Technology+Book+Summary



Technology Book Summary Ashley Dietz Lamar University May 9, 2010

The World Wide Web has grown immensely over the past twenty years. It started out as a communication network between high ranking government officials and has grown into a bigger communication tool for all citizens, big and small ((Richardson, 2010, p.1). The author traces the roots of the early internet to what it has become today. It is now a place for all people to meet and share ideas using not only text, but now images, audio, and video. The author also suggests the effect of new technology on education. “What needs to change about our curriculum when our students have the ability to reach audiences far beyond our classroom walls? What changes must we make in our teaching as it becomes easier to bring primary sources to our students?” (Richardson, 2010, p. 5). Richardson also realizes the importance of keeping our students safe while on the internet. If we are going to incorporate the internet into our daily instruction, we also need to make the rules and boundaries clear for students who are accessing the World Wide Web.

The author’s next two chapters were about weblogs and the use of them in the classroom setting. The author taught a journalism class and used a blog to communicate with his students and parents about upcoming assignments, deadlines, and any other class-related news. The author recommended using a blog in the classroom because it not only saves on paper, but the students are able to respond and critique one another, therefore building their own observational and analytical skills (Richardson, 2010). The author also suggested using blogs on the school website. This is interesting to me because I run our school website and I think this would be a really great idea to implement in the upcoming school year.

The author is a fan of Wikipedia and all of the other wikis out there on the internet. The author believes wikis are a useful tool in the classroom, and he encourages teachers to use it, while safeguarding against inappropriate edits (Richardson, 2010). He believes the collaborative information on sites such as Wikipedia filters out the wrong information and new information is presented quickly because there are so many readers (Richardson, 2010). He also believes students should be allowed to use Wikipedia for research, but not as the only resource. They need to be taught how to distinguish correct information. Also, students who find new information from other sources should be taught how to put that information on Wikipedia. “If we begin to look at Wikipedia as another opportunity for our students to contribute what they learn and know to a larger audience, I think we can begin to appreciate it for the really incredible site that it is” (Richardson, 2010, p. 64).

The author also appreciates the new RSS feeds that make it possible to keep up with the latest posts to blogs and wikis. With the constant updating, this has created a new network of communication and socializing. There are many new websites and ways to communicate with others and you can find anyone on the internet who has the same interests, dreams, goals, and ideas as you.

Playing with multimedia is my favorite computer activity. The last chapters were devoted to multimedia, including using the online photo website Flickr. You can create so many fun projects with your photos that were never possible before. Podcasting is another way to let out creativity and let the whole world view it. With all of the ideas broadcast over the new internet, it has become so huge that we can use it for so many wonderful operations that relate directly to classroom instruction in the 21st century.

Richardson, W. (2010). //Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms.// Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

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