Blogs and Blog Readers
Feed Readers
Feed Readers are useful client software or a web application that simply collects web content such
as blogs, videos, and articles all in one location. This allows users of feed readers to create a wide
collection of the web articles that they continuously read and sufficiently store in one specific location
to return to later. As an educator, and future librarian this web tool can provide a safe place to store
ideas, lessons, book reviews, and displays, and know that it will be easily located in the future.
Types of Feed Readers
When choosing between different feed readers, you are able to decipher what feed aggregator you
will feel most comfortable using, and choose one based off of the specific needs that you request from
your feed reader. Each one has many different styles, screen views, filtering options, how content is
presented, and how long it will contain your content for. Below is a list of feed readers that I filtered
down to choose from:
Feedly- for providing every feature you might ever need
NewsBlur -for filtering out content you're less interested in
Inoreader -for free searching and saving your content long-term
The Old Reader- for sharing content with friends and getting recommendations
Bloglovin'- for discovering popular lifestyle content
To find a list of the top 10 feed readers visit this website:
My Feed Reader Choice
As an educator my top needs are user friendly, visually appealing, and long term storage of my content.
The feed reader that contained the necessary options that fits my specific needs was Inoreader. This feed
reader application is free for users and has the ability to search and save your content for long-term use.
I preferred the Inoreader over other options, because it allows me access to my collection of blogs through
the web and cell phone. The set up was very easy and I did not have to do any initial configurations or
preferences. The layout of Inoreader provides an overview of the list of articles that I was able to access
web pages that interests my preferences. It allows users to filter their feeds based on keywords. Overall
this feed reader suited my top requirements and provided me with the necessary tools to compile blog
sites and web pages for future use.
Top 5 Blog Sites for Educators and Librarians
This blog was created by an elementary school librarian named Sonya Dykeman. Her blog provides
crafts, activities, book reviews, and more. This blogger has free resources for both teachers and librarians.
For example she discuss library displays and decor, how to organize a library, ideas of how to promote
reading, and a link to her personal teachers pay teachers resources. I found her blog visually appealing,
and well organized. The links were easy to locate and I enjoyed reading about her innovative ways to
teach and promote students to read.
This blog was also created by an elementary school librarian. She is a seasoned librarian who has
been in the field for 18 years. On her blog site she provides library lessons, activities for librarians to
share with students, and links to her teachers pay teachers resources. I chose to follow this blogger
because of her extensive experience being a librarian and media specialist. I enjoyed scrolling through
her example lessons and found some great new ideas that I could implement in the future.
This blog was created by Shannon McClintock Miller, who is the Innovation Director of Instructional
Technology and Library Media at Van Meter Community School in Van Meter, Iowa. She is also the
Future Ready Librarians Spokesperson working with librarians, educators and students around the world
every day as an international speaker, consultant and author who has a passion for education,
librarianship, advocacy, technology, social media. Her blog posts provide links to activities for students
to do with books. I decided to follow her blog due to her engaging lesson activities, and many resources
that are available on her blog posts.
This blog was created by Jo Nase, she is a School Library Media Specialist at an elementary school in
Moreland, Georgia. She has been an educator for 22 years and Library Media Specialist for 9 years. On
her blog she provides resources for librarians such as bookmarks, story starters, pinterest board ideas,
library centers, calendars, and a link to her personal teachers pay teachers resources. I found her blog
loaded with free resources for librarians to download, links to other librarian resources and blogs in order
to make connections with and be in contact for collaboration.
This blog is managed by Deb Nance who has been blogging about books since 2007. She lives in
Alvin Texas served as a Cybils Awards judge. Her blog consists of book reviews, but includes books that
discuss diversity. I found her blog very refreshing and inviting. Within her blog she has book reviews
organized by categories such as, “Modern Library’s 100 Best Novels,” “Around the World in 80 Books,”
“Newbery Awarded books,” “Caldecott Awarded Books,” and so many more. I immediately found her
blog versatile and full of great books that could potentially be added to my book list. This is a great blog
to revisit frequently for updated book list ideas.
TUMBLR ACCOUNT
I recently learned about feed readers. I think its great that you get an organized platform to keep up-to-date with the latest information and trends. Blogs can be very educational, I know I benefit reading them, especially as a new librarian. Nice work!
ReplyDeleteEach of the blogs you highlighted have a unique spin on how they organize and arrange their content. It is amazing how blogs that focus on the same topic can be so unique.
ReplyDelete