Despite some technical glitches, I think my presentation on Weblogs in Education here yesterday went pretty well. I really, really like blogvangelizing with a group of motivated and interested education types who are willing to overlook some computer issues and keep the conversation flowing. (Thanks especially to Kathy Schrock for talking us through my reboot.)
I’ve given this talk about a dozen or so times now, and it changes every time. More great examples. More interesting choices for blogware. A growing level of sophistication of the participants. There’s no doubt that the concept continues to grow.
What I’ve found especially interesting is how my own thinking about Weblogs keeps evolving. I still find it to be such an interesting tool, and when used well, there’s no doubt it can have a positive effect on what happens in the classroom. But I’ve been seeing blogs more and more as just a part of a pretty complex set of tools that are evoloving out of the read/write Web relationship. And it’s a set that probably won’t be around in its current form for very long. I know that Tom and others have written about how they think much of this will be integrated into something much more inter-connected. And that will turn even more readers into writers. So the challenge is to stay ahead of it and see the uses more than the tools themselves. That’s pretty motivating to me…
I was at the final session of the conference and I have to say I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since. Like you say in the last sentance, it’s the uses, not the tools. The implications for Wiki’s in the long term can be staggering. Thanks for giving me plenty to ponder while being delayed at the airport and flying home!
Will
As I told you after the session on Thursday, it was the best presentation of the week. It should have been a keynote. I’ve just arrived back in Ireland, jet lagged, and the first site I hit was Wikipedia. I have a lot of learning to do. You input has radically changed my targets for student learning.
Thanks again