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Learning
how to use Google Reader, Diigo and RSS feeds has transformed my professional
networking. Although I did not originally link these three tools together, it
now seems to me that they are the three musketeers of my online professional
development and the key to creating a versatile professional learning
network. As Richardson (2010) predicted,
using Google Reader to follow blogs related to education, school libraries and
technology has introduced me to new ideas and discussions. While most of my communication
in this venue is still one way with me as the ‘listener’, I am beginning to
gain confidence adding my own voice. Becoming a Google Reader fan took some
time. At first the sheer volume of blogs was overwhelming. I quickly learned to create folders, star
blogs that might be useful later (I used those starred blogs to find references
for this paper), skim over blogs that were not related to my current interests,
use the search bar to search the myriad of blogs for particular topics I was
writing about on my own blog and stop following blogs that did not inspire me. Google
Reader is now my ‘go to’ spot when I begin to write about anything and a
repository for great ideas to follow up on later. Using the RSS feed button for new blogs I
discover by following links from interesting posts allows me to link them
quickly to my own Google Reader account. Diigo is the perfect companion for
Google Reader. Joining two Diigo groups has provided me with interesting links
to annotated blogs that I might not otherwise have discovered. As Berger and Trexler (2010) suggest, Diigo’s
features are very useful for research. I use Diigo to add sticky note comments
to remind me how I plan to use certain references and highlight and annotate
quotes to use later. I even ‘shared’ an
article I highlighted in Diigo via e-mail with a colleague. Kevin Creutz points
out, using Diigo allows for higher order thinking during tagging, highlighting
and annotating. Diigo can also hold PDF documents and other resources that are
online, but cannot be linked to Google Reader with an RSS feed. As I wrote my
last few Web log posts for this inquiry, my Diigo library and my Google Reader
were open on my tool bar as I searched for references I had tagged previously
for specific posts. One of those was
George Couros’ Web log post about blended PLCs outlining the
benefits of learning communities that reach outside our own schools. Diigo,
Google Reader and the ability to use RSS feeds have given me a blended
professional learning community – and I am richer for it.
References:
Berger,
P. & Trexler, S. (2010). Choosing web
2.0 tools for learning and teaching in a digital world. Santa Barbara, CA:
Libraries Unlimited.
Richardson,
W. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and
other powerful web tools for classrooms. (3rd Ed.). Thousand
Oaks, CA: Corwin.
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