KerryJ's Neotenous Tech

Moms keep you honest. My mother and I cover a lot of ground in our weekly chats and this week we were talking about Internet Neutrality, how internet newbies can find sites to trust and RSS feeds. As far as Net Neutrality goes, I was able to tell her I’d researched it and pointed her at a blog post of mine. We had a great discussion about how people in her age bracket are digital immigrants and how these immigrants could start off with web sites of trusted providers with whom they were familiar and then using these as springboards to build trusted networks, using information literacy (which she pointed out is a skill she has as a librarian, but many people don’t have) and always researching and questioning sources. When it came to web 2.0 tools and RSS, I told her about the great CommonCraft videos but she pointed out that between her 8-year-old computer and a dial-up connection, video just isn’t an option.  While she can access computers at her library, she wanted something at home to help her wrap her head around RSS and it had to be visual. After searching for a bit — I decided to roll up my sleeves and write one myself.  It’s quick and dirty as far as graphics go.  Let me know if you think it would help your mom – I’ve just emailed it to mine tonight and hope she’ll set me straight if I’ve fallen short. RSS for mom.

Comments are closed.