Personal Learning Networks - Part I, Subscribing to RSS Feeds

Developing Personal Learning NetworksUsing RSS Feeds
Betsy MacDonald
ECA – Caracas, Venezuela

Personal Learning Network (PLN)

Facilitate professional growth:
Read & share ideas with peers
Discover trends & innovations
Connect with others to collaborate and interact
Follow educational technology leaders

PLN Web 2.0 Tools

Blogs
Micro-Blogs
Social bookmarking sites
Online communities
Wikis
Podcasts
Webinars

Micro-Blogs

Follow other teachers
Receive and share ideas and links
Converse in 140 characters or less
Use any of the following tools:
Twitter
Plurk
Tumblr

Social Bookmarking Sites

Store ‘favorites’ or ‘bookmarks’ online
Available from any computer
Tag to categorize
Share your own & explore others’
Popular bookmarking services:
Del.icio.us
Digg
Diigo (dEEgo)

Online Communities

Social networks customized for education
Join to connect with like-minded teachers
Participate in discussions and forums
Receive news of webinars
Explore many reputable communities:
Classroom 2.0
ISTE Ning
NextGen Teachers

Wikis

Collaboratively create and edit web pages
Participate in discussions & live conversations
Join special interest groups
Find a Wiki that fits you:
Classroom 2.0 Wiki
Webtools4U2Use
Educational Wikis

Podcasts

Series of digital files released as episodes
Listen on demand or subscribe
Podcatcher=collects and delivers podcasts
Visit one of many sites:
iTunes U
EdTechTalk
Tech Talk 4 Teachers
The Education Podcast Network (EPN)

Webinars

Web conference for presenting material
Some offer opportunity to interact
Tune in live or watch archived footage
Several good sources:
Classroom 2.0 LIVE
Education Week Webinars
Elluminate
Teachers.tv ( )

Technically not a webinar, but an excellent video resource

Blogs & RSS Feeds

RSS=Really Simple Syndication
Allows you to subscribe to blogs
Read what others are doing
Stay updated on trends & innovations
Subscribe via an RSS reader (aggregators):
Google Reader
Bloglines
Pageflakes

Using Google Reader

Add a Subscription
Paste a feed URL or search
Manage Subscriptions
Unsubscribe, create folders & tags
Home
Shows new postings
Suggests Top Recommendations
Search box searches all blogs completely

Reading Blog Posts
Blog Post in Google Reader
Blog Post in the Blog

Alternatives to Online Aggregators

Receive posts as email
Look for a Subscribe by Email link
Tabbloid (www.tabbloid.com)
Sends a .pdf to your email address of all your chosen feeds
RSSOwl (www.rssowl.org)
Desktop reader - looks like Outlook but gets blog posts instead of email
Flock (www.flock.com)
A social network browser that has a built-in reader

Getting Started with Aggregators

Setting up an Aggregator
Google Reader
http://www.google.com/reader
Sign in or Sign up
Finding blogs to follow
http://betsymac.edublogs.org
PLN Resources

Subscribing to a Blog

Go to the blog
Look for and click RSS feed icon
On the Blog itself
In the address bar of Mozilla Firefox
In the toolbar of Internet Explorer (next to the home icon)
Look for this icon
When (if) it asks, choose ‘Add to Google Reader’

Finding Blogs to Follow

Edublog awards highlight excellence
http://edublogawards.com
Moving Forward suggests several
http://movingforward.wikispaces.com/blogs
See my PLN Resources page
http://betsymac.edublogs.org/plnresources
Check blogrolls on your favorite blogs

The End Beginning

Enjoy
Pass it on
See you in cyberspace

Betsy MacDonald
MS IT Instructor
Escuela Campo Alegre
Caracas, Venezuela
betsymac@yahoo.com
http://betsymac.edublogs.org/
Silhouettes modified from images acquired here:
Karen Whimsey. Public Domain Images. 2009. (21 September 2009). <http://karenswhimsy.com/public-domain-images>