As I was searching for Web 2.0 and professional development I found a site that suggested educational uses for RSS feeds. http://www.rss-specifications.com/rss-and-education.htm Some of them were things I hadn’t come across or thought of. Keeping students, staff and parents updated on school sporting and other events was one. The guidance counselor and others could monitor feeds about scholarships – a great idea.

Its statement about professional development, while perhaps accurate, is certainly not what I expect almost anyone has in mind when thinking about Web 2.0 and professional development. I particularly took umbrage to “teachers can lose less class time…” It sounded like someone who doesn’t really value enhancing their teachers’ skills because it will take them out of class and they’ll have to find a substitute or something.

“RSS can be used for remote education. Teachers can lose less class time while still staying current on the latest techniques, trends and information in their field of expertise.”

I think RSS feeds and aggregators are probably one of the least utilized tools in Web 2.0, especially for the non-technically inclined teacher. Quite honestly, I knew what RSS feeds were, but didn’t know about aggregators until I took the last Computer Tools class.

One thing a teacher could use RSS feeds for is to help an educator determine the freshness of information coming from an organization, too. It may be a perfectly fine organization that does its basic task well, but they might not keep their information updated regularly. (That would happen after their spring conference.)

In our last class we had to set up an RSS aggregator. It’s my business to be interested in news from the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development so I added their press release feed to my page. After a couple of weeks, I’ve realized the new information they provide to the public is pretty boring, after all they’re a government bureaucracy and change is measured in millimeters. It’s a great feed to find out who the newest deputy to the deputy assistant of Public Housing is and their web site is full of useful information about rules and regs, but not the best source for keeping up with trends in the public housing business. I’ll need to find other public housing information sites to get the kind of detail I want.

I haven’t gotten this far, yet, but I intend to set up different aggregation areas for different life interest. Besides making me feel totally techie and organized, I can stay as up-to-date as I want on any number of subjects. If you’re wondering what the latest color trends are going to be? I’m sure to have them. (I’m sure it doesn’t appear that I care about stuff like that, but I love it.)

I am having some difficulty with a consistent connection to the internet, so I’m going to post what I have so far and I’ll add more later if it becomes stable again.