Avenue Help Center | Remote RSS Feeds Block

Enhancing Course Interactivity and Content with Blocks - Stage 3

Remote RSS Feeds Block

Margarita Berezyanskaya

Last Update één maand geleden

The Remote RSS (Rich Site Summary) feeds block enables the addition of dynamic content to the course from external websites. This block displays feeds from other websites such as news headlines, blogs or podcasts, and when the information on the source site changes, the block updates as well, to show the latest information. One or more RSS feed(s) can be added to a course. The Remote RSS feeds block is an effective way to refresh course content regularly, while at the same time bring in relevant content. By default, 15 comments are displayed in this block. Instructors can delete comments. The person who posted the comment can also remove his or her own comment.

Exemplar

An example of a Remote RSS feeds block is found in the Stage 2/3 Exemplar course. It displays CBC News Headlines.

Finding RSS Feeds for a Course

RSS feeds can be found by using an online search engine such as Google and including "RSS" in the keyword search terms. RSS feeds can also be located by browsing the websites of major media outlets, e.g. CBC, and looking for their RSS feeds. Many social media sites also provide RSS feeds, e.g. blogs and podcasts, and many of these are designed for ESL/EFL audiences. Here are a few web pages with RSS feeds that may be of use to LINC programs:

You will need the URL for the RSS Feed you want. The page content may look incomprehensible.

Adding a Remote RSS Feeds Block to a Course

1. On your course, click the Turn editing on button.

2. At the bottom of the Navigation drawer, click on the Add a block link.

3. On the pop-up, click Remote RSS feeds link.

The new Remote news feed block appears at the bottom of the right column.

Configuring the Remote RSS Feeds Block

1. Click on the Actions menu icon in the new block.

2. Choose the Configure Remote news feed block option.

The Configuring a Remote news feed block page appears.

3. In the Block settings page, adjust the Display each link's description? and the Max number entries to show per block settings as needed.

4. Click the Add/edit feeds link.

The Manage all my feeds page is displayed. All available RSS feeds will be listed here. If no feeds are added yet, the page will show Nothing to display.

5. Click the Add a new feed button to add an RSS feed.

The Add a new feed page appears.

6. Enter the URL of the news feed in the text box next to Feed URL. The other settings can be left blank.

Note: Feed web site addresses usually end in ".xml" or ".rss", rather than ".ca", ".com", etc.

7. Click the Add a new feed button to add an RSS feed.

The feed has been added to the Manage all my feeds page.

8. Return to the Remote RSS feeds block by clicking the course breadcrumb link to return to the course home page.

9. Click on the Actions menu of the Remote news feeds block.

10. Choose the option Configure Remote news feeds block.

The Configuring a Remote news feed block page appears.

11. Select a feed in the Choose the feeds which you would like to make available in this block text box.

12. Click the Save changes button.

The course home page is displayed. Locate the Remote RSS feeds block. The RSS feed is displayed, showing the name of the selected RSS source site as the title, with its updated content below.