Educators’ Guide to RSS and Google Reader Replacements

Posted on May 16, 2013 by Sue Waters — 5 Comments ↓

For me, the most annoying part of Google Reader shutting down on July 1 is ensuring that we all continue to appreciate that understanding how to harness the power of RSS is an important skill for educators and students.

Google Reader made it easy! You just had to explain RSS, why you use it and how to set up Google Reader.

Thanks Google! Now we need to explain why RSS isn’t dead, why you should use it and which RSS Reader is a good option based on which device you prefer to use.

So we’ve put together the information to help you find a suitable Google Reader replacement, and we hope to convince you that RSS is still important — now is not the time to give up on RSS (even if Google broke our hearts).

Why RSS is still important

This is for those that don’t appreciate why so many of us are upset by Google Reader being shutdown. RSS is an acronym which stands for Really Simple Syndication.

RSS is a simple and effective way of keeping in touch when new information is added to a website without having to visit the website to check for new updates.

How it works is you subscribe to your favorite website using the RSS feed in a RSS feed reader. Whenever new information is added to the website it is automatically sent to your RSS feed reader where you can read it at your convenience.

Google Reader was the most commonly used feed reader.

RSS isn’t just a time saver! RSS lets you do lots of cool stuff, including adding latest updates from your favorite blog(s) or news website(s) to your own site using RSS widgets like FeedWind’s RSS widget or share your favorite posts and articles with others by creating your own magazines.

And don’t stress that RSS is hard or confusing. The most confusing part of it is the word RSS! Most modern feed readers make it really easy to subscribe to your favorite sites and it can be as simple as searching for the title of the site.

What you need to know about Google Reader Replacements

Google did a great job. Google Reader’s service was so popular that it practically pushed all alternative RSS readers out of the market and as a result, we’re now seeing a mad rush of companies trying to fill the void left by Google.

Here is the key points you’ll need to consider when selecting your Google reader replacement.

#1 The Google Reader Replacement frenzy

Over the next few months we’re going to see new RSS readers developed, like Digg who has announced they are building a reader, and existing RSS readers continuing to rapidly develop and enhance their features.

There will hiccups along the way as the alternatives scale up their services to cope with a sudden increase in demand, and you’ll probably see more providing the paid for service approach.

Be prepared for the hiccups, be flexible and accept that your preferences for readers may change.

#2 How Google Reader subscriptions are imported

It’s also important to your existing subscriptions are imported into the replacement reader.

Google Reader replacements are using two different ways to import your subscriptions:

Readers like The Old Reader allow you to import using an OPML file or connect directly from your Google Reader account to migrate across your subscriptions.
While readers like Feedly and FlipBoard rely on the Google Reader API and are publicizing if you are already using their service your Google Reader subscriptions will seamlessly transition automatically across when Google Reader closes.

#3 Export your Google Reader subscriptions

Regardless of which reader you choose we recommend that you export your Google Reader subscriptions as an OPML file, so if you do need to suddenly change readers, you’ll be able to using your saved OPML file.

I would organize your OPML file sooner rather than later. When Posterous closed down, their servers struggled to cope as backup demands increased. Google’s set up is different with powerful servers and it is less likely to be an issue – however why take the chance?

This is a great opportunity to clean up your Google Reader subscriptions before downloading your OPML file. I removed subscriptions I no longer wanted and adjusted the number of folders I was using.

You download your OPML file directly from Google Reader Takeout.

All you need to do is:

1. Login into Google Reader Takeout.

2. Click on Create Archive.

3. Select ‘Email me when ready‘.

4. You’ll receive an email when it is ready to download.

5. Log back into Google Reader Takeout and download.

#4 Preferred device for reading subscriptions

Google Reader made it easy; it worked on all devices. Whereas some of the Google Reader replacements are device specific or are better suited for tablets/smartphones or using on desktop computers.

So it is important to consider your preferred device for reading subscriptions and what devices your students can use when deciding which Google Reader replacements best suits your needs.

Below are our current Google Reader replacement recommendations based on reliability, functionality and features:

Feedly

iOS | Android| Web

Feedly is currently the most popular Google Reader replacement being chosen by educators. It was first released in 2008. With its one click sync with Google Reader, easy to use interface, familiar format and simple ways of sharing posts with friends and social networks — its popularity is no surprise.

Feedly works as an add-on in Chrome, Safari, FireFox and has a mobile apps for iOS, Android and Kindle. It doesn’t support Internet Explorer so isn’t an option if you’re restricted to Internet Explorer at school. But is a great choice if you like to move between computer, tablets and smartphones like I do!

