RSS: Let the World Wide Web Come to You
The Sixth of a Multi-Part Series on Emerging Technologies.
by Alan Bilansky, CITES EdTech Consultant
Researchers at Cambridge University had a problem: they were so busy working at their computers that they didn't want to climb a couple of flights of stairs to a shared coffee maker, only to find that the coffee was still brewing. So in 1991, the same year the World Wide Web was getting started, they came up with a bright idea: they invented the webcam, showing a live image of the coffee pot on everyone's computer screen.
The web can be a great productivity tool for very busy people, and RSS technology may be the ultimate technology for busy users of the web. Easier to use than to describe, RSS technology makes keeping up to date with web-based information easy for everyone by automatically telling users what's new.
How Does RSS Make Our Internet Lives Easier?
"Easier to use than to describe, RSS technology makes keeping up to date with web-based information easy for everyone by automatically telling users what's new."
Like many people, I read the Chronicle of Higher Education regularly. To do this, I usually visit their web site at least once a week whenever I think of it. I read the Chronicle online because it's more convenient. There are other web sites that I go to multiple times a day, like Slashdot (the preeminent discussion space for folks working in technology) and the New York times, as they might have a story I want to read. Even if I know there'll be new articles every Monday or every day, I don't know when there's something new I want to read, so sometimes I waste time visiting the site, and sometimes I don't see new content when it's posted. Isn't there an easier, fool-proof way? Wouldn't it be better if I could just let these web sites come to me whenever something is new? Well, they can, and it's simple technology that can work for everyone.
One virtue of the web is that the content on it can be changed easily. RSS lets us keep on top of things without spending a lot of time and effort. What the acronym "RSS" stands for is in some dispute, but the best bet is Really Simple Syndication. RSS is an easy way for webmasters to create running indices of what is new on their web sites, and "feed" this to users. An ever-growing number of web sites use RSS to help their users stay abreast of current information. Instead of visiting these sites, you can let them come to you.
Getting Started with RSS
To get started, all you need is an RSS reader, such as one built into a web browser like Opera (Opera is a full-featured, free web browser that works well on both Windows and Macintosh computers. Among other features, it's one of the best ways to read RSS.). Let's take the example of the Chronicle . To get started, I visit the web site using Opera. How do I know that the Chronicle offers RSS feeds? In many cases you'll see an orange or blue box or just a text link reading "RSS" or "XML." Click on this link, and you'll see a message like "Would you like to subscribe to The Chronicle of Higher Education: Today's News?" Click "Yes" and you're subscribed.
What does it mean to subscribe to an RSS feed? Well, now Opera will periodically look at the web site and check if anything has been added lately. I can pull down the feeds menu, and see all of my subscriptions. If there are any items I haven't read yet, the number of new items will appear in parentheses after the title, and I will also see a pop-up message telling me what's new. When I click on one of the items in the feed reader, I see a summary of the article, and a hyperlink to go to the Chronicle article itself. Just like a webcam pointed at a coffee maker, RSS lets me know what is going on without me visiting the site.
I focused on using Opera here, but there are other options. Other browsers, like Mozilla Firefox and Safari 2.0 (which comes with the latest version of Macintosh OS X) will also read RSS feeds for you, if not quite as well as Opera does. There are also portals such as Google's personalized home page, My Yahoo, or NewsIsFree. These are personalized web sites that you can log into and set up to display any RSS channels that interest you, and then you can see them when you log in from any computer. Of course, you should be aware that these services collect information about you as you use them. You can also install a stand-alone program, like SharpReader.
RSS and Educational Technology
"Do you want your students to be more aware of diverse attitudes towards US policy? Have them subscribe to, say, three to five RSS feeds from national and international news sources, like The New York Times, La Monde, Mother Jones, The Toronto Globe and Mail, The National Review, the Economist, the London Times, etc."
Not only can RSS
make it easier for you to keep up with what you already read, but
it can also make you read more news from more sources with less
effort. RSS feeds can work well for assignments involving current
events or the media. Do you want your students to be more aware
of diverse attitudes towards US policy? Have them subscribe to,
say, three to five RSS feeds from national and international news
sources, like The New York Times, La Monde, Mother Jones, The Toronto
Globe and Mail, The National Review, the Economist, the London
Times, etc. Many instructors will pass out lists of important books
in the field, and ask each student to choose one to review for
the class. Likewise, you might ask each student to keep up with
a different RSS feed, and every week post one relevant item to a
class discussion board. As is the case with any instructional technology,
good content and smart assignments are more important than
the technical how-to.
Letting the web come to you is a great advance in how we use the web, but it does not make surfing obsolete. For example, I subscribe to the New York Times main news and international news feeds. When I read the paper by visiting their web site, or flipping through it on paper, I occasionally come across stories in the business or style or sports section that I'm glad I discovered. RSS feeds don't really allow for serendipity. You will only find what you're looking for. If your students want to stay informed, subscribing to some RSS feeds is a quick way to do it. However, intelligent surfing and reading a magazine cover to cover still has its educational benefits for students.
|
