From the “Blogvangelism in Traditional Media Dept.” comes the latest Educational Leadership issue which focuses on “Learning in the Digital Age” and features an article I wrote titled “The Educator’s Guide to the Read/Write Web.” While the article will not be free online anytime soon, the abstract is below. You’ll have to visit your local library or an online database near you to get the whole thing (unless of course you want to buy it.)
The Internet is no longer only a place to research information. It is now also a forum through which users can publish and disseminate their own writing. Richardson describes some of the main tools that make this new “Read/Write Web” work—blogs, wikis, really simple syndication, and podcasting—and gives examples of how each can be used to enhance students’ research capabilities, connect students to content experts, and provide a wider audience for student work. He argues that the new research and publishing possibilities the Web opens up, which millions of young people engage in, have implications for keeping teaching relevant. Schools must reexamine what kinds of skills students need to participate meaningfully in this online exchange of knowledge and ideas. Teachers need to reconsider their teaching methods, their use of textbooks when more updated material is available online, and their ideas about student collaboration and the audiences for student work.
In general, it looks like a pretty good issue, headed up by Marc Prensky and packed with what seem to be some pretty forward thinking articles.
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