Chapter Five

Chapter Five

I found chapter five, “RSS: The New Killer App for Educators”, to be a bit overwhelming.  Richardson, frequently emphasized that RSS will save the user time, but I admit I am skeptical.  I followed the instructions given by Richardson and set up an “aggregator” through Google.com/reader.  His directions are clear and simple to follow.  I now have subscribed to a few sites and stored them in two different folders: Russian Literature and Grammar.  

Although from my initial experience I can easily recognize that RSS is easy to use, I am intimidated by the daunting task of maintaining an ongoing interaction with this tool. The comment by Richardson that leaves me unconvinced of the value of this resource is, “…Maybe you check it right after you check your e-mail….. However you do it, you need to build up a habit of checking to see what’s new on a daily basis” (82).  I currently check my personal e-mail approximately once every 4-6 weeks.  I make this effort because that is how my book club communicates reminders about the next book and location of our meeting.  I usually check my school e-mail once a day, but often only after someone asks me what my response was to an e-mail that was sent to me.  I cannot imagine how having one more source that I must daily check is going to save me time.  I have no doubt that there are volumes of useful details, resources, suggestions, and facts out there, but I have no desire to have a barrage of information constantly coming at me.  I prefer to go and search out the sources and information that I want when I need them.   I need to experiment more with RSS in order to discover its benefit.

Chapter 4

Chapter Four

In chapter four, “Wikis: Easy Collaboration for All”, Richardson introduces the reader to Wikis.  He defines Wiki as “quick”, “an easy authoring tool”, and “a Web site where anyone can edit anything anytime they want.”  A strength of Wiki is that it allows anyone to go to any page and add, edit, and delete notes, but as Richardson is quick to point out, there are risks involved when a Web site is open for anyone to have input.   

I found the discussion of information reliability to be the most interesting part of this chapter.  I have long been perplexed by the “Wikipedia” dilemma.  I am aware that most of my students turn to Wikipedia as their primary source for information.  I have been in the habit of advising them to use Wikipedia with caution, suggesting that Wikipedia is a good place to begin, but warning them to then move on to more reliable sources. The aspect of my instruction that has left me a little unsettled is that I primarily define a reliable source as one that has been able to stand up to scrutiny.  Richardson’s discussion of the way that Wikis, particularly Wikipedia, work challenges my skepticism of Wikipedia by pointing out that there is no other resource available that is so closely monitored and widely scrutinized. Major news outlets, scholars and successful businesses already utilize Wikis to both obtain and dispense information.  This chapter has inspired me to revisit the role that Wiki sources should be playing in my classroom.

Chapter 3

Chapter Three

In “Weblogs: Get Started!”, Richardson recommends a few important steps to take in order to successfully implement the use of Weblogs in the classroom. Some of his helpful suggestions include: start small, provide students with the opportunity to preview exemplar blogs, inform parents and administrators of your agenda, clearly define expectations, and provide students with the assessment piece you will be using.  Richardson also spends a significant time discussing ways to decrease risks of harm and misuse.  The chapter ends with a list of helpful resources.

I found this chapter very beneficial!  The information presented in the chapter will be useful to me as a teacher, but more importantly the step by step explanation is personally helpful.  I was able to use the steps presented on pages 48-53, to review the lesson given during class and to work on my blog assignment.

Chapter 2

Chapter Two

In chapter two, “Weblogs”, Richardson defines Weblogs as “an easily created, updatable site that allows an author (or authors) to publish instantly to the Internet from any Internet connection” (17). He highlights the primary difference between a blog and other common Web sites by pointing out that Weblogs are not static; they are regularly updated reflections and conversations.  The mini overview presented in this chapter leaves the reader feeling better informed and capable of looking for additional information on the topic.

I especially appreciated Richardson’s over view of the potential uses for Weblogs in the school: Class Portal, Online Filing Cabinet, E-Portfolio, Collaborative Space, Knowledge Management and Articulation Location, and  School Web Site.  After reading this chapter, I can see that there are numerous ways that A Weblog can improve the way I teach and assess, and the way that my students learn, obtain information, and reflect. My question is, “How do we streamline all of these sources for students?”  My students currently use two different sites for my class: Turnitin.com and edmodo.  They also have multiple other sites to keep track of for their other classes and for their own personal usage.  Keeping track of a few sites, class sign-in codes, passwords, and user names,  may not seem like a difficult task; however, many of my eleventh grade students still have difficulty remembering to bring the proper text book, a writing utensil, and the assignment of the day to class.  Is there a type of online organizer where students can keep track of their web sites and gain quick access to these sites?

Chapter 1

Chapter One 

In Chapter One, “The Read/Write Web,” Will Richardson provides a convincing argument for using the web as a tool for improving the way educators help students learn to read and write better.  Mr. Richardson supports his position by reminding the reader that the web is a collaborative medium that students are already utilizing in many other areas of their life.  He also points out that the web is used widely by journalists, politicians and businessmen to conduct their work.  Mr. Richardson makes it clear that to continue to teach without using the tools of the web is to neglect our responsibility as educators to prepare students to successfully operate in the world they live in.  

I agree with Mr. Richardson’s premise, but I am puzzled as to how to make the enormous transition he proposes.  He states, “education has been slow to adapt to these new tools and potentials.” I believe that his criticism is correct. However, he fails to consider why this observation is true.  I am sure there are several possible explanations.  Maybe teachers who are already overwhelmed with the many demands on their time and the need to constantly adapt to changing policies and student population are resistant to adding one more major change.  I, however, think limited finances and resources is a more likely explanation.  Businesses are quick to purchase the resources and training necessary for competing in today’s market and so quite naturally made the transition to the world of technology.  Through the loss of subscribers, journalism learned the hard way that there is a significant cost accrued when one does not keep up with the changing world; therefore, the business world of reporting willingly spent the money necessary to make sure that each reporter was trained and properly equipped.  This is where the field of education differs.  Even if the individual teacher believes that there is merit to including technology as part of the educational process, there are still enormous obstacles to overcome in order to make that happen.  At FHS, there are a limited number of computers available.  Each student can be assigned to do web work from home, but this also results in problems including the following: not all students have computers at home, not all students have reliable internet at home, and not all students have compatible computer software.  For example, I recently gave students an assignment to be submitted to “turnitin.com”.  I naively did not anticipate the numerous problems that this assignment would pose.  First, some students do not have web.  This seems like an easy problem to solve: have students save the assignment on their flashdrives and then upload them at school.  Turns out, that solution only works if the student completes his or her assignment in a word program that is compatible with the school computers. A second obstacle encountered was that a few of my students do not have regular access to a working computer.  Again, this seems like a simple issue to solve: arrange to stay after school with the student so that he or she can complete the assignment at school. Turns out, many of these students have after school jobs or extra curricular activities. 

I believe that Mr. Richardson is correct; as educators we have to get on board with the changing world.  But, I am concerned about the potential this new style of education will have on dividing the poor from the rich and more heavily working in the favor of the wealthy.