Microsoft and AOL are getting the blogging bug, and it shouldn’t surprise anyone. And now the inevitable debates will ensue as to whether or not this is a good thing since both of those companies have a tendency to take great ideas and make them worse. I think, though, that more blogging publicity can only help.
I’m still amazed from last night at how few people had any knowledge of Web logs, much less their potential in the classroom. There were about a dozen or so that stayed after the presentations to talk and ask questions, and many of them expressed this sense of amazement. And I don’t think it was so much because of the Web logs I showed them as it was the concept in general. They were literally dumbstruck.
And something else that I haven’t really articulated here is that the half a dozen or so other teachers at my school who have put their collective toes in the water are all singing Web logs praises. They’re seeing real improvement in writing and thinking skills, and their students love them. Next fall I can see this really growing here.
I hope that the big boys get the word out and provide some useful tools…is there any doubt left that one way or the other Web logs or similar technologies will be a integral tool in an educator’s arsenal?
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