Thing 4: Life Really Simple

Make life "really simple" with RSS & a newsreader
Thanks to all of you brave and inquisitive souls who are participating in this adventure... I hope you're having fun already! There are so many more fun things to come!

So everyone participating in 23 Things now has a blog and we told you to read your fellow learners’ blogs. Are you thinking, “Wait, I have to click on 100+ bookmarks to see if anyone has updated?!? Forget it; waaaay too much time.”

But what if you could visit all those blogs and more information sources in just one place and all at the same time? Would that be valuable to you? Well, you can! A lot smart people out there who like to keep up-to-date and save time have created services to make it easy to follow your favorite blogs and other information sources. It’s called RSS.

RSS stands for “Really Simple Syndication” and is a file format for delivering regularly updated information over the web.

In the information world, RSS has changed the way news, media, and content creators share information, and it is changing the way everyday users are consuming information. Join the revolution by setting up a RSS account.

Discovery Exercise:

1. Watch this Common Craft video about RSS and/or read more .
2. Set up an aggregator account using Google Reader. It’s free. Follow the directions at Google Reader (since you should already have a Google account for your blog) or the step-by-step directions for a Google Reader.
3. You will want to add some of your fellow participants’ blogs to your Google Reader account. This will help you keep up-to-date on they have to say about the Things, their discoveries, and comments. You can add additional feeds for Web sites, news sites, podcasts, and more, too.
4. Blog about this experience on your blog! Don't know what to blog about? Here are some questions to ponder...

  • What do you like about RSS and newsreaders?

  • How do you think you might be able to use this technology in your school or personal life?

  • How can teachers or media specialists use RSS or take advantage of this new technology?

  • Which tool for finding feeds was easiest to use?

  • What other tools or ways did you find to locate newsfeeds?

  • Did you find any great sources we should all add to our feed reader?

Resources
These resources will give you more information on the hows and whys of RSS.
Feed Me: A gentle introduction to Internet feeds - a good tutorial from Palinet,
Will Richardson shares an excellent eleven page guide to RSS for educators.

Challenge (optional)
If you already have a Google reader account, try out Bloglines, Netvibes or any of the other RSS services and blog about your thoughts about each.

Have fun finding and reading blogs (next thing!). But beware; it can be addictive!

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Discovery is so much fun!

Have you ever thought, ”Gosh, I wish I had time to learn more about blogs, wikis, or (enter your Web 2.0 tool here)?” Well, this is your chance to take the time to focus on your personal and professional development around Web 2.0 tools. It’s fun to explore these tools and figure out ways to use them in school, with your personal Web sites, or in other ways.

SWC's 23 Things is a twist on the Library Learning 2.0 program developed by Helene Blowers at the Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenberg County and adopted or adapted by many other libraries (including Minnesota Libraries with 23 Things on a Stick) and organizations since then.Learning 2.0 is online learning program that encourages staff to learn more about emerging technologies on the web that are changing the way people, society and schools access information and communicate with each other.

Over the course of the next nine weeks, this website will highlight “23 Things” and discovery exercises to help staff become familiar with blogging, RSS news feeds, tagging, wikis, podcasting, online applications, and video and image hosting sites.To familiarize yourself with this project, be sure to read the About page. The FAQs should answer most of your questions about this program. If not, then please add your question to the FAQ page as a comment.So fasten your seat belts, grab your mouse and get ready for a discovery adventure… and remember, it's OK to play with technology and have fun!