A 3.3: Response to Richardson (Chapter 3)

Date: September 15, 2008

Source: Richardson, W. (2009). Blogs, Wikkis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms (2^nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Purpose: The main purpose of this chapter is to inform the reader how teachers can begin to implement a blog by suggesting that teachers begin with their own blog. The author then goes on to describe the basics of how to set up a blog, where blog services are offered, and how to choose the appropriate blog for the appropriate context.

Question: The key question that the author is addressing is how should teachers get themselves and their students started with blogs?

Information: The most important information in this chapter is how teachers can get started Weblogging by trying it themselves. Through their own experiences teachers can learn from a student’s perspective how blogging is started and be able to better understand possible issues that face students and they begin to blog. Secondly, the author informs the reader how a basic blog can be setup.

Inferences/Conclusions: The main inferences/conclusions made by the author are that teachers utilizing blogs must first have the experience if they wish their student to blog. The author also suggests that questioning the capabilities of different blogs is a great way to find out what the students and teachers need to be able to gain from a chosen source of blogging.

Concept: The key concept we need to understand in this chapter is that teachers need to be able to provide a model in which students can follow in order to begin properly while keeping in mind the safety issues regarded with blogging. Letting students ease their way into blogging is also a good way to start a classroom blogging. The ease in which these blogs can be setup is another important concept that the author is endorsing.

Assumptions: The main assumption underlying the authors thinking is that blogging may be an easy task for people that are knowledgeable about basic technology use; however, for some students and teachers these tasks may present challenges that will take far more time and effort than assumed by the author. The language used by the author may be enough to send someone in a tailspin if this type of language, skill, and understanding is not well developed. By describing the presupposed ease of using technology in this way the author may discredit himself if the reader is lost from the first page. This kind of attitude could give negative thoughts to a learner and may dissuade them from using blogs as a learning based tool.

Implications: If we are to take this line of reasoning seriously, the implications are to the advantage of teachers and students who are ready and willing to begin blogging. However, if teachers who are introducing blogging to their students for the first time do not consider the easiest way of approaching the new use of weblogging or those who do not consider safety factors associated with student protection, this could have a negative impact on the learners experience with this new tool. If the teachers plan is not well calculated and articulated blogging could become a hassle and a liability. This could ultimately affect students personally as well as diminish the trust of that teacher from the view of other faculty, students, and possibly the students family.

Points of View: The main point of view presented in this article is that as the author is a veteran in the use of weblogging in the classroom and from his experiences he encourages teachers to analyze the possibilities. The author states that he is a firm believer in the ways of Weblogging and he feels that it is important to use the tools effectively so that students and teachers get the most out of their experiences. By using these Weblogs the teachers and students will notice marked differences in their learning and teaching.

A 3.2: Response to Richardson (Chapter 2)

Date: September 15, 2008

Source: Richardson, W. (2009). Blogs, Wikkis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms (2^nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Purpose: The main purpose of this chapter is to show Weblogs can supplement and enhance the classroom environment. Also, the author describes several facets that a Weblog can fulfill that the conventional classroom is limited to.

Question: The key question the author is addressing is: In what ways can Webloging improve students’ literacies and other skills that are required from students? In what ways does Webloging improve student literacies?

Information: The most important information in this article is how the weblog can be used in the classroom setting to engage students in the curriculum of the class as well as enhancing skills such as writing, collaborative works, analyzing and synthesizing knowledge from several texts and being able to reflect upon their own work.

Inferences/ Conclusions: The main inferences/conclusions in this chapter are that Weblogging is a huge way in which the classroom curriculum can be enhanced. The author describes several positive uses that the Weblog can fulfill such as creating a classroom environment that may encourage students to participate more, increase critical thinking skills, make documentation easier, improve organization and document retrieval, and creating collaborative communities in which student may have the opportunity to work with others on a national and international level.

Concepts: The key concept we need to understand in this article is the ways in which Weblogs can be utilized to facilitate, support, and enhance ways in which students gain and access information to create a learning environment outside of the typical classroom setting. By using these Weblogs as classroom tools the dynamic between teachers and students, students and peers, and students and the larger community changes the perspective of communication and learning.

Assumptions: The main assumptions in this article are that the readers of this text are knowledgeable of a teacher’s way of planning a classroom environment. This text seems to be written to the audience of teachers. Seeing as how we are students reading this there is a different perspective for us. However, it is helpful to see how teachers may think about there approaches to learning. Also, the author seems to assume that his audience is knowledgeable of technological jargon like HTML codes and other terminology that is beyond the basic Web users understanding.

Implications: If we take this line of reasoning seriously, the implications are to revolutionize the classic learning environment. The increase of Weblogs in the classroom will increase the demographic of users on the macro level thus building a vast community of learning where students can work with other students, teachers, and professionals. This could greatly increase opportunities for students to learn in different way increasing their own capacities as learners and users of information. If we fail to take this line of reasoning seriously, the implications are that students will be limited to their understanding of education and the learning environment. The author allows the reader to get a good idea of the multifaceted approach that Weblogs offer. If teachers are not informed about the different modalities that the Weblog can take then the premise and goals of the Weblog could be unnecessarily limited.

Points of View: The main point of view presented in this article is that from a teacher’s standpoint of the benefits that Weblogging can have in a learning environment. The author, who has used this type of alternative education method before in his classroom, describes the Weblogs greater purpose that can benefit both students and teachers that are implementing the Weblog as a teaching/learning tool. The author is a native of this practice and is informing his audience about the ways in which the Weblog can be utilized in the classroom to enhance learning.