iGoogle or Pageflakes vs. Bloglines

My students have had Bloglines accounts for the past two school years. While we have not made full, effective use of them (something that I believe happens best in a 1:1 classroom, which we aren't even close to being), it has been a great experience for them. The ability to learn about, and work with RSS and creating a personal learning network has altered the idea of information access for many of my students. In addition, with these accounts, we've played with things like Technorati watchlists, letting us find new sources of information in new ways.

But as this school year draws near to a close and I think about next year, I'm wondering about moving towards using iGoogle or Pageflakes instead of Bloglines. Most of the students in my class carry between 12 - 15 RSS feeds so this would be completely reasonable for one of these services. I think that an account at a reader is great (and possibly even necessary) for managing a larger number of feeds (I run between 90 - 100 on average), but for a smaller number like the students usually have, I'm wondering if one of these other services would allow them easier access, and better representation of their information?

Using Pageflakes or iGoogle, the students can set up different tabs for different projects they are managing as well as have access at a glance to all of their feeds, podcasts, photos, etc. The disadvantage would be that if they don't check this page often (at least every several days), the information from the feed will not be saved for them, it will simply fall off of the page; unlike Bloglines which, as many of us know, saves 100s and 100s of articles you haven't had time to yet read.

Another advantage would be that we are starting to use Google Docs and Spreadsheets more in class. My students have discovered the power of simply being able to create an online document, finish it at home, and then simply share it with me when it is due. While I like the Pageflakes interface more then Google's, we already have accounts at blogs, several wikis, our Flickr account, Bloglines, and Google and I am hesitant to require them to remember another password or use another piece of technology. I suppose this is Google's grand idea of course, getting us to use one product and we are more likely to use another, but of course it is true.

So this is one change I'm considering for next year. I'm wondering if anyone has any thoughts on this, experience with RSS in the classroom, or has used Pageflakes or iGoogle with students? Any advice?

technorati tags:bloglines, igoogle, pageflakes, RSS, clasrooms, information

Comments

[Carolyn Foote]

A few of our teachers have used Pageflakes with their students and really liked it.

I did a workshop on Friday in our district on using it, and teachers who had no familiarity with RSS also really found it easy to use.
(posted about it at my blog)
I think the visual design is appealing.

I like the fact that you can use the podcast players as well.

But I understand your dilemma between Google Reader and Pageflakes.

The convenience of having things all in one place is also key.

I'm doing a workshop on Monday on various Google tools and plan to cover iGoogle, so it'll be interesting to compare comments and see which one the teachers like the best for their students.

I wonder if you had them use Pageflakes and create a Pagecast, couldn't they then add the "bookmark" for their own pageflake on the iGoogle page?

[Charles Rosenblum]

Pageflakes has fully embraced educators around the world, and seems very committed to teachers and students. They just announced that they have over 1,000 schools around the world using Pageflakes (http://www.socialcomputingmagazine.com/viewcolumn.cfm?colid=273).

They also have a specific site that focuses on Flakes (widgets) for educators:
http://student.pageflakes.com

Check out some of the cool examples of Pageflakes in an education context:
• Onsted High School (MI, USA): http://www.pageflakes.com/akharsh
• Freehold Regional High School District (NJ, USA): http://www.pageflakes.com/sullivanbio
• East Lothian School District (Scotland): http://www.pageflakes.com/edubuzz
• Bellaire Primary School (Australia): http://www.pageflakes.com/jpearce
• Aston Fields Middle School (UK): http://www.pageflakes.com/rcharles

[Barbara]

I am planning igoogle integration next year. I am setting the teachers up now so they have the summer to play. I have less experience with pageflakes even though I have an account.
I like the integration of google notebook, google reader, and goggle docs on igoogle and I think the ease of use makes the technology transparent. When you said the feeds would drop off the page what were you referring to? Do you mean they wouldn't show in the window? Scrolling down has not been a problem and I make it a habit to also click through to the full screen google reader if I have neglected my feeds for a while. I also like the folders and star functions that allow me to choose which feeds show in my igoogle window. With the increase in GCT's and the new tools for creating widgets I think igoogle has a lot to offer and will continue to improve.
Because i am looking for whole school integration the key for me is ease of use and transparency.I want to keep the learning curve simple and all of the tools of collabortion at their fingertips.

[Clarence Fisher]

Barbara; This is what I'm wondering about too. The tight integration of docs, calendar, etc is what of course makes it attractive to me. I'm just not really anxious to put all of my eggs in one basket. When I'm talking about things "falling off," it is not about using the reader. I'm talking about kids subscribing to RSS feeds directly onto their iGoogle homepage. When feeds are placed right on this page, you can edit the settings to display up to 9 items maximum. If a student does not read their feeds often, then the items "fall off" this homepage. I use my homepage to display content that I don't subscribe to using my reader account. It gives me a qick visual overview of things that are new. With kids probably only keeping 15 - 20 feeds, I'm not sure if they need both the reader and the homepage. Of course, once they have an account they could set both up and then decide what works best for them and switch if needed. BTW, what is a "GCT?"

[Susan Kramer]

I have been in contact with one of the Pageflakes guys (Ole Brandenburg) to discuss how we can setup a page for our school. Ole has been very helpful in explaining how we could do that. They have a new release scheduled for June, he said. I am keen to see it :-)

Susan

[John Calvert]

We decided to go with Pageflakes for a few reasons. I like the design better for one, it is easy to use. It doesn’t replace your email or your word processor. I think that’s great because my teachers aren’t ready for that kind of change. Our professional development structure isn’t ready for it either. That said, we can add functionality later with tools like ZoHo, for which Pageflakes has a widget.
.
With Pageflakes we can scaffold the experience and leverage the web 2.0 tools that we have already introduced (blogs and del.icio.us ). I am going to create a base page for each elementary grade level. The pages will have a tab for each month and reflect relevant curriculum. So far I have completed the templates for kindergarten and first grade, if you go to the Pageflakes template page and search with TUFSD you will see them.

One of the coolest things about the system is the ability to broadcast pages. A teacher can set up a page for a class and each student can add that page to their personal accounts. Students can also create templates, perhaps as part of a project, and then share templates with each other. Say good bye to the folder full of disorganized and forgotten handouts!

[Barbara]

Sorry, (GCT)Google Certified Teacher

I took a look at the TUFSD pageflakes John. They have some nice content.

In part, the question of igoogle vs pageflakes is question of intended purpose.In our case we also have a Moodle site which can be set up with course content.
Re: RSS
I do not put RSS straight on my igoogle I have a google reader widget on my igoogle page so I add my feeds to google reader and then they display on my web page too.

[Cin Barnsley]

Hi,
I have found the easiest way for students to manage RSS feeds is by using
flock, "the social web browser". Most importantly it has a built-in aggregator, but it also has features that bring together web 2.0 tools my students have been using for research and publication. Some of these are: bookmark syncing with del.icio.us, WYSIWYG, drag-and-drop blogging tools and a flickr toolbar. Read this review, a new release is also due out in July but it is worth checking out.

[Cin Barnsley]

http://www.flock.com/