My first official blog post is in response to Will Richardson’s
book, “Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and Other Powerful Web Tools for the Classroom.”
In 1989, thanks to Tim Berners-Lee and his “grand vision for the
Internet… and development of the World Wide Web,” and the many collaborators to
follow, the “New World Wide Web” has changed the way we live today (p
1-2). Today people “publish their
thoughts, respond to others, post pictures, share files, and otherwise
contribute to the explosion of content available” on the Internet (p. 2).
The great thing about the Internet is that it has opened the
world up to previously unimaginable possibilities. Today’s students can facilitate their own
learning and get an abundance of information literally from the palm of their
hand, with hand-held devices. For better
or worse, the world has become a much smaller place and our young people are
free to explore and learn about whatever strikes their fancy.
Unfortunately, with the ever-expanding technological advances of
the 21st century, in my experience, it has been extremely hard for
schools to keep up with the students continued and evolving thirst for
technology. None-the-less, school
districts and teachers continue to push on, “despite the relative newness
of…Weblogs, wikis, RSS, and the rest to enhance student learning in safe,
productive, effective ways” (p. 14). Finding new, innovative and creative ways to
use the resources available to enhance our students learning experience is
paramount, and to the students of today, the key seems to be the use of
technology.
References:
Richardson, W. (2010) Blogs,
wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms. Thousand
Oaks, California: Corwin
References: Richardson, W. (2010) Blogs,
wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms. Thousand
Oaks, California: Corwin
