i use Google Reader to read all of my students’ blogs. it works very well for reading news stories and blog entries . . . so i suppose the name of the application is perfect. however, i want to participate in dialog with the authors of the various blog entries i read, particularly since the vast majority of the blogs i follow are my students’ blogs. currently, Google Reader requires me to read an entry and then click on the title of the entry to actually go and visit the blog on Blogger.com. when i arrive i can leave comments and then i have to type in a security word verification. when you have a lot of students, this word verification becomes quite burdensome. add the step to actually leave Reader to visit the blog to physically leave a comment there and Reader loses some of its appeal. now, it’s still nice to quickly grade blogs and find all of my students’ blogs in 1 place, no doubt. i just find it curious that Google owns Blogger and they fail to link these 2 services together any better when these 2 services should work together like a hand and a glove. it’s hard to complain when you are using tools and services for free, so let’s pretend that i am not complaining and instead just offering some constructive feedback in the hopes that Reader gets improved in the VERY near future.
Feb 08