JJC: Distance Education: Adding RSS Content to Blackboard

Adding RSS Content
What is an RSS feed? RSS stands for "Really Simple Syndication". It is a way to easily distribute a list of headlines, update notices, and sometimes content to a wide number of people. RSS feeds added to Blackboard courses are automatically updated, and present an easy way to provide current news, articles, and other information to students. There are thousands of RSS feeds available, covering topics related to almost every academic discipline.

Finding RSS Feeds

There are a number of ways to find RSS feeds, but the easiest is to use an RSS search engine. Many search engines exist, but some of the most popular and comprehensive are:

NewsGator (www.newsgator.com/ )

Syndic8 (http://www.syndic8.com )

CompleteRSS (www.completerss.com )

For example, an instructor looking for an astronomy RSS feed could locate one in the following manner:

Navigate a Web browser to the Newsgator site by entering www.newsgator.com in the browser’s address bar.

Type “astronomy” in
the search term box.

A list of related RSS feeds and a brief description of each is then displayed. Sample RSS content can be viewed by clicking on the site name.

To add the RSS feed to a course site, the RSS feed’s Web address must be copied into the RSS tool in Blackboard. This can easily be done by “right-clicking” on the

icon, and selecting “Copy Shortcut”. This will add the address to the clipboard and enable it to be pasted into the “Feed URL” field of the RSS Content tool in Blackboard.

Adding RSS Feeds to a Blackboard Course Site

After a useful RSS feed has been found, instructors will then add the RSS feed to their Blackboard Course site. Continuing with the previous example, the same instructor would then add the RSS feed using the following method:

Log into Blackboard and access the course that the RSS feed will be added to.

Enter the course’s Control Panel and then proceed to the appropriate Content Area, in this case Course Documents.

Select “RSS Content” from the drop-down menu and then click the “GO” button.

Enter a Title for the RSS Feed (e.g. Astronomy Picture of the Day)

Click in the Feed URL text box and paste the previously copied Web address into it.

Select the number of headlines to display at one time. Three to five is usually a good starting point.

Select the Number of Hours Cached. This determines how often the tool will check for new updates. If the feed is only updated daily, select 12 hours.

Do not select “Open in New Window” option, as this may prevent some students with pop-up blockers from viewing the feed.

Selecting “Display in Folder” will display the RSS feed directly on the content area’s page. Not selecting this option will instead create a link to the RSS Feed.

Selecting “Show Summaries” will provide students with a brief description of the individual items if available.

Finally, select whether or not to make the RSS Feed visible to students and track their views, then click the “Submit” button.

The first time the newly created RSS Feed is viewed it may take a minute for the feed to be updated and displayed. Subsequent views will be generated in significantly less time.