Thing #4

Technorati - I read something interesting about Technorati this week. Because it's getting easier and easier for the average joe to post on the internet without any regard to truth or accuracy, you must be on your toes for reliable information! You must find out as much as you can about the author of the weblog. What is their profession, their title, where does their authority on the topic come from, and what's their background? You can find out at technorati.com what kind of reputation the blogger has among his peers. Enter the URL at technorati into the search form. The results will show you how many other bloggers have linked to that particular blogger (weblog). The article says that any site that has more than 100 links to it has earned a reputation as a good source of information by its community. That is quite good to know since the reliability of web content and getting a handle on it takes so much time!! It is these discussions that I worry about in Middle School w/students (about reliable sources) when they are researching their topics. Most of them will be comfortable using the first source they find that supports their thesis. If they are going to start using bloggers for their research efforts, this would be a good tool to show them!

Edutopia: Feb/Mar 08

I just read the article in this month's Edutopia "Programming: the New Literacy". It talks about how power will soon belong to those who can master a variety of powerful and expressive human-machine interactions, and how today's kids already see their parents and their teachers as the illiterate ones! Yikes. It's got me thinking "digitally". Good article!

Thing #3

RSS Feeds- the ability of the average person to create and publish content to the Internet certainly creates an avalanche of information out there that feels overwhelming. Thank goodness for RSS to help us consume all that information in more effecient and relevant ways. The content comes to you instead of you going out to get it. "Real Simple". Now we don't have to click thru all the sites that offer information on a certain subject. We can have those sites directed to us all in one place! We can use the information now, or store it for later use. Better yet, no spams as in email! No junk to filter through to get what you are looking for. If you have a classroom weblog, students can get information about research topics immediately, and updated information can be delivered in a timely fashion. If this doesn't make them more effective consumers of information, nothing will! Great stuff!

Thing #2

Blogging - Posting MY opinion and having someone respond to it! That's powerful! It's a great day when you can share something easily and have an audience that is willing to share back what they think about your ideas. Huge potential in the educational setting I would think. It all takes as much skill as sending an email and I think that is fantastic! Students need to know that we can speak their language, and then in turn we will have their attention. Blogging; a place to converse and reflect and even update daily! We can click on links that will take us miles from where we sit! I'm ready to share other's experiences with Web 2.0!

Thing #1

Web 2.0 - immense and rapid growth since 1989 when the web was in the development phases. The Read/Write Web holds transformational changes that are in store for teachers and students! The ability to easily publish something is transformational in itself. It's here, happening right now in front of our eyes. The evolution of it will certainly bring about changes. What's in store? I'm ready to explore. I never dreamed I'd be publishing something to the Internet one day, and here I am!