Educational Podcasts and RSS

Of the Web 2.0 tools that I endeavored to incorporate into the Web 2.0 Tools for Teaching and Learning course, podcasts and RSS (Really Simple Syndication) were more challenging. Unlike creating a blog, wiki, or social bookmarking site, creating a podcast involves more than one tool and more layers in the process to plan, record, and edit a podcast and then to publish and syndicate it through RSS. Originally, I had not included “RSS” in my course design (at least not on paper) because I didn’t know if I would have the time to address it given the time constraints. However, as I progressed in course development and read about RSS, I realized I had to find the time to incorporate it into the course.

I’m blogging about podcasts and RSS together because I learned that a true podcast is not just a media file (e.g., audio or video file) that you put out on the Internet with a link to it; but rather, in the truest sense, a podcast involves broadcasting “episodes” on a periodic basis through the use of an “RSS feed” that people can subscribe to. The podcast updates automatically come to the reader, instead of the reader having to go to various sites to check for updates. However, RSS goes well beyond subscribing to podcasts. You can subscribe to diverse media sites and people’s blogs using a news aggregator, for example, called an “RSS feed reader.” There are so many educational uses for podcasts and RSS, which I’ve incorporated into the course. Participants will have the opportunity to create an educational podcast and also to subscribe to feeds using an RSS feed reader. I used Bloglines as my RSS aggregator to start subscribing to educational technology sites and blogs in which I’m interested. To view my feeds, click public.

(image sources:
http://www.stephenrahn.com/blog/archives/category/podcasting)
http://www.buyerschoiceinspections.com/)

Social Bookmarking in Education

I have found that “social bookmarking” is an extremely useful Web 2.0 tool. In the past, I worked as a school library media specialist, and I would create “pathfinders” of Internet resources that students and also other teachers could use when conducting research on a unit of study. I would create a “web page” to create lists of resources or a service such as AT&T’s Filamentality to create “hot lists.” However, social bookmarking took this task to a whole new (and better) level.

For the Web 2.0 Tools for Teaching and Learning course, I researched and located hundreds of Internet resources (websites, blogs, wikis, podcasts, online articles, presentations, videos, etc.) on each of the Web 2.0 tools and related topics. Instead of using my Web browser’s “favorites” to store them, I used the del.icio.us social bookmarking site to save and organize my bookmarks (through “tags”), which I can access from any computer with Internet access through a Web browser. So, no matter where I am, when I find a useful Internet resource, I just “tag” it using del.icio.us and “bundle” related bookmarks together for easy access. You can also share bookmarks with others, such as colleagues. I especially like the idea of combining social bookmarking with evaluating electronic resources (along with print-based resources) when instructing students in the research process. Working in small groups, students can create their own social bookmarking sites on specific subjects and share their “finds” with classmates. It’s such an efficient and useful tool!

In the “Web 2.0 Tools” course, participants will learn about social bookmarking and build their own social bookmarking site related to a curriculum content area that they teach for students’ use. If you would like to view the bookmarks that I saved on del.icio.us that participants will use throughout the course, click Web 2.0 Tools.

(image source: http://askbobrankin.com/social_bookmarking.html)