RSS in Education

The EDTECH 501 has provided me with exposure to a variety of digital tools that are proving to be invaluable. Feedly is perhaps the most valuable thus far though. RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is an easy way to keep up on news and information on the web. What makes RSS unique and user-friendly is the fact that the individual maintains control over the content they are exposed to. This means there isn't the normal email spam that comes when subscribing to a website. Feedly supports the idea of RSS by allowing the individual to follow given websites and then categorize those sites into folders. Since the user monitors what they see on Feedly it creates flexibility, freedom, and individualizes the experience for the user ("What is RSS?", 2014).

  Creating folders

Creating my Feedly account was a very simple task. It took time figuring out the options for creating folders for the different feeds I decided to add to my RSS feed. For the EDTECH501 course I create a folder with the required websites and for the EDTECH 501 Small Group folder I added all my group members' blogs. This can be seen in the image below. 

I like the fact that I am able to easily access my small groups' blogs through Feedly. On Google+ I felt frustrated at having to navigate to their profile pages to find the latest posts to comment on. However, on Feedly the links to my classmates' blogs are already linked to my account making it very manageable to browse though their posts and comment directly through Google+ on Feedly. 

Searching

I found the accessibility of the sites great until  I selected the "All" option. I became quickly overwhelmed by the below image. 

Seeing all of the latest articles and news information posted in this format was more difficult for me to work through. I prefer having visuals attached to articles because it contextualizes the piece a bit more. I came to the conclusion that the best way for me to search through and find the things that interest me is to click on the individual site pages.

Feeds for English 9

When I finished completing the requirements for EDTECH 501 course I began thinking of how I could use this tool in conjunction with my English 9 class. I incorporate current events frequently and want quick and easy access to news sources. The below picture shows the sites I decided to add to my feed for this purpose.

 Feedly for me

As I mentioned in my initial introduction post, I love to run. I coach cross country and track and I am always looking for new things to add to workouts to help our runners. Next to running, cooking is my second favorite thing to to. Baking and cooking both act as therapy for me after long days. I share this because this assignment bleed into my personal life. I am enthusiastic about how easy Feedly is to navigate that I want to use it for personal use as well. Thus, I began adding my favorite fitness sites and baking/cooking blogs to my Feedly RSS feed.

Classroom Application

I see the benefit in Feedly for educators, but had to ponder how it can effectively be used to better my students. After much thought the following are three ideas of how I would use RSS in my classroom:  

1. Career Search

One of my primary objectives in English 9 is teaching students life skills. Beyond learning and studying meaningful literature, I desire to see my students grow in professionalism and their abilities to apply strategies for living life successfully. Thus, one of the class projects I would like to implement is the development of a job search. In this project students would conduct a research report on a potential career field. They would also develop a portfolio that holds a resume, cover letter, and letters of recommendation to be submitted in a job application.  Feedly would serve as the backbone of this project. Josh Catone suggests in his blog that students could sign-up to follow job search sites (i.e. CareerBuilder, SimplyHired, Monster, etc.)(2014). Students would then search jobs in the career field of their choice and save their searches into Google Docs (or Evernote if they choose to upgrade to Feedly pro). They would monitor jobs that are of interest and would analyze the number of jobs available, dominate locations where the jobs are offered, and develop a clear understanding of what is required to meet the criteria for that position. Overall, this would teach students invaluable skills about the adult world and searching for jobs. 

2. Current Events

 In maintaining the idea of teaching life skills, I would like to see students in my classroom become more knowledgeable about world events. Thus, Feedly, again, can serve as the backbone for monitoring current events. Students could add major news sites such as CNN, New York Times, L.A. Times, and others to their RSS feed. On a weekly basis students would then find an article of interest to them. Throughout the semester students would have to find at least one article related to world news, local news, sports, business, art, and any other categories that are deemed appropriate by the teacher. Feedly provides easily access for students to navigate news sites to find appropriate articles without the inconvenience of dealing with junk mail, subscriptions, or other nuisances that would keep them from wanting to engage in such an academic assignment. With every article there would be a different Common Core reading standard attached. Students would then read the article and answer the assigned question in the comment section when they post their chosen article on Google+. Students would then be responsible for commenting on other classmates articles. This would ultimately lead to the development of potential Socratic Seminar topics. 

3. Flipping the Classroom 

Another way Feedly can be effective in the classroom is to use it to support student discussions. The concept of flipping the classroom refers to a method whereby students are assigned readings and asked to read and analyze them outside of class in order to come to class prepared for discussion, which is part of the English 9-10 Common Core Standards. I would implement this by posting certain articles, Podcasts, videos, and other resources on my classroom blog. Students would then locate these sources via their RSS feed and bookmark them. The effectiveness of this would be that on day one of a unit students could bookmark all the appropriate resources. This would be creating a digital folder for the material that would be used through the course of the unit. With that students could move ahead if they so desire or keep the pace of the class. Either way it pushes students to be responsible for their own learning. When it comes time for in-class discussion students would then have quick access to the resources used to prepare for the discussion. This would make it more manageable for students to call on evidence to support ideas and opinions. 
 Feedly would simply make the material easier to access, navigate, and use to support meaningful learning experiences for students.

Conclusion

In continuing to navigate Feedly it is clear that their are many potential uses for this tool in the classroom. It serves as a user-friendly tool for research, reading, and maintain one's knowledge of the newest and latest events in the world. Moving forward I look forward to continuing to explore the use of Feedly in my own classroom and hope the ideas above prove to be of benefit to others.

References

Catone, J. (2014, May 28). 7 things you can do with Evernote and feedly [Pro]. Retrieved July 1, 2014, from http://blog.feedly.com/2014/05/28/evernote-feedly-uses/

What is RSS? (2014, June 23). Retrieved July 1, 2014, from http://www.usa.gov/Topics/Reference-

Shelf/Libraries/RSS-Library/What-Is-RSS.shtml