RSS (Really Simple Syndication)
How can using RSS help with teaching and learning?
- Time. Using an RSS reader saves time in helping you stay abreast of new information. You don’t have to spend time clicking and navigating from site to site.
- Convenience. Having all of your RSS feeds aggregated into one place that can be accessed by the browser of your choice makes it very convenient. When you are using your browser, you can continue to browse the Internet without closing your RSS feeds or using another application.
- Research. An RSS reader can be a powerful research tool. As you discover information on the Internet that supports your research interests, you can place those sites into your RSS reader and organize them according to topics. As you write and publish, your RSS reader will help you quickly reference critical information.
- Currency. Keep abreast of current events in news, education, politics, and professional organizations.
- Sharing. Subscribe to and network with colleagues—regardless of where they are in the world.
- Podcasts. You can have access podcasts created by others in addition to making your own podcasts available to others (e.g. your students, professional organizations, colleagues at other universities).
- Class oriented blogs. If blogging is part of your class’ educational experience, an RSS reader is a must to help you stay on top of the students’ postings and comments.
How Are Professors Using RSS Readers?
Professor Peter Rich, IP&T
“To me, RSS feeds are Web site abstracts and have by far been the best way for me to keep up-to-date with the latest journal articles. Because most articles are published online before they are printed, I am actually able to know the second an interesting article comes out — and I’m much more likely to read the abstract from my RSS feed than I am from the paper journals I receive every month.”
How do I use RSS?
There are two parts to RSS — the RSS feed and the RSS reader. The first part is the RSS feed. Web site owners are responsible for the feed. They put the RSS feed (special code) on their site that permits people to subscribe to the site. The RSS feed pushes the content out to those who have subscribed. It is like having the paperboy personally place your newspaper in your hands instead of having to buy it at a newsstand.
If a Web site has an RSS feed, the RSS icon will usually be displayed somewhere on the site or in the browser address bar. The feed icon will look similar to this:
The RSS reader is the second part of RSS and is your responsibility. All you need to do is determine which type of reader you prefer, maybe tweak a setting or two, and then start subscribing to the Web sites.
There are two types of RSS readers: browser-based and software applications. For those new to RSS readers, using a browser-based one is the easiest. You can click the following links to learn how to use a RSS reader: