ONE STOP SHOPPING

RSS: Really Simple Syndication

What does that mean? Honestly ... from the technical aspect? No idea. But from the practical aspect? It means that we can automate the delivery of the new content from a whole bunch of cool websites. Instead of having to "travel" all over to different locations for information we can get it in one place. A great timesaver!


Google Reader is my favorite--though there are other aggregators as well as ways to monitor blog content.
Google Reader is accessible via iGoogle (which is, of it's own accord, a handy dandy tool!).

Today, since it's my soapbox ... Google Reader and iGoogle.
Go here. Sign up for an account. Create a new one or attach it to an existing email address (you don't have to use gmail ... although why wouldn't you?). Either option will still allow you to use many of the other Google Apps!

The layout of your iGoogle page can look very different from someone else's. There are LOTS of different modules to choose from. I'd start with Google Docs and Google Reader. (Google Bookmarks and Google Calendar can also be helpful. Well. And Gmail. Really. I'm not a Google Certified Teacher and I sound like a commercial!)

(Google Docs deserves it's own presentation (especially the Forms function). Super easy and hey, you can access it from anywhere with an internet connection! This is one nice YouTube intro ... but there are lots of others. This one on Forms is geared toward business ... but look around and you'll find loads of educational possibilities.)

And now, back to the fun part of today's presentation ... the content!

The following links will take you to some of my favorite sources of information. There are LOTS and LOTS of others. When you find a page you like look around. Somewhere on the page (everyone puts them in different places!) you will find a link that says something along the lines of "Subscribe."
Remember that if you want it to show up in Google Reader you need to find the Google option. THERE ARE OTHER WAYS TO GET RSS FEEDS. That is what is going to cause the most confusion, I think. Not everyone puts their "Subscribe" buttons in the same place.

"Google Friends Follow" is another relatively new option. So far the only difference I can really see is that Follow is public. Subscribe is private. Actually both will show up in your Google Reader so if you see "Friends Follow" try that.

They are not necessarily in order of usefulness. I will go over some of them in the presentation, and then you'll have time to start playing around and adding some of your own.


Authors & Illustrators


Librarians


Book Review or Literacy Blogs


Teacher Blogs


Ed Tech Blogs


Just for Fun (Personal Interests)

PS I had a hard time figuring out how to credit the RSS icon symbol. But, if you follow the link, you'll see where I got it from!
PSPS Here are a few more notes ... if they help. :]