Feed Yourself Information With an RSS Feed

By Amber Price
March 1, 2007
URL: http://www.techlearning.com/showArticle.php?articleID=196604269

from Educators' eZine

1. What is an RSS feed and why should I use one?
Do you love to read? If you are a teacher, more than likely, you do. Do you like to stay up-to-date with current events? If you are a teacher who lacks the time to read a favorite novel, but can keep up with articles that are comparable to newspaper or magazine article-length, then this is a great way to entertain yourself and learn new things at the same time!

Maybe you have a favorite hobby outside the classroom that keeps your mind challenged? RSS feeds are a great way to stay current with trends that relate to topics of interest to you. Thanks to programs such as Bloglines you can stay up to date of current events, books, and hobbies. Why did I choose this program? I like the clean interface as well as its ease of use. And, the best part (especially coming from a teacher) is that it's FREE.

2. How to Begin

  • Go to Bloglines. The registration and sign up is free (see below).
  • Click on SIGN UP NOW IT'S FREE!
  • Create your account by entering your E-mail address, password, choosing your time zone and clicking REGISTER.

3. Adding new RSS feeds

  • To begin adding your selected RSS feeds, click the My Feeds tab, then click ADD.
  • Type the actual URL (web address) of the RSS feed in the BLOG OR FEED URL box. For example: http://www.discoveryeducatornetwork.com/.
  • You should then see the new RSS feed hyperlink in the left frame of your web browser.

4. Finding related feeds

  • Would you like to subscribe to other RSS feeds that are related to the ones you enjoy the most? If so, click the RELATED FEEDS link.
  • A listing of the top related feeds will appear. If you know you want to subscribe to the feed, check the SUBSCRIBE TO THIS FEED box.
  • Scroll to the bottom of the page and click SUBSCRIBE.

5. Setting your RSS options

  • Click OPTIONS.

  • I prefer to set my "Open Links In" in a new window so that my Blogfiles.com page remains open and I can access it in my task bar. The best advice is to set these to what you think you will prefer. That is usually a matter of trial and error. After using this program for a while I am finding myself changing how I would like things, such as the posting length, to be simpler. To make this happen I will change the "Posting Length" setting to "Display headlines only" and see how it works for me for a few days.
  • Click SAVE CHANGES.
  • Once you have set up all of your RSS feeds you can then begin clicking on them to view your articles. If a link has new articles it will be bold and contain a number in parentheses. The number represents the number of new articles in the feed.

6. Bloglines' Other Features
Clippings — save articles for viewing at a later time.


Clip Blog — create a personal, online blog with Bloglines.

Email: Amber F. Price