Think+4

 Subscribe to feeds in your reader -

Introduction
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**What do I need to take advantage of this wonderful RSS stuff?** There are two basic parts to using RSS - first is the **feed**, which will be available as a link or icon on the website or blog you want to subscribe to, and second is the **reader** (or aggregator), which is the container that manages all of your subscriptions (or feeds). There are a number of different readers available. For this course, we will use Google Reader, a free, simple, browser-based reader. Basically, it's like this : **You visit a website you like**, **click the RSS feed/subscription link and add or paste the URL it into your** **reader**. Then, you visit your reader anytime you want to see what's new at **all of the sites** you have subscribed to.

Educators can use RSS feeds to **keep up-to-date with news items, favorite blogs, journal articles, book reviews or updated items from any area of interest, keep current in educational trends, track student blog posts or changes to a class wiki site, and share news or media items with students, colleagues and parents**.
 * How can RSS help educators?**

Discovery Exercises
Different sites present their feeds using **different icons and links** (though there is a current push for [|standardization]). Most commonly, you will see an **orange icon**, or a link that says **Subscribe** or **Syndicate**, **RSS**, **XML** or **ATOM**. With a little practice, you can learn to easily locate and use the various subscription icons and links - I promise!

If you **can't find** an RSS feed/subscription icon or link on a blog, just **copy and paste the main blog URL** (site address) into the **Add Subscription** box in your **Google Reader**, then click **Add**. The reader will "sniff" the site for a feed.
 * To subscribe to a feed**, you simply **click the icon or link** for the feed and **you will then see** either a **button to click** to add the feed to your Google Reader, or a page of "scary code" from which you **copy the URL and paste it** into the **Subscription** field of your Google Reader.

Watch the Video Below entitled **//Google Reader in Plain English//**

media type="custom" key="3996579"

The content in your reader can be overwhelming because it will continue to "pile up" endlessly. BUT -- it's not actually there -- it hurts NOTHING for you to skim and skip items and mark them as "read" just by scrolling past them. **You aren't actually deleting anything. ** In fact, learning to quickly scan and process a lot of news items is an essential part of RSS literacy and information management -- the important ideas will always come back around, and you will also learn to pare down your subscriptions as you go. If you feel compelled to thoroughly read every item, you will remain completely overwhelmed and quickly "quit" your reader. Keep trying -- it gets easier!  
 * Using your reader -**

[[image:thinking.jpg]]Task



 * 1. Add Three Required Feeds **

·  **Students 2oh ** - [|http://students2oh.org] A blog co-authored by several high school students who are interested in the future of education. The posts and comments are truly impressive. <span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· <span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman'; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;"> **<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Infinite Thinking Machine **<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> -[|http://www.infinitethinking.org] A group blog "designed to help teachers and students thrive in the 21st century." Only updated about twice a month. <span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· <span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman'; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;"> **<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">TechLearning Blog **<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> - http://www.techlearning.com/blog An excellent introduction to a dozen or so prominent edublogger voices in 21st Century teaching and learning, offering one to two posts a day by a featured blogger. **NOTE:** __Do not__ subscribe using the orange XML icon in the left sidebar -- that will get you __everything__ on TechLearning. Instead, scroll all the way down and click the link that says "Subscribe to this blog's feed."

<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Get comfortable using your Google Reader. Read through (and listen to) the "new items" from the above subscription feeds in your Google Reader. This [|brief video] shows you how. **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">You are not expected to read every item thoroughly **, but rather to __scan and skim all items__ and read those that seem relevant, thought-provoking or interesting. You will need to click the **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">blue title ** of an item to go to the actual site and read any **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">comments **. Be sure to **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">star ** any items you want to save for later reference. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> You will have to invest a little time to find the first couple of bloggers whose voices really resonate for you, but once you find a couple of folks you really like, adding others becomes easy. __Probably the best way to build your "feed library" is to find one or two bloggers you like and check out their "Blogrolls" to see whose blogs they read__. In the "blogosphere," you will find that the voices you value are often connected to one another.
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">2. Find __two or three__ Edublogs of interest to you and add them to your reader **<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">


