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Blogs, Tags and More: Making Sense (and Use) of New Internet Technologies

RSS Feeds - what are they and why use them

RSS Feeds are...

Understand | Explore | Decide | Feed Readers | Feed Creators |

What is aN RSS Feed?

An RSS Feed provides an easy way to keep up with new web content from the sites you like without having to comb through web page after web page.

Many websites have "XML" "RSS" or "Atom" links, or feeds, which users can subscribe to, to keep up with the latest information posted on blogs or web sites.

You need a feed reader or aggregator (an application or browser plug-in) to subscribe to, organize and read feeds.

Explore Educational Feeds - Most quality Blogs or Podcasts include the links to subscribe to their feeds. Here are the exact links for subscribing to some quality for teachers and students:

• David Warlick's 2 Cents - the feed for David Warlick's blog
• NPR Education stories - copy and paste this URL: feed://www.npr.org/rss/rss.php?id=1013
• Google Reader - Use your Google home page to keep track of all your feeds and to search for feeds by key word.

Decide if and How Feeds are right for you

RSS feeds are about halfway between e-mail and web pages. E-mail comes to you, you go to the web, but with feeds, you view a list of headlines and summaries and choose what to read.

In education, feeds can be used to collect information for a research project, follow a news story or keep up with news in an organization or professional group.

RSS Feed Readers - also called aggregators, a feed reader collects RSS and ATOM feeds from the web feeds you choose to subscribe to. Some readers are web-based, some integrate with your browser, and others are dedicated software applications. To use an RSS or Atom feed, you need a feed reader or aggregator. A feed reader collects RSS and ATOM feeds from the web feeds you choose to subscribe to. Some are web-based, some integrate with your browser, and others are dedicated software applications.

• Safari - Apple's web browser for the Mac includes a built-in feed reader <www.apple.com/>
• Bloglines - a web-based feed reader. You create your own page of news feeds based on the siges you like <www.bloglines.com/>
• Google Reader - a web-based feed reader that can integrate with custom Google home pages <www.google.com/reader>
• FeedBlitz.com - create feeds, subscribe to feeds, and send or receive feeds by e-mail; free and paid services.
• More feed reader information on the web

RSS Feed Creators - use these services and software programs to create feeds to generate from your web site, send by e-mail and more.

• Your Blog - Most blogs and tagging services come with the capacity to generate an RSS feed address for subscribers
• Feed Burner - Manage your feeds from your blogs, podcasts and more and 'boost your audience' <www.feedburner.com/>
• RSS Specifications - Everything you need to know about RSS <www.rss-specifications.com/>

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