This is a reply I made in the blog Beth's Thoughts on Technology in the Classroom regarding how advanced students often fall to the side in education because teachers need to focus on students needing their immediate assistance.
Updated screen shot of my Google Reader page.
Here is a blog I am following from NPR and their topic on Education.
RSS Page Reflection
As I began learning more about tracking my RSS feeds, I was initially overwhelmed. In the past, I have used my mail application for downloading feeds. It was convenient and present upon opening my mail. I was reluctant to try Google Reader because it was new and foreign. However, I spent some time working with the application in an attempt to understand it because I would like to be able to access my feeds from virtually any computer with an Internet connection. After getting the hang of Google Reader, I am pleased that I gave it a chance. Indeed, it is easy to subscribe to feeds and see, at a glance, what new information has appeared since I last checked. The accessibility alone makes learning how to use it worth the effort.
Aside from the recommended feeds, I have other areas of interest that I subscribed to in order to stay informed. Each day, I am amazed at the amount of new, posted information. If I were to look at these sites on a daily basis and try to find what was new, it would take more time than I am willing to sacrifice. I have noticed that some feeds update more than once a day while others may post something new once a week. Unfortunately, I have also come across a few feeds that have promising information, but nothing has been updated in months. Still, as I scan the older headlines and skim for information that may help me in my teaching (and education), I find useful nuggets that are pertinent, thus demonstrating that old information is not necessarily out-of-date information.
From the news feeds that I have been tracking, I have learned about is “the filter bubble.” Basically, the article from cnn.com said that online hubs of social activity on the Internet track what you “like” and view to customize what you see and filter your search results. This is more than intrusive, it is taking away our right to explore the world and seek out new directions because a program is “telling” our computer what is really important to us. I also learned that PBS is launching PBS LearningMedia for the upcoming school year. It will focus on high-quality media that will be available to teachers and students. As it is PBS, it is free, but there will also be a premium service that “will enhance the free content.” I like this idea, but there were not many details about the media offered. I anticipate hearing more about this service as fall 2011 draws closer.
In my classroom, I can envision using an RSS reader page to point my students toward information regarding a particular unit or lesson we may be studying. Planning ahead and creating a list of suitable feeds will enable students to open the reader and start locating the necessary information without having to wade through endless searches that often result in frustration and little or no results. Having everything set up ahead of time will allow students to spend more time learning rather than searching because what we want to know has been delivered to our reader. As students become more adept at filtering information, they will be able to search for feeds to add to their own reader to further enhance their interests and learning.
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