Google Reader

All of us are aware of how to use Google as a search engine. But, Google has done an incredible job of moving in to dominance in many other areas. Youtube and Blogspot are two web services that have been purchased up and added to the existing Google family. Google Earth, Groups, Documents, Reader, Books, Images, Translate, Photos (Picassa) and other incredible tools are made available to users for free. The tools made available to all users by Google are an indication of where the future of technology rests. Remember when you had to purchase a screensaver at the software store? No longer does Microsoft dominate the world. The ubiquity of Google is shifting the system to our benefit. I hope to spend a few posts exploring the wonderful world of Google. This post will primarily be dedicated to using the tool Google Reader, a web based aggregator.

Do you have family members that publish a blog? My wife kept a blog while I was overseas so that I could watch the kids grow. The article you are reading right now is published on a blog. I can imbed images, video, or links to other websites. I am actually typing this in a word processor (not Word, but from a free download from openoffice.org) program and will paste the finished product into the blog. There are several aggregators (in this case, a tool used to pull together "feeds" or updates from requested websites) available, but I truly enjoy Google Reader. By signing onto Reader after creating a Google account (a simple sign up), I can view a brief summary of all the blogs that I follow on a regular basis. In the beginning, I followed blogs from my wife and her two sisters. Rather than having to remember multiple blog addresses, Google Reader keeps track of all entries I have not read. I can access the original site through a click, or I can view it via Reader. This allows me to always keep up to date on what is happening, without having to waste time going to each individually.

To understand an aggregator in a different format, think about Facebook, with updates from your friends. The aggregator is pulling in their updates, and putting them in a central place. The key to using reader is staying up to date with it. I sometimes forget to check, and several blogs that I follow update several times a day, leading to a backlog. Once you have set up a Google Reader account, be sure to add this blog as a subscription, so you can keep up to date on what other teachers are doing with technology.

Adding Blogs to your Subscription (or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Follow a Tech Blog)

When you have an account set up with google, you can move to Reader two ways: 1. by typing into the address bar http://reader.google.com or 2. by going to http://google.com, and clicking on the hotlink (the word “Reader” at the top of the page.) It may be in a drop down menu, accessible by clicking on the down arrow at the end of the list.

Upon entering Reader domain for the first time, you will be offered suggested blogs to add. If you know the address of the blog you want to follow, simply click on the “Add Subscription” button on the upper left. Simply cut and past the name of the blog you wish to follow into the address bar that appears. Or manually enter the address. Try it now: http://staglearning.blogspot.com . Now you can follow our updates as we encourage you and other teachers to share knowledge and help us grow.