Now You’ve Found the Information, Here’s How To Keep It.

I wrote in my last post about the benefit of using an RSS Feed Reader to pull together articles from a variety of sources.  Now that you have set that up, you may have already found some articles that were not only informative but you definitely want to keep.

Of course, you can cut and past the information, most of the time, into a wordprocessor and save it, however, there is an easier way:  Evernote.

Evernote is a free (although there are paid versions I have never hit the limits of what the free version can provide) program which exists in the cloud and crosses multiple platforms.  What that means is that information saved on my computer is available on my phone, my tablet, my home computer, basically anywhere I have internet access.

The great thing about Evernote is that the people there really understand how to maximize the cloud and have created web clippers for all the major web browsers.  Simply search for “Evernote Web Clipper” and you can find the version which works best with your browser.  Once installed it places the head of an elephant in your browser (see picture to the left – this is using Chrome web browser).  When you click that it will open a dialogue box like that to the right.  From there you can tell it to copy the article, the page, a screenshot and allows you determine where to save it inside of Evernote.  I have set up a folder labeled “web articles” to receive these articles and can choose to read them at the time or wait until later.  I can easily share them with others,   And, the great thing is, they are there until you remove them, whether that is next week, or next year, or next decade.

Using Evernote web clipper and your RSS Feed Reader is a winning combination.  It works in the background, takes very little effort, and makes my information readily available when I want it.

How an RSS Feed Reader Can Help Keep You Current

RSS stands for Rich Site Summary, but is also known as Really Simple Syndication.  You don’t really need to know that.  What you do need to know is that an RSS Feed Reader can make you better informed and help keep you current in select areas of your choice, with very little effort from you.

The basic way the RSS Feed Reader works is to aggregate, or pull together, into one site, often with a short digest or introduction various new postings to the blogs you have subscribed to.  It then sends the list to your email daily.

For instance I have subscribed to this blog, Adult Studies Faculty, Educational Technology and Mobile Learning,  Leadership Intelligence, Tools to Lead, Educause/Learning Analytics, Presentation Zen, Tablet Pedagogy, and others.  Each day I receive an email with the title and an introductory sentence from any new posts to these blogs.  It is rare that there are more than four titles listed.  Here is the key: I don’t have to go find them, I don’t have to even read them if they don’t interest me.  the ones that do interest me, I click on and go right to the post.

There are a LOT of RSS Feed Readers and you can research them on your own.  I use Bloglovin’ (www.bloglovin.com) because it is easy to use and isn’t too complicated.  This is an area where I don’t need complicated, just something reliable and easy to use.

The process works like this:  once you have signed up for your RSS Feed Reader, you can explore the list of Blogs from their long list and add any you like to your subscription list.  If you run across a Blog not listed (such as this one) simply go back to your RSS Feed Reader and add it.  In Bloglovin’ I click on the heart at the top of the page, select Edit the Blogs You Follow, click on Add Blog and paste the web address into the dialogue box which pops up.  Bloglovin’ does the rest and I start getting updates.  No other maintenance or attention is required.

Give it a try.  Find a few Blogs which appeal to your interest and see if you don’t learn something new.

 

Instructional Deck

I am planning of developing an Instructional “Deck” of Pages which can be used as a resource for teaching.  I’m planning using the format below for the Deck and will be adding a variety of subjects such as:

Brain Mapping, Mobile Exercises, Best Practices in PPT Design, Google Sites, Role Play, Game Based Learning, Plaigarism Detection, Blended Learning, Blogging, ZIGZAG Exercise, Case Study Analysis, SWOT Analysis, Brainstorming, Killer Presentation Tips, Blooms Taxonomy, Creating Quick Tutorials.  If you can think of other topics, please email me at rupchurch@blehaven.edu.  If you would like to build one or more of these pages, let me know and I’ll get you the template (from Google Draw).

End of Course Evaluations – Sometimes They Sting

Dr. Chip Mason, Dean of Belhaven’s School of Business, sent me an article titled “Cruel Student Comments: Seven Ways to Soothe the Sting,” knowing we are moving back to paper evaluations for the Adult Studies courses.  I’m excited about this move because it means we will get a much better response rate, which will yield better information about the course and classroom instruction.  However, it also may yield more of those stinging comments which we all would rather not hear.  In this article by Isis Artze-Vega, she expands on the seven points below.  I encourage you to read the article.  This is always a touchy subject where it is easy to get defensive, but it is also can be one of the most useful tools available if approached from the right perspective, even if painful.

Seven Ways to Soothe the Sting:

1.  Analyze the Data

2. Resist the lure of the negative

3. Let your critics be your gurus

4.  Find counter-evidence

5.  Dwell on the positive ones.

6. Read them with a friend

7. Be proactive

Thanks, Chip, for sending this to my attention.