I’ve set up and used both a web-based RSS aggregator and a browser-based RSS aggregator. Oh, my. No comparison on using the browser-based RSS aggregator and the web-based one. Using MSN, it was extremely simple to set it up. I was easily able to see what sites had the logo to click on, then it was one button. After that, I just need to go to that symbol, which is next to my favorite places to view the feeds. Easy! Sites also easily showed which ones were not available for that function.
It was much more difficult to navigate around the online aggregator, as well as more difficult to view the information. I won’t spend the time to log on to do that, after finding out that I can easily view the feeds with MSN.
Right now, I’m not seeing any use with my 3rd grade students. Only about ½ of my students have internet access at home, and when the students are in computer lab, they have limited time to complete their assignments, let alone do anything else. If there were to be a value, it would only be for those students who could access the internet at home.
In a perfect world, I’d have my students subscribe to my classroom site. I see the RSS feed as a much more useful tool for older students at this time.
Communications with students would be useful via a blog, but again I do not see the utility since about half of my students do not have internet access at home, and there is no time for them to do that when we are in computer lab.
I LOVED setting this up for my personal use, though, and will use it.
