I can’t believe Barbara Ganley only has 8 subscribers on Bloglines. She’s a constant source of good thinking about education in general and in specific the use of these technologies with kids:
It’s what we’re talking about with blogs in the classroom–how their very mutability and the fact that they are socially based allow them to adapt to whatever learning situation we are in–bending to personalities, tasks, disciplines and goals–and move students to think in terms of community instead of in terms of self. The blog is a catalyst for emergent behavior in the classroom, and even though we rarely arrive at where we thought we were going, isn’t that the point when communities convene to discuss the pressures of development, say, or students explore contemporary Irish literature, or fifth graders engage with a local issue?
Today’s theme is obviously “local.” (Check out this “Hyperlocal Citizen’s Media” study from Northwestern as well.) It’s another part of the direction this all takes…more local…more collaborative…more participatory.
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