At first, I was a little wary about this assignment because it didn't seem like this would be useful to me, but one thing I have learned in this class is that I sometimes need to overcome my prejudices in trying new things. It did take an investment of time and some trial and error (I particularly had issues with the Delicious section. I tried a different stack than the recommended one, so I don't know if that's what was giving me trouble or if I simply wasn't doing it right), but I eventually was able to complete these tasks with minimal stress. One item of note: this blog is from a few years ago, so I used a different email address to set it up than the one for Google Reader. If you have two different addresses, you cannot be signed into both simultaneously.
For professional development, a huge benefit of RSS feeds is a streamlining of the process for getting information. As a teacher, I often feel like I float somewhere between two extremes: 1. missing out on good information because of time constraints and happening on it only by accident; or 2. having my email inbox buried with 50 messages containing links to new ideas. With your own feed, you can manipulate from where you get information and how quickly you go through it. Benefits for students would include the ability to personalize to their own tastes where they get information for assignments. This is a big deal for many students, and the reason that some lose their motivation for completing assignments is that they all do not process information the same way when it is presented. Giving them some ownership of how they learn would likely increase their motivation. Another benefit would be allowing them to learn responsibility for how they allocate their time in the balance between school time and personal time. This is another tool that can be abused by students if they are not instructed in the appropriate way of using it.
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