What is RSS and why is it important?

• Video: RSS in Plain English
• RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a syntax for expressing information in a machine-readable format.
• RSS explained
• RSS compared to email
• Explaining RSS
• Sample Feeds
  • Trey Martindale's blog : http://teachable.org/blog/index.php/?feed=rss2

What is an aggregator, and why should I use one?

• An aggregator is a piece of software (client-based or web-based), that collects, displays, and otherwise manages RSS feeds.
  • http://ranchero.com/netnewswire/ - NetNewsWire, a client aggregator (Mac)
  • http://awasu.com - Awasu (Windows)
  • http://newsgator.com - Newsgator, a client and web aggregator (Windows)
  • http://bloglines.com - Bloglines, a web-based aggregator
• http://bloglines.com/public/martindale/

What are blogs and how do they work?

• newspaper, newsletter, journal, public forum, external brain, etc.
• dated entries, archived content, and commenting
• easily publish a sophisticated site with search, archives, formatting. auto-syndication with RSS. images, audio, video.
  • http://teachable.org/blog/ - Trey Martindale
  • http://opencontent.org/blog/ - David Wiley
  • http://www.corante.com/many/ - Many to Many: group blog
  • http://weblogs.elearning.ubc.ca/brian/ - Brian Lamb: Abject Learning
  • http://blogger.com - set up a free blog

Social bookmarking, del.icio.us

• http://del.icio.us/
• http://del.icio.us/martindale
• http://del.icio.us/tag/idt7073
• http://del.icio.us/tag/idt7061

Technologies related to blogs and rss

• Podcasting, Screencasting
  • http://edtechposse.ca/ - Ed Tech Posse Podcasts

What are wikis and how do they work? Ex. Wikipedia, wikiquote

• Video: Wikis in Plain English
• A wiki is a piece of server-based software that enables the user to edit a web page via the web browser. There are many variations in terms of types of wikis. A common feature is the easy creation of new wiki “pages” by combining words to form a web link to a new document. Most wikis include a basic shorthand so that users can create web documents without needing to know HTML.
• The most well-known and largest example of a wiki is probably Wikipedia—a vast web-based encyclopedia. Wikipedia is being developed and managed by a large group of vigilant contributors from around the globe. There are many other types of wikis.
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
  • http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Main_Page
  • http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Main_Page

Read This

• Executive's Guide to Blogs, Wikis, and RSS (PDF)
• Seven things you should know about blogs, wikis, social bookmarking, etc.
  • http://www.educause.edu/content.asp?page_id=7495&bhcp=1
• Wide Open Spaces: Wikis, Ready or Not
  • http://www.educause.edu/pub/er/erm04/erm0452.asp