RSS in the English classroom

RSS would be useful in an college english composition classroom if it could be used to encourage students to engage with larger social issues, evoke critical thinking, and participate in some sort of writing process (this writing process could be multi-textual). One way to do this would be to have students, individually or in groups, create their own blogs dedicated to an issue that is relevant to their lives and related to larger social concerns. They would subscribe to various blogs and other relevant sites that pertain to their specific issue. They should also engage in traditional library and academic journal research and create links to, or at least mention, their sources on their own blog. Their blog should contain the historical background of their particular issue, various perspectives, and even the students own stance on the issue. Their blog should include in depth written analysis as well as relevant photos, videos, and interviews. The students could even interview fellow classmates, family members, and anyone else they could think of. They also could be actively involved in conversations concerning their issue with the other blogs to which they subscribe. They could even have a section in their blog where they discuss how their particular issue has been dealt with in novels.

In a literature classroom, this project could be tweaked so that the blog the students create focuses around a specific novel, literary movement, literary theory, or controversy in literary studies (e.g. the canon). This might look something like the assignment Ned proposed on his blog.