RSS+Feeds+and+Aggregators

**RSS Feed Readers / Aggregators**
 * Overview**
 * RSS = Rich Site Summary or Real Simple Syndication.
 * The language of weblogs generate a code called XML
 * This code is a “feed” (like a news feed) that makes it possible for readers to subscribe to the content so they don’t have to visit the blog site itself.
 * How is this useful in the classroom?
 * It’s most useful with current events or cutting edge thought in a given field/area.
 * EX: In a social studies class, students studying specific events can find the sources with the most/best information on their topic and set up a feed reader/aggregator to check those sites hourly and send the recent posts to one place for students to read. They only have to check one site instead of 30.


 * Setting up an RSS Feed Reader**

These are the most common feed readers:



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 * If you are particular about the interface for managing your feeds, you can take a look at the samples on these sites. I use Google Reader, primarily because my district uses Google Apps. Here’s that address: [] I have heard recommendations for Bloglines and Pageflakes as well.
 * You can add feeds using the “Add” or “+” links in the aggregator. You can paste the address of the feed you want to add into the subscribe form. For example, to subscribe to Will Richardson’s blog, you would type in his feed address:
 * []
 * Alternately, when you’re at the blog or site you want to add to your aggregator, click on the RSS feed or icon, and a list of web-based feed readers should appear. The most common are those listed above. Sometimes, there’s button that looks like this:[[image:xml_button_roman_bertle_01.png width="36" height="30"]]. Clicking on it should give you the feed address for the page you’re on.
 * Your feeds can be public or private or some of each. You can sort them into folders, too.
 * You can rename feeds and folders as you collect more.
 * To have quick access to your aggregator, add a link to it on your toolbar or in your favorites folder.

There are feeds of pre-aggregated feeds, too. Check out the Feedzilla example: Feedzilla – feeds listed by category [] Weblogs Compendium has a thorough directory of Weblogs at []
 * Finding and Adding Feeds**

A Sample Blog Search Engine: []

**Using RSS Feeds in the Classroom** If your students have blogs of their own, can collect them on your aggregator using their RSS feeds. This can create a paperless environment and you can easily send links to student blogs to their parents. Click on the “Share” icon and key in their e-mail address.
 * RSS Feeds with Student Weblogs**

Have students set up their own aggregator accounts. Have them all use the same one, for consistency. In addition to news feeds appropriate to the topic they are studying, they can subscribe to the teacher’s blog.
 * RSS Feeds Without Student Weblogs**

You can have your aggregator create a feed that searches for specific terms. This allows you or your students to receive feeds about topics such as global warming. To create a syndicated feed of search result of Google News about global warming, for example, paste this feed address into your news aggregator: [] If you want to look for global warming information from a specific feed, add the search term, “global warming” into the search query form, and add the source, such as “source:new_york_times”
 * RSS Search Feeds**

There are many other types of feeds that can be helpful in the classroom, such as feeds for weblog searches, website searches, and newsgroup searches. For more detailed information on these possibilities, see Will Richardson’s RSS guide at []

Dhaivyd Hilgendorf can be reached at hilgendorfd@district279.org