Most articles on Google Reader replacements aren’t reporting any downside to using Feedly however I know some of my work colleagues have had issues accidentally marking all articles as read. They also found it hard to change article to unread which is an important functionality for them. Being power users I’m confident this is more of an issue for them and won’t be a problem for the average RSS users.

Watch this video to check Feedly out in action in the different devices.

Flipboard

iOS | Android

Flipboard was originally designed as a social network aggregation, magazine-format app for iPad in 2010. It is now the most popular of the magazine-like content aggrregator apps for iOS, Android, Kindle and Nook.

It’s not being included in all articles on the top Google Reader replacements because some articles are basing their recommendations on the reader needs to be multiplatform and web accessible which Flipboard isn’t. You can’t currently read your subscription on Flipboard using a desktop computer.

However, if you’re like me, and read most of your subscriptions on a tablet or smartphone, and your students have access to tablets than I would seriously consider using Flipboard.

Here’s why:

Tablets continue to grow in popularity and PC sales are decreasing. Student access to tablets will increase.
Flipboard is much more than a Google Reader replacement. It has considerably more functionality than the other Google Reader replacements; allowing you to bring all your social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram into one location with Google Reader where you can easily share with others.
It allows you to easily create your own magazines which you can easily share with others.
It’s an easy and fun way to teach others how to subscribe to what interests them!

FlipBoard relies on the Google Reader API and they are saying that your subscriptions will seamlessly remain inside Flipboard when Google Reader discontinues their service.

Flipboard’s ability to bring all your social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram into one location with Google Reader where you can easily share with others makes it a powerful time saving app. Check out Vicki Davis’s 15 Ways to use Flipboard to help you get started or watch this video.

The new Flipboard magazine feature is a powerful tool for educators:

A Flipboard magazine let you quickly curate and share articles you like directly to your own magazine from within Flipboard or using the Flip It bookmarklet in your web browser.
Other Flipboard users can subscribe to your Flipboard magazine(s) allowing them to easily read the articles you like to share.

Here’s just some of the ways educators can use Flipboard magazines:

Sharing articles you like with other educators. You can check out my Education, Blogging and Technology Tips magazine here.
Get students to create their own Flipboard magazines for areas that they are interested in or on specific topics.
For sharing posts published on student blogs. You can read how Joe O’Brien is using it with his student blogs here.

Check out my Education, Blogging and Technology Tips magazine here.

Watch this video to learn how to create a magazine using Flipboard.

And check out this video on how to use the new Flipboard Editor.

The Old Reader

Web

The Old Reader is designed to be a direct replacement of Google Reader. Its interface looks a lot like Google Reader and is easy to use. It was first released in 2012 and was inspired by how good Google Reader was prior to November 2011 — and hence why it was given the name The Old Reader.

While there are no mobile apps for the Old Reader, the web site works well in the mobile browser on both iOS and Android tablets.

The Old Reader is an excellent choice if you prefer the more traditional interface you had with Google Reader and need to be able to easily keep articles as unread. This is the preferred replacement for many of my work colleagues.

So What’s Your Verdict?

There are several alternatives that I haven’t discussed. My personal opinion is that these are the three best Google Reader replacements currently for educators.

What are your thoughts? Are you using any of these or an alternative? Tell us what you like or dislike – and why!

Posted in Working With Web 2.0 Tools

Tips for Creating Secure Student Passwords

Posted on April 30, 2013 by Sue Waters — 4 Comments ↓

The truth is, even though we support over 2 million blogs, we only get a handful of complaints each year when it comes to inappropriate behavior or a suspected “password hack” on Edublogs.

A ‘password hack’ is when someone has used the password of another person to write a post or change something on a blog. They’ve either guessed or found the password and used it to break in.

Almost all examples we’ve dealt with over the years could have easily been avoided with good password management. It is important that as educators, we model and teach our students good password responsibility.

The most common causes of inappropriate behavior or suspected ‘password hacks’ are:

Using a generic username and password for all students.
Failure to use unique passwords for each student. The teacher creates student accounts with a different usernames but the same password for all students or a standard approach to assigning passwords that allows students to easily guess other students’ passwords.
Students telling other students (or siblings) their username and password.
Failing to log out of accounts or using ‘Remember my password’ on shared computers.

Most our students do the right thing! But occasionally there is a student who will do the wrong thing when they think they can’t be traced or made accountable for their actions.

