RSS Reader Reflections

My screen shot from Google Reader

RSS Feeds

I selected a number of sites that I visit at a variety of times from week to week but without any regular consistency. I figured that if I had the sites all located in my reader that I would check them more often because they were easier to access. The EDUCAUSE feed was one good example of this. There are a variety of podcasts on the feed with interesting guests about technology and education.  The Popular Science feed provides a wide range of technology stories that appeal to a few of my colleagues so we often talk about these stories when getting together to tackle a issue or solve a problem. The Engadget feed has a lot of news about the latest portable technology, from portable media players to mobile devices and much, much more. The other sites such as a Hamburger Today and the Jeep blog I just choose out of personal interest.  I did notice right away that updates to the sites vary. Some sites like Engadget are updated as soon as some new interesting technology news is released – averaging about 1 per hour. Other feeds like EDUCAUSE are only updated a few times per month.  I think that I will continue checking these feeds and adding more technology feeds to my reader because I see how this information can benefit my professional development over time.

I added a comment to the Mobile Learning Blog:

I have found that mobile devices can make my life as a student a little easier. They offer me accessibility, mobility and flexibility. I can access a variety of content, from a variety of location when I am mobile thus giving me more flexibility to plan my own schedule.

A summary of what I learned from a few of the feeds:

EDUCAUSE

William Rankin is Associate Professor and Director of Educational Innovation at Abilene Christian University. He explains in a podcast how the university has been giving out iPhones and iTouches for two years to incoming students. They are now at 49% saturation of students and 96% of faculty. Encouraging experimentation: for uploading to blogs, instead of clickers, searching the web, creating art drafts, and moving away from the classroom.

Rosalyn Metz, shares her thoughts on this trend toward the cloud. Metz is systems administrator for curricular support at Wheaton College. She provides her insights on how small colleges may benefit more from cloud computing and that some institutions may create their own hybrid cloud with their own data.

Melissa Martyr-Wagner, Assistant Director for Academic Tech Services at the College of Education & Human Development at the University of Minnesota. She talks about using social media and networks at the university level to complement goals. She believes that all IT leaders need to be networking using social media. Take time to map out a network that works for you.

Popular Science (a little diversion to spark thinking outside the box, or outside the globe)

I learned that astronomers have discovered a second asteroid that contains water. Asteroid 65 Cybele is between Mars and Jupiter contains both water and organic molecules. Scientists think that this is significant and that there might be more water in the universe than they expected. Therefore, the chances for life out there just increased.

Engadget ( another little diversion)

Reuters and the New York Post and CNET  have both reported a rumor that Apple may be planning the launch of an iTunes subscription service. The $10-$15 monthly service that would offer unlimited access to music, adjusted by how much music is actually used.

 

Flickr

I love the Flickr feed because I have a long time interest in photography, I have a new digital SLR camera that I have been experimenting with. The Flickr feed sends me some very beautiful and inspiring images with a variety of perspectives and a very creative use of light and color.