Really Simple Syndication (RSS) appears to be not just really simple, but also a really great idea making sense to the busy, overburdened, overemailed, overcalled and texted (everyday) digital citizen. It’s clear that the author understands what that is like. The notion of unclogging the constant piling up of email is truly attractive. There is a clear difference in the kind of information I need to get to right away as in email and the kind that I can peruse. I believe that mixing them up--the way most email ends up-- is the cause of poor professional choices about how much time is spent emailing back and reading, not to mention getting side focused on items that do not need action versus those that do. It's a labyrinth that can easily be a superhighway-- which I believe was the intent all along. Why not have two distinct highways or one highway and an old country road if one wishes—but I would be the person making that choice, not having someone else dictate what I should or could attend to. I would then be able to better choose these options based on my own professional and personal considerations—even with multiple email accounts, that is hard right now—my common sense and desire-- i.e., the wish to spend longer say on one kind of message than another or the desire to respond in different modes or at different times at different speeds (i.e. prioritize) based on purpose. (Oh, by the way sorry my sentences are so long... I'll fix them soon.)
RSS appears to help us make important decisions that we can convey to our students as well, in terms of time management and executive functioning as their prefrontal cortexes begin to learn how to handle these functions --they may as well learn the "right ways" first. Since our emails are often maze like throughways with traffic jams and stop and go conditions, the option to read what one wants to all in one place designated for that purpose is appealing. I do have one issue though with Mr. Richardson: The author vehemently asks me to “learn RSS today” and teach it to my “students tomorrow” (literally? Liter- REALLY?). I find that it is always better to learn the ins and out of any new service – so that would include RSS no matter how simple-- and use it regularly before introducing it to my students, who may or may not be experiencing the same type of issues I am, or not. In this case it may be the same or different . Do they have the spam I call the “I’ll read it later” phenomenon in their own email or elsewhere? What are their specific issues? Can RSS help them in the same or different ways? What have I learned by using RSS that I can use as a teacher?..., i.e., that’s most effective for them and not just silly, et cetera.
RSS appears to help us make important decisions that we can convey to our students as well, in terms of time management and executive functioning as their prefrontal cortexes begin to learn how to handle these functions --they may as well learn the "right ways" first. Since our emails are often maze like throughways with traffic jams and stop and go conditions, the option to read what one wants to all in one place designated for that purpose is appealing. I do have one issue though with Mr. Richardson: The author vehemently asks me to “learn RSS today” and teach it to my “students tomorrow” (literally? Liter- REALLY?). I find that it is always better to learn the ins and out of any new service – so that would include RSS no matter how simple-- and use it regularly before introducing it to my students, who may or may not be experiencing the same type of issues I am, or not. In this case it may be the same or different . Do they have the spam I call the “I’ll read it later” phenomenon in their own email or elsewhere? What are their specific issues? Can RSS help them in the same or different ways? What have I learned by using RSS that I can use as a teacher?..., i.e., that’s most effective for them and not just silly, et cetera.
Perhaps the best way I might make use of RSS for my particular classes would be to research level appropriate subscriptions relevant to any particular class related interest ( Biology 1a and 2a come to mind first!) and use those articles to more deeply explore a topic or area of interest about which there may well be breaking news – for example news on interesting topics to the students such as stem cells, new brain research, biology related to health, and anything of interest to them that shows the students how research is done—especially if the articles present easy versions of the processes used to get the scientific results. That way, they can internalize these processes, without necessarily having to memorize the scientific method—not a very good way of remembering how it works!
RSS, here I come,.... well some time soon when I have typed every post I actually have written already....
RSS, here I come,.... well some time soon when I have typed every post I actually have written already....
No comments:
Post a Comment