Managing the Deluge of Information Out There: What's the Best Way?

Like many others in our 'Power Tools for Educators' class, I signed up for Feedly in May as a way to manage and organize the Ed Tech blogs I would be reading throughout the term.

 

Below is a quick synopsis taken from the feedly website regarding what feedly is and does.  I've added my comments on my use (or non-use) of its features 'in between the lines' in purple.

What is feedly?

← About feedly

Feedly is the better way to organize, read and share the content of your favorite sites.
A powerful tool. With Multiple layout options, auto-mark as read, tagging, advanced sharing, keyboard shortcuts.

After adding the sites I wanted to follow on feedly, I explored their 'multiple layout options' and just could not find a layout that was digestible to me.  They all seemed overwhelming in a different way.  I'd take a screen shot right now and show you the least cluttered layout I finally chose, but since this blog is registered to my personal gmail account and feedly to my school gmail account, I can not be in both programs at the same time.  This is another con.

All in one place. Organize your favorite blogs, news sites, podcasts and Youtube channels and access them all in one place (or sync with Google Reader).

In another moment in time, this complex functionality could be extremely helpful, I believe.  At the moment, however, due to coursework demands, my reading and listening is mostly focused on school-related materials. 

In truth, I abandoned feedly pretty early on due to almost daily visits to my own blog, the one you're reading now.  Because I log in here almost every day to add content or design features, I added feeds to all the blogs and websites I wanted to follow in my own sidebar using a widget tool.  The best thing about this is that the order of the blogs in my feed list changes depending on which blog has been updated most recently.  Whenever I felt like reading a blog, I just click on one of the titles at the top of my list.  Once on the blog, if I want to read past posts, I can.  Somehow, this system is much more manageable for me that feedly at this time.   

If you look at my sidebar now under the heading "My Classmates' Blogs & Blogs of Interest," you will see the sites I followed initially on feedly, as well as all the blogs of my classmates/colleauges (and professor) and even my roommate's Math blog (She is a first year teacher).  It is so fun to log on to my blog, write my posts, and then peak in on the thoughts of other educators and innovators via these feeds.
 
 Blazing fast. Transforms web sites into pocket-size cards which load quickly and are easy to read.

Hm.... blazing fast maybe; 'easy to read' is subjective I guess.

Open and Extensible. Save articles across devices or share them on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Evernote, Pinterest or LinkedIn. Directly or via Buffer, Pocket or Instapaper.
Always In Sync. Feedly is available everywhere you go. Your phone, tablet and computer are always in sync.

While I am advanced in some areas of Web 2.0, I am a late adopter in others.  I haven't yet made the transition from cell phone to Smart phone, so the above doesn't apply to me yet.  If I did have a Smart phone, feedly would probably be a great tool due the ability to read "across devices."

I will keep feedly in mind for when I upgrade!  Maybe they will streamline their interface in the meantime.