(This is a cross-post. Original blog URL is http://familysimpson.postach.io/post/edmodo-and-custom-rss-feeds-from-pinterest-and-pocket)
In just over a month I will be running a workshop at the CAS Scotland conference about using Edmodo to help deliver CPD to staff. One of the first things I want to cover is custom RSS feeds which can populate an Edmodo group or small group.
It is easy enough to set up Edmodo to receive posts from an RSS feed. Once you have decided which group to populate simply click on the cogwheel next to the group name and select “Subscribe to RSS feed”. Paste in the RSS feed URL then click Subscribe to add as many feeds as you want to that group.
This has worked really well in the past with student groups when we have added a BBC news feed, but, at times, I felt that some of the stories have been ill suited to the class or current topic. I began to investigate different services that would allow me to quickly populate an Edmodo group with links, videos or stories relevant to the student or teacher.
Please remember that pasting a new feed into Edmodo will not work instantly. It takes about an hour for feeds to begin to appear in the timeline.
Pinterest is a wonderful visual catalogue of resources and can be used to populate an Edmodo group. First find or create a board containing links you want to share with your class. Then open a new tab or webpage which only shows that board. If you change the URL a little you will see the RSS feed.
The advantage of Pinterest is that you can create as many different boards as you need and have different RSS feeds populating different Edmodo groups. This is great for student differentiation, but also for subject specific information fed into staff Edmodo groups.
(with thanks to http://blog.dlvr.it/2013/06/how-to-find-your-pinterest-rss-feeds/)
Pocket is an invaluable service which allows you to quickly add content you want to read at a later time to a list. Articles can usually be accessed offline, tagged and archived. At the moment, Pocket is my CPD reading list and is linked through IFTTT to Wunderlist (which reminds me that I have specific articles to read at some point and tracks my reflections after reading).
The default setting for Pocket is to password protect your articles and archived lists, but this can easily be turned off. Once this is done you can get the RSS feed in the following way:
Right-clicking on the three links Unread List, Archive and All and selecting Copy Shortcut will give you the URL for those RSS feeds. You can then paste them into Edmodo as before.
This is limited to one feed, but offers speed over Pinterest as you can email articles into Pocket.
Edmodo
Of course, in some cases it isn’t necessary to go to the trouble of creating a workflow. Edmodo allows you to post links directly to a group and, if you only intend to post a few, this might be the most efficient option. An added bonus is that posts can be scheduled for later so you can make sure the links arrive at the right time in the course.
