The new way to read

Google Reader is a form of RSS (Really Simple Syndication). It "brings the information to the learner" (Berger, P. 2010 p 63). Allowing the subscriber to join various websites and blogs and follow them without having to leave the reader page they have designed for themselves. It is beneficial as it saves time, it is very efficient and offers a more comprehensive approach to the researcher (Berger, P. 2010, p 63).

My personal experience with Google Reader has been a very positive one. I have found various personal and professional sites to follow and it allows me to search and follow various pages at once. For someone who is not enamoured with the internet and Web 2.0 tools, this is a good way for me to keep up to date with what I want in an easy and manageable way. Realizing how quickly the postings can add up and seem slightly overwhelming, I believe there is a learning curve to ensure you are not opening your reader to 1000+ articles every day. I had followed a few news feeds, however quickly realized that one news feed was plenty as daily news adds up quickly.

There are both pros and cons to this Web 2.0 tool. The pros include a accessible and uncomplicated way to read RSS news feeds, sensible keyboard short cuts and the ability to label feeds and items for organization. The cons are that the reader itself cannot label items automatically based on past choices, it cannot annotate items and cannot identify related posts and news to put items into context. With that said, for the usability of this tool, the pros certainly outweigh the cons.

In the classroom? Having used Google Reader myself I wondered how usable this would be in the classroom. The first hurtle of course is having all children with internet access at home and email addresses (google accounts). As an elementary teacher, I know there are still parents who are not comfortable with the idea of children having their own email addresses, so this could be a considerable obstacle in having Google Reader in the classroom. However if that obstacle is ignored for a moment, the benefits of Google Reader would be outstanding in the classroom. Teaching kids to read 'the internet' as Ken Richardson speaks of so often, is an important part of the changing face of technology and the classroom. If each child had access to a computer in the classroom, they could spend their silent reading time looking at their Google Reader rather than a book.

RSS feeds such as kids poetry, science websites for kids, news for kids, etc would be an excellent way to engage kids with what they are truly interested in. Many students I have encountered in my classroom are not natural readers, however when they are given reading material that personally interests them (such as a website about bikes or dogs or crafts) they are able to read for hours. At the young age of 9, I am mostly just concerned that children want to read and I am not as concerned about what it is they are reading (as long as it is appropriate of course!).