Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Seminar Project Proposal
As part of the Web 2.o revolution, I would like to explore the how-to's of creating a primary-friendly blog where classroom calendars, homework assignments, and daily learning, etc. can be posted (by teacher and students),as well as where students can begin to apply the basics of blogging (reflection/reaction/collaboration,etc). I would like to explore sites like http://groups.google.com and the like to find the "best" blogging site for my classroom's needs.
Book Review: Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms
Weblogging: Expanding the Walls of Our Classrooms
Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms, written by Will Richardson, is definitely a must read for educators who are interested in keeping up with the “Digital Natives” (Prensky, 2001), or technologically savvy students, who entering their classrooms every year. Will Richardson’s simple, reader-friendly definitions of words like, “weblog”, “RSS”, and “wiki” make technology more accessible and less intimidating for the many educators, or “Digital Immigrants”(Prensky, 2001), who did not grow up surrounded by technology. Topics of Web Safety, Blogs as Resources, and Blogging Step-by-Step are just a few of the areas Richardson addresses in easing the worries of and opening the pathway for “Digital Immigrants”(Prensky, 2001), who are looking to update their teaching.
In reviewing this book, I found the chapter titled, Weblogs: Pedagogy and Practice, the most informative in terms of the uses of blogs in the classroom.
Richardson shares his practical insight and personal experiences using Class portals, Online Filing Cabinets, E-Portfolios, and Collaborative Space, all Weblog features, with his students. He also highlights the fact that Weblog features do not always have to involve students. Richardson elaborates on how Weblog tools can facilitate internal school communication, such as school committees and groups, and move a school website from a “static, wait-for-the-Webmaster-to-update-it type of site to a dynamic every-day-there’s-something-new type site” (Richardson, 2006, pg. 26). Richardson’s thoughtful word choice and examples make this book one that educators all along the spectrum of technology use can relate to.
The pedagogy of weblogs is also addressed in a way, which makes educators want to jump on the bandwagon of blogging. First, he points out that Weblogs are a “constructivist tool for learning” (Richardson, 2006, pg. 27). Weblogs can be accessed, updated, revised, etc. by millions of people. Richardson highly motivates educators to learn more about these Weblogs by emphasizing how they can “expand the walls of the classroom” (Richardson, 2006, pg. 28) by allowing for more accessible and diverse communication with students all over the world.
Richardson also discusses a new writing genre called “connective writing”, which he feels blogs facilitate. He elaborates on how blogging, since it is done for a wide audience, “forces those who do it to read carefully and critically, construct with clarity and cogency, and link to sources of ideas expressed”(Richardson, 2006, pg. 29). Richardson highlights the differences between traditional writing and blogging in hopes of persuading educators to become bloggers, and in turn facilitate the blogging of their “Digital Native”(Prensky, 2001) students. He states, “Writing stops; blogging continues. Writing is inside; blogging is outside. Writing stops; blogging continues. Writing is thesis; blogging is synthesis…none of which minimizes the importance of writing. But writing becomes an ongoing process, one that is not just done for the contrived purposes of the classroom”(Richardson, 2006, pg. 31). Richardson sells blogging to the most skeptical educator when he notes that it is meaningful and purposeful. As educators, we always strive to make the activities in our classroom meaningful. This becomes easier when our classroom is the Read/ Write Web. Students are not just writing for their teachers and peers, but for the world. He also makes a distinction between connective writing and posting, giving explicit examples of true blogging, which entails more than just posting your own ideas but reacting to the ideas of others and adding more to them in a way that will prompt others to react to what you have written. Essentially, students are given a reason to think and write critically, which is not “because the teacher said so”.
Overall, Richardson’s chapter, Weblogs: Pedagogy and Practice, does an above average job of persuading educators to educate themselves on the uses of Weblogs in their classrooms, and in turn facilitate the learning of their technologically ready students. Although some of his writing on the pedagogy of weblogs may seem a bit overwhelming (for a Digital Immigrant), he is able to balance this chapter with the practical uses of weblogs, which educators can begin to use right away. Blogging is an art, which educators and students will not master overnight; but it is definitely one that will make them more aware of their worldwide audience, which will improve anyone’s writing overnight. Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms, is a tool, which I believe most educators, whom are also “Digital Immigrants”, will find useful as they venture out to surf the current web.