 * A few places to __begin__ looking for Education-themed Blogs**

<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· <span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman'; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;"> **<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">EduBlogs Magazine - Who are the Top Edubloggers? **<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> - http://magazine.edublogs.org/2008/01/28/who-are-the-top-edubloggers/ Pick someone from this list, check out their blog, then check out their blogroll to find other voices. <span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· <span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman'; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;"> **<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Edublogs Home Page: Popular Tags and Categories **<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> - http://edublogs.org/ Check out the "Tag Cloud" at the bottom of the Edublogs homepage. Click any tag (keyword) of interest to be taken to recent posts (from all Edublogs users) marked with that topic. <span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· <span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman'; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;"> **<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Livemocha: Top 100 Technorati-Ranked Edublogs **<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> - [|http://www.livemocha.com/pages/resources/education-blog-list ·] Check out the winners and nominees in about a dozen categories. Also includes links to winning blogs from 2004, 2005 and 2006. <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> <span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· <span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman'; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">**<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">TechLearning Blog: Meet the Bloggers ** <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; msofareastfontfamily: 'Times New Roman';"> - http://www.techlearning.com/blog/meetthebloggers.php If you like the postings of any of the contributors to TechLearning, you may want to subscribe to their personal blogs. <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> <span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· <span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman'; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">**<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Support Blogging! Links to School Bloggers ** <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; msofareastfontfamily: 'Times New Roman';"> - http://supportblogging.com/Links+to+School+Bloggers An un-vetted but rich list of possibilities. Many recognizable names, some hopefully serendipitous finds. <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> <span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· <span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman'; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">**<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">OEDb: Top 100 Edublogs ** <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; msofareastfontfamily: 'Times New Roman';"> - http://oedb.org/library/features/top-100-education-blogs <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; msofareastfontfamily: 'Times New Roman';">
 * DISCLAIMER:** A "highly-ranked" education blog is not the only indicator of quality or relevance in content. I am just trying to point you to some options to get you started finding feeds. There are, no doubt, many "little" and "niche" bloggers out there with important messages that would resonate for each of you. I hope you will take some time to find those voices.
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">2007 Edublog Award Winners and Nominees ** <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; msofareastfontfamily: 'Times New Roman';"> - [|http://edublogawards.com]


 * 3.** <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; msofareastfontfamily: 'Times New Roman';">**Write** a reflection on your experience and share one or more items of interest from your reader. Include links to any posts you refer to. Write this reflection in Word or on Writeboard. You will copy & paste this reflection into your blog during the blogging module.

<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; msofareastfontfamily: 'Times New Roman';"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; msofareastfontfamily: 'Times New Roman';"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">

<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">[[image:stretch.jpg]]Stretch Task:
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· <span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman'; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Daily Dilbert Comic - http://feeds.feedburner.com/tapestrydilbert <span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· <span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman'; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Movie Reviews from Rotten Tomatoes -[|http://www.rottentomatoes.com/help_desk/syndication_rss.php ·] Flickr "Interestingness" Photos Feed - http://feeds.feedburner.com/flickr_interestingness Dictionary.com Word of the Day - [|http://dictionary.reference.com/help/linking/wordoftheday-expert.html ·] Read DaVinci's Notebooks one Page at a Time: http://www.interconnected.org/home/more/davinci/ <span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· <span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman'; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Family Fun Feeds - [|http://familyfun.go.com/utilities/global/feature/content-syndication ·] Follow Your Favorite Sports Team - http://sports.yahoo.com/top/rss <span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· <span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman'; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Horoscope - [|http://www.astrology.com/feeds/] <span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;"> · <span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman'; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Weather - http://www.weather.com/weather/rss/subscription <span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;"> · <span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman'; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Answers.com Daily Feeds - [|http://www.answers.com/main/answers_rss.jsp] <span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;"> · <span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman'; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Amazon.com Daily Gold Box Deals - [|http://www.amazon.com/gp/goldbox/ref=cs_top_nav_gb27/104-2450860-6665567] <span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;"> · <span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman'; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Currency Exchange Rates - [|http://www.currencysource.com/rss_currencyexchangerates.html] <span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;"> · <span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman'; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Daily Jigsaw Puzzle - [|http://www.flashpuzzlezone.com/] <span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;"> · <span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman'; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">NPR Weekend Edition Sunday Puzzle (Podcast) - http://www.npr.org/rss/podcast.php?id=4473090 <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; msofareastfontfamily: 'Times New Roman';"> Be sure to mark the RSS Module as completed with an **X** in the google spreadsheet! include component="pageList" tag="rss" Next module: Blogging Module
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Add a "Fun" Feed to Your Reader **<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">