Why is the RSS and social bookmarking important to an educator?

After reading the chapters on RSS and social bookmarking, and also actually utilizing these tools in the last few classes, I've discovered that my views on these tools have drastically changed. At first, I'll admit, I was a bit skeptic about the actual usefullness of these tools. When I first read about these tools, they all seemed a bit overwhelming and I wasn't sure if I could really use them. To be honest, they seemed like more work than they were worth. But I think I could definitely use the RSS because it has the power to keep me constantly updated on several things. Being a social studies teacher, I am always trying to make connections between history and current events. This would be a great tool for me to use, professionally. Moreover, with the upcoming presidential election in November, more frequent updates would definitely be beneficial for me as a teacher. However, I don't think that I would require my students to set up their own RSS accounts because they are only in middle school and I don't think it would be appropriate quite yet for them.

As for the social bookmarking, this is definitely a useful tool for me as a professional. Not only is it extremely easy to use, it makes life much more easy! Now, my bookmarks are available on any computer.