Module Eight

I've always had an idea about the existence of RSS and the like, especially when visiting sports websites for updated scores and statistics, but I've never actively engaged in one. Now that I know that RSS (which stands for Rich Site Summary) is a format for delivering regularly changing web content - see http://www.whatisrss.com/ - I can attempt delve into how it can be used in the classroom.

In this module, we learn that one of the main benefits and/or reasons for using RSS is that it allows you to easily stay informed by retrieving the latest content from the sites you are interested in. I have in fact already used Google Reader, in linking to my colleagues' blogs for this course. Here, I am able to keep track of who is doing what, and when they are doing it. This helps me in my position as eLearning Coordinator, especially when they may be uneasy with their progress, I can have a look and even comment on what they have done. It also allows me to check the updates on other sites, without having to join email lists and mailing groups, which is good - especially on large sites on which you may not want to reveal too much about yourself.

In the classroom, I use the RSS Feed from http://www.smh.com.au to ensure that I am up-to-date with the very latest news from around the world. I find that this is important, especially when we discuss current issues in class, so that if something pops up, I can add to the students' discussion and knowledge base, in real-time so to speak. Its also good just to show the students how easy it is to be up-to-date with what is happening in the world and age of the 'global' citizen.