January+14

__**RSS (Really Serious Stressrelief)**__ (possible guest Jen Dorman) [show tag = show_12]

THIS IS FROM JEN DORMAN: Here is my RSS for Educators wiki page and the link to her [|RSS Presentation file] (hosted on Google). Question: I've never done this before. Should I sign up for specific topics - like #1 and/or #3? This the space where we brainstorm ideas. Just add your thoughts where ever you think it is appropriate.

Time Keeper = Jose Chatroom = Lisa Skypeconferencecall & Interviewer =** Alice
 * Streamer = Maria Knee


 * Intro:** (1min) [Durff talks] Welcome to It's Elementary Show #12 //**RSS: Really Serious Stressrelief**// . We are streaming live on the EdTechTalk Channel of the Worldbridges network. This is Lisa Durff, a K12 teacher in Maryland, AND Jose Rodriguez, third grade teacher in Los Angeles CA, AND Alice Mercer, a Elementary computer lab teacher in Sacramento, CA, AND Maria Knee a Kindergarten teacher from Deerfield, NH. Today is Monday, January 14, 2007.

1. Definitions/Setting the stage:
What is RSS? Share link to [|RSS in Plain English] Jen: RSS can stand for Really Simple Syndication or Rich Site Summary. It is a way to subscribe to your favorite web sites, blogs, podcasts, videos streams, and information feeds. It allows Internet consumers to aggregate their learning - to make targeted information come to them instead of wasting time searching and checking for site updates. [share the link for Jen's RSS materials for educators http://jdorman.wikispaces.com/RSS]

2. Reasons to use this technology at the elementary level:
Alice: It gets information to you and your students quicker. It can send you what they are working on (blog posts), or bring in what they should be reading (bookmarks/links, other class blog posts). It automates routine linking, etc. Durff: Great for explaining key words - how libraries are organized and how online info is organized. Great for having just one site to check for all one's subscriptions (intermediates) Jen: RSS technology is one of the ways that students can work to meet the National Educational Technology Standards for Students. NETS.S # 3 (Research and Information Fluency) calls for students to apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information. It represents a more efficient way to research and learn online while underscoring the critically important skills of judgment and analysis.

3. Examples from our Team:
Alice: I use it to list links for my students on their grade level blog. It pulls links from my Diigo list based on grade/topic specific tags to the appropriate place. I use it to pull articles from Highlights and Discovery Science for my son onto an iGoogle page. Durff: Intermediates learn about RSS aggregators and keyword searches in the spring (not yet) Jose: As a teacher; keep up with what's going on in the Edupodosphere. For my students I plan on using it on my classroom blog. Links to other classroom blogs my students can be reading. Jen: Pagecasting with Pageflakes - Sharing via Google Reader (blogroll, cliproll, etc.)

4. Opportunities and Challenges:
Lack of feeds (hey I got Highlights to add RSS to their site) at the elementary level. RSS feeds based on tags will net a lot of junk that is confusing, inappropriate, and frustrating to students. Google has strict filtering which is better for schools. Having a teacher account for primaries would be best, instead of individual ones. Jose: Finding a way to integrate this kind of reading into our schedule. Once the students have the skills how do we utilize our existing classroom computers? It seems that having each student have an RSS reader can be complicated As the teacher I would subscribe to my student blogs. Jen: Many news sites that offer feeds are not developmentally appropriate for elementary students. Students can become inundated with data that they struggle to process.

5. Review and wrap up:
This has been Maria Knee, Jose Rodriguez, Alice Mercer, and Lisa Durff webcasting live on the edtechtalk channel of the worldbridges network.Thanks to worldbridges.net, and thanks to edtechtalk.com for their support of It's Elementary and thanks to the entire edtechtalk community for listening. Thank you also to our guest Jennifer Dorman for joining us.
 * Outtro**: **[Maria**] This has been It's Elementary Show #12 //**RSS: Really Serious Stressrelief**//.

Our next show will be Monday January 28th, 2008 when we will be debriefing about EduCon2.0 and sharing will everyone who couldn't be there.

You can check out episodes, leave comments, and find out what's going on at our blog: itselementary [dot] edublogs [dot] org. Thank you for being here. Good Night!