I Can Newsletter: I can...follow a blog!

We entered the world of blogging to share information online with our clients, families, colleagues. We are thrilled to see that people from all over are reading our blog each month. Reading blogs is a fantastic way to keep your finger on the pulse of many different topics including AAC. In our last issue until September, we'll explore how you can follow AAC related blogs.

What is a blog?
A website on which an individual or group of users record opinions, information, etc. on a regular basis.

What are the benefits of following an AAC blog?

Gather information about augmentative communication

Keep up to date on the latest information

Discover people who are interested in the same topic

Get connected with professionals and families

What is "following"?

Following refers to a method of subscribing to a blog so that you can be updated when new information is posted. This means that you don't have to keep returning to the blog to see if there is anything new.

Ways to follow a blog:

E-mail: some blogs have a place where you can enter your email address and they will send you the latest update.

Advantages: you get the information to your personal email when it's posted.

Disadvantages: you may be flooded with email depending on how frequently the blogger posts information and how many blogs you are following.

RSS Feeds: (Rich Site Summary) is a format for delivering regularly changing web

content. Many websites and blogs set up their content so it is available as an RSS Feed for whoever wants it.

Advantages: you can read all blog entries from one place. You can also organize a number of blogs into categories.

Disadvantages: You need to sign up for a RSS feed provider to access your information and have an e-mail account.

RSS Feed Providers:
There are many feed providers to choose from. Try out a few out to decide which one meets your needs best. Here are our thoughts on a few FREE ones we've tried out this month.

Feedly:We loved this one. It was really simple and easy to use. We loved how you can read it online or on an idevice. You will need to have a g-mail account to use this service.

Bloglovin: This one is also visually appealing. It was a bit harder to figure out if categories can be used on the idevice. You can use facebook or any email account to sign up. You can also write a blog using this platform.

FeeddlerRSS for iOS: This one is more text based and may be appealing to people like to customize the set up of their feed.

Here is a blog post that gives an overview of some different feed reader services out there.

How to get started following a blog using a feed provider:

1. Sign up with a feed provider.
2. Add blogs you want to follow to your list. You can do this by copying and pasting the web address or you can search within the feed provider. Some blogs (like ours) have buttons on their blog for particular feed providers. You can click on these if you use that provider.
3. Organize your blogs into categories.
4. Read and enjoy!
5. Return to the feed provider to find out if there are new posts. Some feed providers will send you a email (if you want one) to let you know there is a new post.

How can I write my own blog?

Want to join the blogging world?!? Simply choose a blogging website that allows you to set up an account. We use Blogger but we are aware of a few others such as Wordpress and Bloglovin.

AAC blogs
Here are some AC related blogs that you may want to look through or follow.

Jane Farrall

http://www.janefarrall.com/blog/

AAC Girls

http://aacgirls.blogspot.ca/

Teach me AAC

http://teachmeaac.blogspot.ca/

CALL Scotland

http://www.callscotland.org.uk/blog/

Adapting Creatively

http://adaptingcreatively.blogspot.ca/

Kilometeres for Communication

http://kilometresforcommunication.wordpress.com/