NWP Digital Toolbox: An Introduction to blogs, RSS, and Social Bookmarking

Among the tools in the National Writing Project’s digital toolbox, blogs, RSS, and social bookmarking are the one’s I use the most in my day to day life as a teacher. Reading the NWP overviews social bookmarking, blogs and RSS, is a good start for understanding how these powerful tools can work for you and your students, but when asked to explain these tools myself, I almost always rely on the Common Craft Show to do the job. Check out the following videos for an explanation of these tools “in plain english.”

Part 1: Blogs

Education and the Blogosphere

I’m certainly no expert on educational blogging. But there are plenty of online collaborative teacher communities that can provide support. Below are just a few that I’ve found through my own RSS subscriptions.

General Reference and Support

• SupportBlogging.com: Not only does this site offer suggested platforms for classroom blogs, but it also offers a wealth of research and other reading to help justify it’s use
• TeachWeb2.0: An ongoing, constantly evolving list of tools and tips from educators around the globe, this is one of my favorite and most reliable sources for information regarding online classroom tools. Not only does it help new users understand what these tools are, teachers work on the site together to create a SWOT analysis, add classroom examples, and otherwise evaluate the usefulness of different platforms.
• Blog Basics from Teachers First: For those who would like to learn the basics of blogging, this site provides virtual hand-holding through the entire process of first time classroom blogging.
• EduBlog Tips On Blogging With Students: Edublogs offer the option of private, teacher-moderated classroom blogs with a wide network of support and resources. There are different levels of membership options, including those that offer upgraded options for a fee.
• Top 100 Education Blogs via OEDb: Organized by content, level, and type, a good place to browse educational blogs

My Favorite Educational Blogs

• Making Teachers Nerdy: Provides basics and useful overviews of what’s on the web. A great place for beginning and advanced learners alike.
• iLearn Technology: I love, love, love this site. Although a lot of the resources aren’t applicable to my own classroom, I find so many great resources here to share with other content areas, especially elementary grades.
• Free Technology for Teachers: Free is the key word with this blog. I know I won’t have to pay for the resources recommended here, and the overview of each item is a fantastic way for me to get ideas for my own class.
• Weblogg-ed: Will Richardson’s blog on education. While this blog is not really light reading, I turn toward Will’s blog when I’m in the mood for more serious and out-of-the-box ideas.
• Get Schooled via AJC: I use this feed to stay on top of local educational news in my area. Chances are, your local newspaper has a feed too.
• NCTE Inbox Blog: Anecdotal incites to the teaching of English.
• NWPs Current Feed Content: Subscribing to the National Writing Project’s current feed keeps me current with articles, events, and discussions going on through the site.

More Favorites

• How Stuff Works: This is a great resource for, interesting, bizarre, and fun informational reading.
• Popular Science: It is what is sounds like. More great, engaging reads for the reluctant.
• LifeHacker: While not really an “educational” blog in the strictest sense of the word, I often find things on this feed that are useful for me in my personal and teaching life.

Part 2: RSS

While the Common Craft Show recommends Google Reader for managing your RSS subscriptions, there are other options out there. I prefer to use Bloglines for my subscriptions because of it’s ease of use, simple design, and no fuss organization. Will Richardson, author of Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms, also offers a printable guide to RSS for educators.

More RSS Subscription Services to Consider:

• Alltop: this service touts itself as an “online magazine rack” and reflects this idea in it’s design. Preview Alltop’s Top Education News for a preview of the design. I like Alltop’s design for managing student blogs, or for assembling suggested reading for classroom research or projects.
• The Definitive Top 5 Online RSS Readers: Still not sold? Take a look at this short list of the most popular, and user friendly feed readers online.

3 Ideas for Classroom Use

1. Student Research: One of the most relevant purposes for RSS is for research. Students can assemble specific search queries to keep tabs on current events or to learn more about topics that interest them. These days, most periodicals (Scientific American, National Geographic) have an RSS component linked to their site, which could make for interesting weekly reading reports or class discussion (in person or through their blogs).
2. Parent Contact: Why not teach parents a new way of keeping track of their child’s learning life? Whether you are a parent or a teacher, you can benefit from subscribing to your teacher’s blogs, and receive updates each time they post (if they are using them, that is).
3. Let the Principal become your Pal: Principals, and other administrators, could subscribe to the blogs of teachers in their buildings, and post their own weekly update to send to parents and teachers alike.

Part 3: Social Bookmarking

Chances are, once you get a hang of subscribing to blog feeds, you’ll come across lots of links that you want to save and share with colleagues and friends. Social bookmarking is (in my opinion) the most efficient way of handling bookmarks. Not only can I access websites that I’ve saved to my delicious account from anywhere in the world (provided I have internet access) I can share my links with networked friends and professional contacts who might benefit from what I know, and vice versa.

While there are many social bookmarking services available, delicious.com is the one I know and love, and while others have shiny baubles, widgets, knobs, and such, I always find myself returning to delicious for it’s simplicity, ease of use, and familiarity. To find my bookmarks on delicious, or to join my network, search the main page for jmill123 or visit my delicious homepage: delicious.com/jmill123

Other Social Bookmarking Sites to Consider

• Top 5 Online Social Bookmarking Services: A good overview of the more useful and user preferred social bookmarking services available online.
• SecondBrain: Although the “shiny baubles, widgets, and knobs” of this service have me stumped, this one makes the list for its ability to add documents and serve as an electronic portfolio. New to the scene, and less well known than other bookmarking sites, it has a fun name and potential to move it’s way into the top 5 list.

Filed under: KMWPsi09, NWP Digital Toolbox , blogging, blogs, digital toolbox, education, educational, NWP, rss, social bookmarking