Journal 5 - NETS V

"Collaboration in a Web 2.0 Environment" -Glen Bull

Bull, Glen (April 2006). Collaboration in a Web 2.0 Environment. Learning and Leading with Technology, 33, Retrieved February 26, 2009, from www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/EducatorResources/YourLearningJourney/Web20/collaboration-in-web-20-environment.pdf

This article is about the use of syndication in the web 2.0 environment. Syndication is the process in which certain parts of a Web site is made available to other Web sites. For example, the Google account can be personalized to an individual's desires. From there users can use the RSS feed, available on majority of websites, to link that website to their personal Google account. Any time there is an update of information on that particular website, the information will also be updated on your Google account. Now, there are RSS feeds for every major newspaper such as The New York Times and Wall Street Journal. You can use an RSS feed to get updates on a specific topic of interest from these newspaper. RSS feeds are very useful in that you do not have to directly go to each of the website of interest to see if there is any updated information, the information comes to you through websites such as Google, Bloglines, and Netvibes. Educators who want to incorporate using a blog into their classroom will be better able to manage the individual student's blogs by using the RSS feeds. Teachers will not have to go to each individual student's blogs, instead they will be updated of their student's blog entries through the RSS feeds onto one site such as Google. The web 2.0 environment is very interactive with its users. You can not only view information but also manipulate the resources available on the web to your desire. Instead of the users searching for information and jumping from one website to the next, information will be updated and brought to the user's attention from these RSS feeds.

Question 1: What are RSS feeds?

RSS stands for "really simple syndication." Syndication is the process of taking parts of one website and making its information available onto another website. RSS feeds are used to follow multiple websites. The majority of websites have RSS feeds available. You can use RSS feeds to display websites of interest onto other websites such as Google, Bloglines, Netvibes, and Yahoo.

Question 2: How can educators use RSS feeds in their classrooms?

Educators can use RSS feeds to stay connected and to get updated information daily on specific websites. They can also use RSS feeds to organize student blogs if they incorporate blogs into their classroom. RSS feeds will allow for educators to get updates on their student's blogs without having to go to each individual student's blogs.