RSS Activity

The sites I am following consist of a wide diverse range. The week before you asked us to set up an RSS feeder, I had to set one up for my writing for mass communication class. This class asked that I following three specific blogs. So, part of my 10 that you requested we follow are those three from my other class. Those three deal with news that pertain to UF and writing and editing rules and tips. The other blogs that I searched were blogs about teaching abroad, or studying abroad. I also found a really interesting blog about Hawaii. I basically chose these sites because of interest. I would like to teach geography, so that was my initial search topic. If I am going to teach geography I might as well know about all the places that I am teaching. What I found challenging about this activity was finding 10 sites. It was easy to find a few sites that I was interested in but after about five, it became pretty difficult. I also think that it is challenging to stay updated on 10 blogs, that is a lot of information for just one day aside from all the other information that a student has to research, or take in that deal with other classes. On the other hand, the RSS reader makes it easy to access information as opposed to having to run a Google search for a particular article. As a teacher, I feel that I the feed reader can be used in a classroom first off by use of current events. Current events are typically an assignment give to students in the upper elementary school or middle school level. One of the first three blogs that I started to follow is a great source for news because the writer is a reporter for Gainesville. Blogs can also be used in a classroom by being the base of a story idea or project. It also can relate real life to what is being taught. For example, if I was teaching about the culture in Italy, I could pull up a blog that I am subscribed to and my students could read about whatever this Italian blogger writes. I don’t really care much for the RSS reader, I think it just creates one make location and spot for people to have to check or keep up with on a daily basis. I guess what I would like to know is where did RSS come from and why did it all of a sudden become so popular? Was it because of the high demand for blogging in the media world?