TIE Conference 2006

Blogs and Wikis and the new Read/Write Web

Click on the links to the right to explore blogs and wikis.

I recently read the book Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms by Will Richardson. Excellent, well thought out book. Here were some of my highlights from the book. Here is a powerpoint from today's TIE discussion.

"We are entering a new interconnected, networked world where more and more people are gaining access to the Web and its continually growing body of knowledge. And access doesn’t just mean being able to read what’s there; it means being able to create and contribute content as well. At first blush, that may not seem like such a big deal, but it is a shift that requires us to think seriously and expansively about the way we currently teach students and deliver our curricula." (p. vii )

Will then writes of our new Read/Write web.

Impact of this new Web

• The social connections that students are now making on the Web
• The ability to share and contribute ideas and work
• New expectations of collaboration
• The ability to extend the walls of the classroom

Will then asks the questions

"What needs to change about our curriculum when our students have the ability to reach audiences far beyond our classroom walls? What changes must we make in our teaching as it becomes easier to bring primary sources to our students? How do we rethink our ideas of literacy when we must prepare our students to become not only readers and writers, but editors and collaborators?"

I've been using blogs in my courses for a couple of years. Reading Will's book I realized I was using them more for journaling and not to their potential. Educational blogging should include web links with analysis and synthesis of the content. Explore the links on the right, many taken from Will's book, to see the potential of blogs and wikis.