Via RSSTabbloid: A Web 2.0 app for non-Web 2.0 people!
If newspapers are old school, and aggregators are new school, then consider Tabbloid the rest area on the highway between the two. Tabbloid is a simple Web 2.0 application that allows you to submit a set of RSS feeds along with an email address, and then have sent to you a newsletter via email that aggregates together all the recent postings from those blogs.
Why would you want to do this? Think about that administrator that you’re trying to get to drink the Kool-Aid but doesn’t quite get why blogs are important. Gather a set of feeds that you think would appeal to them and create a custom newspaper. Then, either forward it to their email, or if you don’t think they’d read that, print the darn thing out and stick it in their email box! Repeat that on a regular basis as needed. That may help put them in touch with newer thinkers, but in a format that they’re already comfortable with… print.
Why else might you use it? Perhaps you might want to share a few of your favorite bloggers and drop the newsletter off in the teachers lounge every week. Or pass along to your colleagues a digest of your blog and others in your district. Maybe you’d like to create a digest of all your student bloggers to send him periodically, especially for non-tech savvy parents. I think it could make a great midway step, for people who are ready for Web 1.5 perhaps.
I made a quick demo of how it works so you can see it for yourself. Or just visit Tabbloid.com and give a it a whirl!
December 20th, 2008 at 4:43 pm
Can I ask an idiotic question? How did you copy multiple feeds without having to go through something like pipes?
February 2nd, 2009 at 10:53 pm
I am currently taking a Web 2.0 class and you would think that I have enough tools to learn and use. However, the title of this article drew me in and I’m glad. I am “blog surfing” and adding to my PLN and my social network. I have come across blogs I think other teachers in our school would benefit from reading. I gasped because I was going to copy and paste the link and then email. However,I didn’t want to keep copying and pasting everytime I found a worthwhile site. In addition, several teachers have asked me to share informtion with them becasue they are not able to take classess now and they are curious about what is available. Now I can create a custom newspaper and pass it on! If our district approves using blogs, then I would love to try tabbloid.com for displaying student blogs!
February 4th, 2009 at 6:13 pm
I agree with Doris. I’m also taking a course on Web 2.0 and have a lot to learn about. I am willing to learn. However, this Tabbloid tool sounds like it’s good for people who are hesitant to learn about new technologies, which sums up a lot of people I work with. I will check this out for myself and pass along the information.
February 4th, 2009 at 9:24 pm
Very interesting. This past week, I have been emailing teachers FYI’s on important blogs, and the reasons why we should be utilizing blogs into our classroom (who knows if they ever even opened them up). If I would have known about tabbloid, I would have used this tool. I like the idea of making it into a newspaper or some kind of print to put in the faculty room. I am actually thinking about creating a packet for the teachers at our next facutly meeting. Thanks for informing us about this great site.
February 5th, 2009 at 12:53 pm
Awesome tool to use for school or a file to have when your computer is inaccessible. I am amazed at the availability of so many valuable tools out there. Its exciting and overwhelming. Do you keep a directory of all these tool and what they do?
February 5th, 2009 at 11:56 pm
I have no clue how all of this works, but am looking forward to spending some more time on this site. This looks promising for classroom use!
February 13th, 2009 at 1:43 am
These tools seem endless but so many are great tools to use. Now we just need the time to keep learning and using them. It is also quite a challenge to keep them organized and remember them.
May 2nd, 2009 at 7:21 pm
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May 26th, 2009 at 6:53 am
I’ve been working on a similar service. It’s a free software (open source) project based on Tabbloid. You can try it out online (click my name to get to the site) and you can also download it, customise it and host the thing yourself if you like. Hope it’s useful to some of you.
July 2nd, 2009 at 1:05 pm
This looks like it could be very useful. I was wondering if I could use it to create a weekly magazine and e-mail to my students? I teach a couple of elective courses and the ability to aggregate and send the articles and/or blogs to them would be a tremendous asset.
July 6th, 2009 at 2:29 pm
What a great tool. I am looking forward to doing some more investingation about this. Many of my coworkers are not very tech savy and this may help. There are also things that I would like to be unblocked by our server and this may come in handy!
July 7th, 2009 at 8:32 am
I agree that this is a great tool to use in school. I have encountered many educators and administrators who are resistant to the use of blogs and other web 2.0 tools. This generator makes it easy to compile a newsletter from various RSS feeds with little effort. I think it could also be useful as an assignment for students, where they could select a series of blogs to follow and then produce their own newsletters compiling what they have encountered. I have learned about so many web 2.0 tools in the course I am currently enrolled in, but this easy to use tool is one I will bookmark for the future.
July 7th, 2009 at 4:02 pm
I am kinda new to the whole Blog environment. Is there a place I could go that rates blogs or give a brief bio on them. Tablloid look like a excellent way to read current articles for professional development nd collaberation, but first i would have to find the blogs.
July 8th, 2009 at 1:45 am
I like the way this 21st century tool can be used to keep blogs organized and shared with 20th century teachers. It helps to bridge the centuries. I enjoyed all the fun and engaging tools on your blog. Look forward to seeing more.
July 9th, 2009 at 9:28 pm
I’m taking a Web 2.0 course as well. I think this would be great for sharing information with staff and even just creating something printable for myself for when I need a computer break. Printing something to put in my bag for the beach would be convenient. I like the emailing capabilities. This would be a great tool for colleagues who send out daily emails about neat stuff they find. They could create a weekly tabloid.
November 5th, 2009 at 1:47 pm
This is a very cool idea! I can’t wait to use it for my student blogs. I email parents once a week to check out our blogs, but I’m not sure if they do or not. Also, not all families have Internet access at home. This is a great way to send home the blogs to parents to read without being connected.
November 5th, 2009 at 6:23 pm
I really like this idea. Has anybody tried it yet with their students or co-workers?
November 5th, 2009 at 9:42 pm
I think that it is a great idea to use this with administrators or teachers who you want to share specific information in a catchy format. Very cool! Thanks for sharing!
November 6th, 2009 at 4:22 pm
This seems like a great tool. I agree with most of the comments in that it would allows users that are sometimes more resistant to technology to view great resources within their comfort zone. Thank you for sharing!