References
Richardson, W. (2006). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms. California: Corwin Press.
Secondary References
Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants. Retrieved September 25, 2005, from http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part1.pdf
Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms, written by Will Richardson, is definitely a must read for educators who are interested in keeping up with the “Digital Natives” (Prensky, 2001), or technologically savvy students, who entering their classrooms every year. Will Richardson’s simple, reader-friendly definitions of words like, “weblog”, “RSS”, and “wiki” make technology more accessible and less intimidating for the many educators, or “Digital Immigrants”(Prensky, 2001), who did not grow up surrounded by technology. Topics of Web Safety, Blogs as Resources, and Blogging Step-by-Step are just a few of the areas Richardson addresses in easing the worries of and opening the pathway for “Digital Immigrants”(Prensky, 2001), who are looking to update their teaching.
In reviewing this book, I found the chapter titled, Weblogs: Pedagogy and Practice, the most informative in terms of the uses of blogs in the classroom.
Richardson shares his practical insight and personal experiences using Class portals, Online Filing Cabinets, E-Portfolios, and Collaborative Space, all Weblog features, with his students. He also highlights the fact that Weblog features do not always have to involve students. Richardson elaborates on how Weblog tools can facilitate internal school communication, such as school committees and groups, and move a school website from a “static, wait-for-the-Webmaster-to-update-it type of site to a dynamic every-day-there’s-something-new type site” (Richardson, 2006, pg. 26). Richardson’s thoughtful word choice and examples make this book one that educators all along the spectrum of technology use can relate to.
The pedagogy of weblogs is also addressed in a way, which makes educators want to jump on the bandwagon of blogging. First, he points out that Weblogs are a “constructivist tool for learning” (Richardson, 2006, pg. 27). Weblogs can be accessed, updated, revised, etc. by millions of people. Richardson highly motivates educators to learn more about these Weblogs by emphasizing how they can “expand the walls of the classroom” (Richardson, 2006, pg. 28) by allowing for more accessible and diverse communication with students all over the world.
Richardson also discusses a new writing genre called “connective writing”, which he feels blogs facilitate. He elaborates on how blogging, since it is done for a wide audience, “forces those who do it to read carefully and critically, construct with clarity and cogency, and link to sources of ideas expressed”(Richardson, 2006, pg. 29). Richardson highlights the differences between traditional writing and blogging in hopes of persuading educators to become bloggers, and in turn facilitate the blogging of their “Digital Native”(Prensky, 2001) students. He states, “Writing stops; blogging continues. Writing is inside; blogging is outside. Writing stops; blogging continues. Writing is thesis; blogging is synthesis…none of which minimizes the importance of writing. But writing becomes an ongoing process, one that is not just done for the contrived purposes of the classroom”(Richardson, 2006, pg. 31). Richardson sells blogging to the most skeptical educator when he notes that it is meaningful and purposeful. As educators, we always strive to make the activities in our classroom meaningful. This becomes easier when our classroom is the Read/ Write Web. Students are not just writing for their teachers and peers, but for the world. He also makes a distinction between connective writing and posting, giving explicit examples of true blogging, which entails more than just posting your own ideas but reacting to the ideas of others and adding more to them in a way that will prompt others to react to what you have written. Essentially, students are given a reason to think and write critically, which is not “because the teacher said so”.
Overall, Richardson’s chapter, Weblogs: Pedagogy and Practice, does an above average job of persuading educators to educate themselves on the uses of Weblogs in their classrooms, and in turn facilitate the learning of their technologically ready students. Although some of his writing on the pedagogy of weblogs may seem a bit overwhelming (for a Digital Immigrant), he is able to balance this chapter with the practical uses of weblogs, which educators can begin to use right away. Blogging is an art, which educators and students will not master overnight; but it is definitely one that will make them more aware of their worldwide audience, which will improve anyone’s writing overnight. Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms, is a tool, which I believe most educators, whom are also “Digital Immigrants”, will find useful as they venture out to surf the current web.
References
Richardson, W. (2006). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms. California: Corwin Press.
Secondary References
Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants. Retrieved September 25, 2005, from http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part1.pdf
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