Passwords are our line of defense for protecting our accounts. Students will have to deal with lots of passwords in their lifetime and we believe they are never too young to be taught good password practice.

The aim of this post is to share tips and resource to help educators improve how they manage their own passwords and help to educate their students on good password practice.

Use strong unique passwords

The stronger your password the more protected your accounts are. You should always use strong passwords for all accounts and use strong passwords that are different for each of your important accounts.

While remembering multiple strong passwords can be annoying, at least all your other accounts are protected even if a password is compromised for one account.

A strong password:

Is at least 8 characters long
Is unique and different from your other passwords.
Doesn’t include terms that are significant to you like pet’s name, username, real name, date, phone number that are easy to guess or use complete words that make it easier for hackers who use dictionary attack programs. Also avoid common word misspellings and words in which letters have been replaced by numbers or symbols because some dictionary attack programs also check for these.
Contains a combination of uppercase and lower case letters, numbers and symbols (keyboard characters that aren’t letters or numbers).

Creating strong passwords

A common method used for creating a strong random password is to turn a sentence that you can easily remember and turn into a password by using the first letter of each word, parts of words, substituting numbers and symbols as appropriate. Choose phrases that are meaningful to you or includes your favorite hobby or sport to help you remember.

For example, my phrase might be:

Rush Hour 3 is my favorite movie and I like chocolate might become rH/3iMfm&1Lchoc

I love football and cricket could become iLuVfb&CiK3t

An alternative option is to use a password generator tool such as Safe Password generator. A password generator tool is a good option for ensuring you create a strong random password to ensure you aren’t susceptible to a ‘dictionary password attack’.

Check out this video by Mozilla on ‘How to choose strong passwords‘.

Keep your password secure

Password management isn’t just about using strong passwords; it is also about making sure you keep your password secure and others don’t access your account.

This means:

If you do write down your passwords don’t label them ‘password’ or leave them in plain sight on or near your computer.
Don’t use ‘Remember the password’ if you are sharing a computer with other people. If someone knows your username, and you used ‘remember the password’, they just need to add your username to log into your account. You can make sure your password has been removed after you log out by clearing stored passwords.
Always log out of your accounts if your device is around others and make sure all passwords are cleared if someone asks to use your device.
Don’t give your password to anyone except your parents or teacher- not even your friends or a sibling.

Here is how to clear stored passwords from different web browsers:

Update your password recovery options

There are occasions where you will forget your password or need to reset it. Most systems use your email address for password resets.

Make sure your recovery email address is kept up-to-date on all important accounts and uses an email account you can still access (here is how you update your Edublogs email address).

Creating student passwords

The most common reason why educators have issues with student accounts is they’ll create the account for their students using a different usernames but the same password for all students or use a standard approach to assigning passwords that allows students to easily guess other students’ passwords.

The best options are to:

Educate your students on strong passwords and good password management practices.
Practice password creation by getting students to suggest strong passwords and then go over them as a class by having the students explain why they think a student’s password is good or weak, and why.
Get students to log into their account and make their password strong as one of their first activities if you’ve used a generic password or simple password naming systems.

Here are some resources you can use with your students:

Commonsense media’s Password Tips student handout
How to Choose Stong password video (by Morizilla)
How to create a strong password (by Google)
How to choose a safe password video (by Explania)
Check your password – is it strong?
Safe password generator
Lifehacker’s How to pick a good, strong password infographic (print off full sized infographic to display in class).

Below is a video by Google on ‘How to create a strong password‘.

Using Password Managers

Most of us have a lot of online accounts and remembering all our unique strong passwords can be both painful and hard.

The alternative approach to remembering passwords is to use a password manager.

Password manager options include:

Saving logins in your web browser using the ‘Remember password option’.
Web based password managers such as LastPass which saves your passwords in an encrypted database. You just need one master password to access all your stored encrypted passwords.
Local managers such as KeePass and 1Password which saves your passwords encrypted database on your computer or device.

You can read a review of password manager options here.

Your Password tips!

There are a range of different approaches you can use to manage passwords.

How do you manage your passwords? What are your tips and the challenges you face helping students manage their own passwords?

Please let us know by leaving a comment below.

Posted in Using Blogs With Students

Is Your Blog Mobile Friendly?

Posted on April 5, 2013 by Sue Waters — 3 Comments ↓

When I first started blogging in 2007, I only needed to worry about what my blog looked like on my computer. There wasn’t that many readers using mobile devices.

How life has changed! Sales of mobile devices continue to see incredible growth and with this there has been a major shift in the consumption habits of our readers.

