Hey there blog followers and welcome to the first of many blogs from this site.
This first blog is about Google Reader and my first five feeds that I have signed on with so let’s get down to it!
I’m sure there are some of you out there who, like me, had this wonderful notion about how I could suddenly connect, in one place, with all the sites I’d love to hear from, so what did I do after signing in? I went hog wild like a ninja on steroids and started subscribing to all of them. I think it would have been wiser just to stick to the five RSS feeds suggested in the assignment as I now have too many feeds to read (wonderful and enlightening as they all are). Thank goodness I found the folders function. At least I can hide them away for those times when the need (or mood) arises to focus on a particular Topic. Lesson learned.
This is a screenshot of my Google Reader page
So what were the five RSS feeds I subscribed to for professional purposes?
The first site was one I only found about when I started this course but have since found it inspiring, challenging and a definite essential for teachers.
It’s TED. ( http://feeds.feedburner.com/tedtalks_video ) I think the TED site and the videos that are presented there can help change the direction of education. I’ve seen some funny, informative and mind blowing things coming out of that site so I think it’s important to check in regularly to see new technologies being unveiled, new opinions being aired and new lines of thought being considered.
The second site I connected with was Lynda.com. ( http://blog.lynda.com/feed/ ) Another amazing resource brought to my attention since beginning at Full Sail. The wealth of information and training resources at Lynda.com is invaluable to anyone, teacher or not, who deals with technology. Having just bought an iPad for my action research (AR) project I was delighted to see the first feed story that came up was a short review on using a particular app for an iPad. It has also helped me to better understand some of the software loaded on our laptops and how to use them more effectively.
The third site is my old Alma Mater, The University of New England in Armidale, Australia.
( http://feeds.feedburner.com/StateuniversityBlog ) I like to be kept up to date on what is happening there and, already, the feed has given me some information and links from other universities coming out of the US that I can look at further for my AR project.
The rest of the feeds I have listed bellow are specifically to do with my AR project which basically deals with the rapidly expanding tablet technology in the classroom. They are broken up into two groups. The first dealing with Android based technology in education and the second looks at iPad technology in education. Even though the iPad appears to be a more superior product, its cost may cause educational institutions to look at cheaper alternatives and there is a huge wave of Android powered tablets about to hit the US. That’s why I feel it is important to cover both these by subscribing to a few feeds for each technology. There are a number of feeds available for each so, to start with, I chose the ones that had the highest number of subscribers first.
Androids in Education
101 Best Android Apps
Android phone Fans
Ipads in Education
On iPad, Education and Technology
The Apple Blog
The Education Business Blog
It’s still a work in progress and as I sort through which sites are the best I will unsubscribe to some and subscribe to others. I suppose this ability to select, sift, and store the feeds from one central location is the advantage of using Google Reader.
Until next time, keep tapping those keys!
