The explosion of information on the web is a blessing and a curse, with too many sources  and too little time.  To keep up, many of us bookmark our favorite sites and hop from page to page, looking for the latest updates. Now with RSS, you can scan the latest information from all those sites from a single page.

RSS, which stands for Really Simple Syndication, is a way for content providers  to disseminate  updated information on the web.  Much as you might subscribe to a print publication and receive the latest issue of the New York Times, with RSS you can subscribe to all or part of the digital version,and have it brought to your desktop.  Do you also read the Washington Post, Time magazine,  your favorite journal or Dilbert? Add them to your list of feeds and get the latest updates in the same place.

Using the XML format, websites provide an “easy button”  ( that ubiquitous orange icon,   RSS  )  which allows you to pull their content to  you. You might wish to use a website that collects or aggregates your feeds such as bloglines,  or you could insert the feeds as live bookmarks right into your personalized homepage or  course authoring site. 

RSS allows you to  stay current, have your students stay current, and add dynamic content to class discussions.