In fact, nearly 20% of all visits to blogs on Edublogs.org come from mobile or tablet devices! And the number has doubled in the past year!

Now I need to worry what my blog looks like on a computer and mobile devices. And I have this annoying voice in my head going — you can only change the theme if it is responsive….it must be a responsive theme.

PS. The annoying voice is my colleague Ronnie Burt – and he is right

Responsive themes are designed to display nicely on all devices, including phones, tablets and desktops, whereas non-responsive themes are best viewed on desktops. With a responsive theme you can customize it to your heart’s content knowing that it’ll look good on all devices.

Let’s look at why using a responsive theme is a good idea if you want your blog to be mobile friendly.

What is responsive theme design?

Photo Credit: exacq via Compfight

A responsive theme is designed to automatically adjust to fit the device you’re reading it on; it adapts the content and layout to suit the resolution of the device.

Non-responsive themes don’t adjust to the resolution of devices.

If you view a non-responsive theme on most modern phones it will automatically zoom out so that your entire blog can be seen. This means your readers need to zoom in to read your content.

Responsive themes and reader experience

Responsive themes are designed to be mobile friendly; they serve web pages at lightening fast speed on any device and in a format that doesn’t require the reader to adjust by zooming in or out to read.

Most major websites now use responsive themes as it means they only need to have one version of their website to work seamlessly across all devices while providing the best reader experience for all visitors.

Check out the following examples of what a non-responsive photo blog theme vs a responsive photo blog theme looks like on an iPhone.

Non-responsive theme

Here’s what my AutoFocus demo blog, which is a non-responsive theme, looks like on my iPhone. You can see the entire blog but need to zoom in to read the content.

Non responsive

Responsive theme

And here’s what my Hatch demo blog, which is a responsive theme, looks like on my iPhone. The text and images (and videos if I had added any) are served at a size that allows the reader to immediately start reading.

Responsive

Theme layout and responsive themes

A non-responsive theme uses the same layout regardless of the resolution of the device whereas a responsive theme changes layout depending on the screen resolution.

If you are reading this post on a desktop browser just gradually make your browser window smaller. You’ll see the images, videos and content column shrinks, the sidebar disappear and the layout change from two column to a single column of content with the widgets displayed at the bottom of the theme because The Edublogger is using a responsive theme.

Here’s what my personal blog, which uses Yoko – a responsive theme, looks like when viewed on an iPhone, iPad and desktop.

Changing layout of a responsive theme

Examples of Responsive themes

You can check out the entire list of Responsive themes on Edublogs here.

See some of them in use on the following blogs:

Hatch (photo blog theme) – Hatch demo blog
Hum – Lisa and Tim Photography
Magazino – Miss Kelly’s Science
Responsive – Edublogs Help and Support
Yoko (clean looking white theme ) – Teacher Challenge blog (without image header) Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day (with custom header image)

There are variations in how blog platforms handle being mobile friendly but if you have an option to use a responsive theme — use the responsive theme!

Posted in Getting Blog Design Right

Please Share Your Examples of How Educational Blogs Are Used

Posted on March 2, 2013 by Sue Waters — 31 Comments ↓

I’ve been doing webinars lately on educational blogging and want to create a showcase of the different ways educators and librarians are using blogs.

I’m hoping you can help!

I want to build on the concept of our Class blog list to include examples of:

Class websites
Book Review Blogs
Library Blogs
Principal blogs
Professional Development blogs
School News Blogs
School websites
Other (any type of educational blog I’ve missed and you feel should be included in the showcase)

Please leave a comment on this post with links to any blogs that we should include in the showcase.

We’ll need the following information:

Blog Title(s) and Blog URL(s)
Type of blog (class website, book review blog, library blog etc)
Any other important information about the blog(s) to help others understand how the blog(s) is used.

You can check out archives and information from my latest webinars here:

The Care and Feeding of your blog – for TL Virtual Cafe
Introduction to Blogging – Jan 17 incl. Sue Wyatt, Peggy George (see supporting materials here) for ETMOOC
Introduction to Blogging (Director Cut) – repeat Jan 23 incl. Sue Wyatt, Alan Levine, Penny Bentley (see supporting materials here)
Advanced Blogging – incl. Alec Couros, Sue Wyatt, Penny Bentley (see supporting material here)
Getting more out of student blogging – see supporting material here.

