other words, you check one site instead of thirty . . . not a bad tradeoff for a typically harried teacher."
Look at this website for more detailed training on RSS and some good examples!
http://webtools4u2use.wikispaces.com/RSS
This link provides information on how to use RSS in education.
1 comment:
I think this is a great post that will be useful to teachers. It has taken be a long time to understand RSS feeds so I can appreciate the work you have put into making this resource.
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