Thing #10

RSS 

I have to admit when I first saw what thing #10 was I wasn't really excited about it. I have seen the little orange icon for RSS but never understood what it was for and wasn't really interested in knowing. After watching the videos on RSS readers, it became a little less intimidating. I can see the usefulness of  RSS for people today, it seems like our time is at a premium and people don't want to spend time looking through information they have already checked. For example, I think this would be really useful if someone was doing research on a particular topic to be notified of when new research became available without having to look through all the old research. 

I think RSS would be helpful in school for staying up to date with other blogs from teachers or parents who may blog. As a future teacher I can see how having a notification system like Feedly would be useful. Between writing lesson plans, grading and preparing for instruction... oh and spending time with the family, there isn't going to be a lot of time for other things but it is important to stay up to date with what is going on as well. Having a notification when something is new streamlines the whole process and makes better use of my time. On a personal level I might do a RSS for things that I am interested in like recipes from bloggers and hobbies like fencing and horseback riding. I still just enjoy scrolling through the new stories on Yahoo because things that I read on there I may not want constant updates on but found interesting to read about. 

I think teachers can use RSS professionally to stay up to date on the most current methods and new methods of teaching and skills. I feel that any employer wants to see that their teachers are staying current on the ways of teaching and they are active learners who are genuinely interested in teaching and the new teaching strategies that are being developed. I think it is also good for students to see that their teachers are staying up to date on technology and that learning doesn't stop once you graduate. I feel that especially in high school not so much at the elementary school level, that students will have stronger connections with their teachers who are more up to date that the teachers who have the same lesson plans filed away year after year with no interest in staying up to date and current.