Richardson, W. (2004). Blogging and RSS: The "what's it?" and "how to" of powerful new web tools for educators. InfoToday, 11(1). Retrieved September 3, 2007, from http://www.infotoday.com/MMSchools/jan04/richardson.shtml
Blogging is changing the way educators and students use the Web. Those in education have been slower to adopt this new technology for reasons, such as privacy and access concerns. This is changing, and many are beginning to use blogs in a number of innovative ways. Educators also note that one of the best features of blogs, besides their ease-of-use, is the fact that many blogging software tools are free.
One of the many uses of blogs in an educational setting can be for the implementation of collaborative projects. The author describes his own blogging experiences that occurred in a high school literature class he taught. The book selected for this project was The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, and a blog was set up to extend the discussion beyond the classroom. Much to the students' surprise, the author of the book even joined in on the conversation. This is similar to the surprise experienced by the students who received comments from outside readers to their review of a circus (see Stephen Downes 2004 piece on educational blogging- http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/erm0450.pdf). Other examples, such as Pam Pritchard's use of audioblogs to help her students improve their reading and pronunciation skills, are also examined.
If I had to pick one sentence from this article that summarizes blogging it would be the following: "In other words, a Weblog is a dynamic, flexible tool that's easy to use whether you're creating with it or simply viewing the results."
1 comment:
I have had Stephen Downes comment on my blog a couple of times. Interesting--it sometimes forces me to think more about what I post. Stephen is a tough critic at times. But yes authenticity is the most impt thing here--we can get into touch with real experts and that is cool!
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