Ch.+2+–+Fostering+Choice+and+Inquiry+Through+RSS,+Social+Bookmarking,+and+Blogging

= = =Chapter 2: Fostering Choice and Inquiry Through RSS, Social Bookmarking, and Blogging=

=A Demonstration of the Tools: Delicious, Google Reader, and WordPress=

**1. Social Bookmarking** is a tool that allows students to save, tag, and annotate websites for both public and private consumption. Instructions: To explore our social bookmarking site, you'll need to visit ECI 520 Delicious Site. On the right side of the webpage, under "tags", you can narrow your search for sites relevant to your topic. For example, if you're interested in Young Adult Literature, click the "YoungAdultLiterature" tag. ***Note (2/21/11):** Learned, through a conversation with Dr. Crissman (ECI521), that Delicious is looking for a buyer and will fold if it is unsuccessful. With this in mind, you may want to begin with Diigo or Clipmarks. = = = = **2. Really Simple Syndication (RSS)** is a tool that helps students conduct and manage research sources. Students subscribe to sites they want to regularly follow from the ones bookmarked using the social bookmarking tools. From these sources, students are able to generate self-directed topics for use in the Writing Workshop. Instructions: To explore RSS Feeds, review the topics isted below. Click on the topic of your choice. The link will take you to an RSS feed that is relevant to your topic. Skim through the feed and select information you would like to write about in your blog.


 * RSS FEEDS: **

Ants

Filmmaking and Movies

Organic Foods and Cooking

Photography

U.S. History

Young Adult Literature

**3. WordPress.com** is one of many free, easy to use blogging websites. Blogging is a great way for students to informally write about and share ideas as well as receive input from other people. Instructions:  Once you've gathered the information you find interesting and important, post a blog entry summarizing your findings. You may include links if you wish. Click Our Blog! to update our blog. The log in information is: Username: ECI520 Password: CarlYoung . It is case sensitive. Once we've updated our blog, the RSS feed at the bottom of our Wiki Page will update as well!

***Note:** There are two different ways to look at RSS for our blog! We've included both to illustrate some of the creative uses of RSS. The first is an RSS page similar to the ones above. The second is a way to incorporate RSS directly onto a Wiki page. It should update as we update our entries!

rss url="http://wp.me/p1lIMV-4" link="true" description="true" number="5" date="true" Our Blog
 * An RSS Feed of our demonstration blog: **

Setting Up Your RSS Feed [|The 7 Things You Should Know About Series]
 * Teacher Resources **