Exploring RSS Feeds & Blogs for "Open"

It’s summertime in the city and the sidewalk cafés are abundant with the sights and smells of coffee, pastries, and vibrant conversations. Imagine a world where you can sit at café table and choose which conversations you want to hear and when. And if you want to join a dialog? You can share your insights with other conversations already in progress or you can even begin your own conversation that others can join. This recipe will explore the ingredients needed to tap into this experience - oooo la la!

Ingredients: 
 
A Really Simple Syndication (RSS) Reader – Your Choice!

• Example: Feedly - https://feedly.com/i/welcome

A List of Relevant RSS Feeds and Blogs

• To practice, you may want to explore “Best Of” lists, such as: http://www.edtechmagazine.com/higher/article/2016/05/higher-ed-must-read-it-blogs

Optional: A Blog to Begin Your Own Conversation

• Blogger - https://www.blogger.com

Directions:

1. Relax - :-)  this will be fun!

2. Explore the ingredients listed above and play with them to see how they work

3. Reflect on your class and think about whether learning outcomes, activities, and assignments can be enhanced by using / encouraging the use of RSS feeds and/or blogs

4. In the spirit of “open,” exchange ideas and experiences with other faculty

How Does Using RSS Feeds and Blogs Embrace “Open” Education?

• Allows classrooms to monitor topics or events as they unfold – beyond the “ranch” of the Learning Management System (LMS)
• Encourages learners to be self-directed and disrupts traditional top-down hierarchy of education (participatory learning community)
• Increases student collaboration and encourages users to share and explore ideas in new ways

Remember: Privacy with blogs and responses to online conversations is not a given – be mindful of
this, remind participants, and adjust as needed

Additional Resources

Here are some more resources that might be helpful when it comes to RSS feeds and blogging in teaching and learning:

• http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7024.pdf
• http://weblogg-ed.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/05/RSSFAQ4.pdf
• http://halfanhour.blogspot.com/2014/12/open-education-moocs-and-opportunities.html