I hope everyone enjoyed their time off as I did. I was fortunate to have two whole weeks to spend with my daughter and we accomplished a great deal, so I feel rejuvenated and hope all of you do, too!
I have a new book titled Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms by Will Richardson which I'd like to share information from for my next several Blog postings. The author's first edition was published 3 years ago and I will be using the second edition. According to Richardson, more and more we are seeing teachers connecting their students to global conversations and collaborations. He further states, though, that 90% of students use Web technologies in their personal lives, but only a small fraction of classrooms have begun to fully understand what these networked learning environments can mean.
Here's a little background on the "invention" of the World Wide Web - Tim Berners-Lee had a grand vision for the Internet when he began development of the World Wide Web in 1989. At that time, the Internet was not much more than a network of computers that researchers and government officials used to share text and data. But Berners-Lee wanted a "web" of linked information, built by people from around the globe. When the Mosaic Web browser began in 1993, the dream began. Suddenly, the Internet went from text and numbers to a colorful, graphical world of information for the masses. However, being able to put information on the Web required a knowledge of HTML coding and protocols so it was a slow process and not everyone could do it.
Today, most all of us are reading and writing on the Web. In 2008, one of the blog tracking services listed more than 110 million blogs online. Right now, the service is adding over 120,000 new blogs and 1.5 million Weblog posts each day. And it's not just blogs - multimedia publishing has exploded. In 2008, over 100,000 videos were being uploaded to YouTube each day and now millions of photos, thousands of audio files, and countless other creations are being added. As more people gain access, this trend will continue to grow.
So what does this mean for the way we teach and learn? Education has been slow to adapt these new tools and potentials. Richardson notes that it is a hugely challenging time to be an educator. By and large, students are using a wide variety of technologies that they are told they can't use when they come to school. Today's schools are faced with a difficult dilemma that pits a student body that has grown up immersed in technology against a teaching faculty that is less knowledgeable about the tools of the trade. Even our youngest students are using sites on the Internet to post their creations. (Take a look at http://www.flickr.com/photos/wrichard/sets/96435 which is an example from Richardson's daughter when she was eight years old.)
According to the author, the tools discussed in his book are relatively easy for anyone to use in the classroom. He also tries to give educators tools that are free. Richardson says before you attempt to bring these technologies to your students, first be selfish about their use in your own learning practice. "It wasn't until I fully understood how these technologies can facilitate global connections and conversations around my own passions, how they could help me create powerful learning networks and communities, that I was able to see what needed to change in terms of my curriculum and my teaching." Richardson says we need to make these connections in our own practice first and to ask ourselves these questions:
• What are your passions?
• Who are your teachers?
• How are you building your own learning networks?
• How are you modeling your learning for your students?
For the next several weeks, I will be sharing information on the following "tools" in Richardson's "toolbox" and hope that at least one of these will be something you'd like to try personally and then share with your students:
1. Weblogs (Blogs)
2. Wikis
3. Real Simple Syndication (RSS)
4. Aggregators
5. Social Bookmarking
6. Online Photo Galleries
7. Audio/Video-casting
Just remember, like with everything else in life, using the Internet carries with it some risks. As educators, it is most important for us to keep students safe when online. Safety is about responsibility, appropriateness, and common sense. As I share information from the book, safety will be an integral part and something we all should keep in mind as we move forward and try new things!
Next week, I will start by sharing information about Weblogs, or Blogs. Hopefully some of you already have a Blog or might be willing to start one for your class(es). Until then, start exploring "blogs" on the Web and see what you can find that's already out there.
