Article Assessment #2: The Educators Guide to the Read/Write Web by Will Richardson

I.  My Info

Megan Fitzpatrick

mfitzpatrick@sisd.org

December 8, 2008

The Educator's Guide to the Read/Write Web  by Bill Richardson

II.  Overview of the Article

The internet is not just for consuming information anymore.  Users can produce their own writings/creations/knowledge.  Rather than passively receiving information students can be active participants in presenting what is going on in their minds.  How does this affect curriculum?  Students need to become editors as well as readers.

III.  Bulleted Reference Points

• Blogs--Weblogs rather than just a diary.  Blogs can draw out critical thinking, reading and writing skills.  Class resources can be accessed and students are creating.
• Wikis--Hawaiian for "quick".  This is an online encyclopedia edited anonymously.  THe beauty is that it is a commons that maintains the information.
• RSS--Really Simple Syndication.  Gives people the ability to subscribe to feeds of information.
• Del.icio.us--Provides a means to subscribe to people's bookmarks.  Give you access to like minded people on the internet.
• Podcasting--Home Radio Distribution Web.  Allows listener to listen on their own schedule.
• Literate internet users need strategies for sorting out, storing and using relevant information from this outpouring.  
• The author calls on teachers to become guides rather than  content experts, modeling the appropriate use of the technology.  
• Read only web--OUT
• New read/write web--IN

IV.  Reflection and Significance

Until I read this article, I had never reflected on my own addiction to education over the years as a form of consumption.  And my resistance and adversion to academic writing as a failure to give back to what I have been taking all these years.  Teaching in a small school where I teach five different subjects, the concept of being a guide rather than a content master reached me. However, I wonder how this statement could be approved in the time of NCLB endorsements and highly qualified teachers .  There are days where I am just enthralled with the information the students are giving back to me.  I have to wonder, are they reciprocating? Our school has participated in the Apple 1 to 1 program for three years.  I see the students on their computers all day everyday. I has been an effort to get them producing blogs and podcasts beyond MySpace. But the beauty of the technology is that as soon as one student sees the cool work of another they get motivated and se what the potential can be.  They seem to rolling, but it is a challenge to keep them on task and the bandwidth down.