BP1_Google Reader

I have been using Google Reader for quite some time. As an avid Google fan, I like to poke around the applications every now and then. When I noticed the new tab at the top of my email inbox, I clicked on it. I watched the quick tutorial and added a couple of blogs like my local newspaper and a celebrity gossip blog. I enjoyed the ease of seeing the headlines of those sites, however my FAVORITE thing about Google Reader is the "Recommended Items" feature. Whenever I have a few moments to myself, I prefer reading the recommended items to almost any other leisure activity! It's so much better than television and the magazines in the checkout line at the grocery store. I'd prefer to see what is being posted here than on Facebook most of the time!

The "Recommended Items" feature customizes its suggestions based on the information that google has stored about your interests based on the searches you complete with Google while logged into your Google account. To streamline the recommendations to your tastes even better, it is equipped with user friendly icons at the bottom of each post that allow you to "like" or "unlike" a recommendation. Google Reader uses these preferences to find more blogs that are similar to the ones the you have indicated that you like. IT IS AWESOME! I find the most interesting things here like the article I shared in Wimba about the boy who saved his sister's life by using skills that he'd learned from playing WOW. http://www.nextnature.net/2010/05/norwegian-boy-saves-sister-from-moose-attack-with-world-of-warcraft-skills/

I like that Google is often publishing blogs about their new products and features as well as security threats AND how to avoid them. By far, Google Reader is one of my MOST FAVORITE things about the internet these days.

For my first blogging assignment, I chose 5 sites to follow for professional purposes. These five RSS feeds are:

Teach42 to stay on top of the latest gadgets and their applications in the classroom.

Digital Writing, Digital Teaching is another blog that focuses on the use of technology in an educational setting.

The National Association of Charter School Authorizers to stay informed of political issues dealing with the state of Charter Schools in America.

TEDTalks video feeds are some of the most forward thinking minds in Education and beyond.

Edutopia share some of the latest groundbreaking practices & ideas in Education.