Bloglines: Why You May Need This!
The thought of developing an information management system sounds really cool! Or maybe not, I don't know. My father often told his four boys, while sitting around the family camp fire in Alleghany State Park in the 1970s, different strokes for different folks.

We have been discussing new ways of looking at learning in our classroom and it has been a challenge for all members involved. Recently, I drew a pie on my tablet and divided the pie into eight pieces. I asked the class to come up with a way in which we can make more pieces of pie, without cutting the pie into smaller pieces. In the end, the answer lies in looking at the pie in a three-dimensional manner instead of the traditional two-dimensional. We took the cross-section of the pie and cut that in half, creating sixteen pieces. Students learning in the 21st century classroom need to take a similar approach with the new technologies. Often times, students look at the internet as a ends. They simple google information, take the information they find, and transfer that information into whatever context they need. However, they are rarely utilizing their own critical thinking skills. That is where students and teachers need to recognize the different dimensions of the technologies. Blogging is one means that promotes an individual's thinking. Ever since introducing the blog into class, we have identified the exercise as an intellectual exercise. This exercise is a means in which the reader gathers information and analyzes the materials (other blogs). Once they have read numerous blogs on a particular topic, the individual can identify pertinent information, categorize and prioritize the information, and synthesize their findings into their own blog. One method that has proven to be an efficient means of achieving this is using an aggregator. An aggregator is a collector of blogs, that allows an individual to subscribe to numerous blogs, on any subject matter they want, and continuously collect thoughts and ideas. It is this aggregator that becomes a source of information that empowers the individual to develop an expertise from individuals across the globe.

Students learning to blog, must learn the value of a RSS (Real Simple Syndication) feed. (Don't get overwhelmed with the tech-talk)

RSS is a simple XML-based system that allows users to subscribe to their favorite websites. Using RSS, webmasters can put their content into a standardized format, which can be viewed and organized through RSS-aware software or automatically conveyed as new content on another website. (Wikipedia)

On their own, RSS feeds do not adequately feed you information. The user of RSS feeds need a feed reader, or an aggregator, that can check a list of feeds and update those feeds with updated information. The aggregator of choice in our classroom is bloglines. This a free-ware program, that allows individuals to subscribe to blogs across the blogosphere. As your teacher, I have been utilizing this to collect and subscribe to your blogs since the beginning of the year. Bloglines is a simple program that can be subscribed to within minutes.

The following is a simple tutorial that will allow an individual to establish a bloglines account.

1. Go to www.bloglines.com.
2. Click on the line create an account
3. Submit your email address into the appropriate field, along with your password. A piece of advice, make your password something you will never forget.
4. Once you have duplicated your password, hit the subscribe button.
5. At this point, you have registered and will have to open up your email to activate your bloglines account. Once this is done, your bloglines account is ready to role.

The fun has only begun because a bloglines without subscriptions is simply another program that takes up useless space on your hard drive. Each individual with a bloglines account must subscribe to the RSS feed. That is accomplished by clicking on the my feed tab in the right corner of the tab bar. A simple add text will appear, and the user will click on that. A screen will appear with a blog or url feed field. The individual simply puts into that field the url address (example: classroomchange.blogspot.com). The individual will hit the subcribe button, at that point the screen will show the available feeds with a check box next to the feeds. Look at the small text that reads RSS. Click on that and scroll down to the bottom of the page and hit subscribe. At that point, you have effectively created a subscription to that blog.

Good luck and begin to enter the blogosphere!