Posted in Using Blogs With Students

From ETMOOC: Learning through blogging

Posted on February 13, 2013 by Sue Waters — No Comments ↓

I’ve been facilitating blogging sessions for ETMOOC (Massive Open Online Course on Educational Technology) and have written a series of posts to support the ideas, tips and resources discussed in my sessions.

Normally I would have written the posts here on The Edublogger but I wasn’t sure how many posts I would publish, for how long and I needed to make sure only ETMOOC specific posts were feed into the ETMOOC blog hub. So instead I’ve published the posts on my personal blog and written this post to summarize:

What was covered in each session.
Provide a link to the post published to support the recorded session.
Provide a link to the recorded session.

I’ve also embedded the videos I created for the sessions in this post.

While these sessions were provided for ETMOOC the content covered should help all educators wanting to know more about how you learn through blogging and how you use blogs with students.

ETMOOC is providing a whole series of free learning opportunities for educators, on a wide range of topic areas, and you can check out the regularly updated entire list of free archived BlackBoard Collaborate sessions here.

Below is a summary of the sessions I’ve provided for ETMOOC. Enjoy!

1. Introduction to Blogging

All ETMOOC participants have been ask to participate through their own blogs. Quite a few participants are new to blogging and it’s really hard to appreciate how you might learn through blogging if you’ve never blogged before.

What they needed to know wasn’t the “how-to’ blog. There is lots of information on how to set up your blog, how to write post and so on.

They needed to understand the pedagogical aspects of blogging – “How do you learn through blogging?”. What are the key components that you have to understand when blogging to ensure you’re maximizing your learning.

The focus of this session was a pedagogical introduction to blogging as opposed to the technical. While the emphasis is on how you do it as part of the ETMOOC communities the same principles apply any time your aim is to use blogging for learning.

The content from this session is covered in my Learning through blogging as part of a connectivist MOOC post.

Introduction to blogging session was repeated and there are differences between the two recorded versions. Here is where you can watch the archived recordings:

Introduction to Blogging – Jan 17 incl. Sue Wyatt, Peggy George
Introduction to Blogging (Director Cut) – repeat Jan 23 incl. Sue Wyatt, Alan Levine, Penny Bentley

2. Advanced Blogging

The Advanced blogging session was a blend of what participants wanted to know mixed with skills they needed to know and the session included:

The importance of linking and how to link.
Commenting Etiquette and tips.
Digital copyright and fair use.
Using Creative Commons images.
Tools for sourcing Creative Commons images.
Using your own images in blog posts.
Post Sharing Etiquette.
Making posts visually engaging.
Post work flow.

Refer my Blogging questions Storify to see how this session was planned and the blogging tips shared by my network — thanks to all who helped plan this session!.

The content from this session is covered in my Advanced Blogging: You asked for it post. You can watch the recorded archive for the Advanced Blogging session here.

I also created the following three ‘how to’ videos to complement session. I’m not the greatest screencaster but they should help.

Please let me know if you or your students decide to create better screencasts — so I can check them out!

Adding Creating Commons Images using the Compfight plugin

How to add Creative Commons images sourced on Compfight to your blog posts

How to embed media into blog posts using their URL

3. Student Blogging

The student blogging session was inspired by ETMOOC participants like Lorraine Boulos who are realizing ”I am not just learning HOW to connect but WHY connect” and are now trying to transfer the skills they’re learning into their classrooms.

The session included:

Background on my work with educational blogging.
How blogs are used in education.
The different approaches used for student blogging.
Discussion on Scaffolding vs Struggling.
Digital footprint and your role in relation to your student’s digital footprint.
Developing quality commenting skills.
Creating Global Connections.
Getting Family involved.
The need to monitor student blogs.

The content from this session is covered in my Getting more out of student blogging post. You can watch the recorded archive for the Student Blogging session here.

I also created the following two videos on how to use My Class.

How to set up My Class on an Edublogs blog.

Using My Class to easily manage all your student blogs and users.

A lot of our Edublogs users aren’t aware of all the different features of My Class. So the following video showcases all the different ways you can manage your student blogs using My Class.

4. Other ETMOOC posts

I also wrote the following other posts for ETMOOC that might interest you!

Work smarter and stay connected in a learning community post – demonstrates how people like myself use a series of strategies to save time to work smarter.
Staying Sane: Letting Go to Learn More post – discusses why it is important to prioritize your learning to avoid information overload,
Commenting Counts (Or does it) post – check out the comments to gain an appreciation of why commenting is an important part of blogging.

Hope these posts and links to blogging sessions helped!

PS ETMOOC is free and open to any one to participate. It’s never too late to join and start participating.