Did some evangelizing out in San Francisco about the wonders of Web logs, and I wish I had seen this post from two of my students before I left. This, to me, is what this technology is all about. I’ve written much about the collaborative potential and the ease with which Web logs facilitate people getting together in digital space. Pat has written much about digital paper, and if this isn’t a great example of what can be done with it, I don’t know what is.
I can’t remember the last time (if there was one) where I have been so sure that my students have learned, really internalized what it is that I am trying to teach them. What Meredith and Kristen did in breaking down the news story for the kids in Georgia is nothing short of inspirational. And the best part is that it was UNSOLICITED. I didn’t ask them to do this. They just did it, and I suspect one of the reasons they did was the tool available to them. They did research. They used hypertext to refer the students to further information. They deconstructed the story using what they had been taught in class. They isolated different parts through using colors, making it easy for 4th and 5th graders to see and understand. They made it fun! Let me ask you, would this have happened with pen and paper, or even e-mail?
Publishing writing and thinking to a real audience…doing it easily…that is what this is all about. There are many more examples of this out there. But I’m really proud of this one.
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