What is the News Feed?
Prepd’s News Feed automatically retrieves articles from 50 different news sources. Since articles in the News Feed can then be saved to any Prepd application, the News Feed helps teams quickly file and fills research gaps. It also helps level the playing field, so smaller extemp clubs can compete against larger programs.
Background
Through feedback surveys and conversations with students and coaches, we've learned that, by and large, the entire Prepd community would like to see an auto-filing component introduced to Prepd. Of course, our user base also communicated some valid concerns in terms of how such a feature should be implemented. Primarily, there’s a concern that auto-filed news articles would undermine the educational value of the activity, since students may feel disinclined to independently research and read. We took those concerns to heart so we can build an experience that would provide access to a large collection of auto-generated files while also encouraging students to continue researching, reading, and organizing their files.
What are the benefits of the News Feed?
The News Feed accomplishes four things.
- The News Feed helps level the playing field for smaller extemp clubs or individual competitors, who may feel at a disadvantage relative to larger programs with more filing capacity.
- The News Feed helps new teams transition to Prepd, because they’ll immediately have access to tens of thousands of research files.
- The News Feed is a fast way of saving articles into Prepd for long-term storage.
- The News Feed covers any research gaps that you may have, so you’ll never have to worry about not having evidence for obscure topic areas.
How does the News Feed work?
In the top left corner of any Prepd app, you’ll see a search field. The search icon immediately to the right of the search field is Prepd’s Smart Search tool — which searches through all of the files you've saved to Prepd. The second image, to the right of the search icon, is the News Feed. If you enter text and click on the News Feed icon, you will run a search through all the articles that have been saved to the News Feed. From the search results page, you have advanced search tools for narrowing down results.
News Feed articles are automatically deleted after a period of time. At most, they can be saved for up to two months. But coaches will soon have an option to adjust the deletion period through the Team Settings page in the Classroom.
Which publications are included in the News Feed?
The News Feed collects articles from the following publication sources:
ABC News, All Africa, American Progress, BBC, Brookings Institution, Business Insider, Chatham House, China Daily, Christian Science Monitor, CNBC, CNN, Council on Foreign Relations, Der Spiegel, FiveThirtyEight, Foreign Policy in Focus, Fox News, Houston Chronicle, HuffPost, Indian Express, International Crisis Group, IOL Cape Times, Long War Journal by FDD, Los Angeles Times, MercoPress, National Review, NBC News, New Republic, New York Magazine, NPR, Pew Research Center, Peterson Institute for International Economics, Politico, Reuters, South China Morning Post, Sydney Morning Herald, Texas Public Policy Foundation, The Atlantic, The Atlantic Council, The Cato Institute, The Conversation, The Global Observatory, The Guardian, The Hill, The Jerusalem Post, The Korea Herald, The Moscow Times, The National Interest, Toronto Star, Vox, Wilson Center, Wired
Why are News Feed articles deleted?
In order to save space and keep your articles relevant, the News Feed automatically purges articles once they are two months old. It doesn't contain articles that are older than two months. However, coaches will have the option to adjust the deletion settings from the Team Settings page in the Classroom. Coaches can select between 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 weeks deletion periods; but the default for all teams is two months.
Automatically purging the articles not only saves space and keeps the article collection relevant, but it also encourages students to use the News Feed to save articles into Prepd. If an article is saved to a Prepd app, it will be saved forever; or rather, it won’t disappear unless you manually delete it or purge files en masse.
Can I adjust settings for the News Feed?
Coaches can choose for how long News Feed articles will be available in their team, by opting to choose for article published in the past 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 (default option for all teams is for 6 weeks). Click here to learn how to adjust these settings from the Classroom's Team Settings page.
How does the News Feed advance the educational value of the activity?
Prepd believes strongly in enhancing the educational experience provided by speech and debate. We believe that one of the greatest benefits of competitive extemp is that it develops independent research and reading habits. So, Prepd has built a set of features that protect the educational experience.
For one, students still have to manually research articles — either through the News Feed or with Fast Catch — in order to permanently save their research. It’s unwise to rely on the News Feed since all its files will be deleted after they become two months old (or sooner, if coaches change the settings).
Second, Prepd offers other educational tools for monitoring student activity. Namely, Prepd tracks reading activity and visualizes it in the Classroom. When reading an article, students can select the “Mark as Read” button at the bottom of the article view. Students will then be presented with one of five comprehension exercises. These activities are not meant to be difficult or time-consuming (they should only take a minute or two to complete), but they force students to pause, internalize what they just read, think critically about it, and then articulate some sort of insight. Once an article has been marked as read, the student’s activity as well as answers to the comprehension exercise are displayed on their user profile, accessible through the Classroom.