Will RIchardson...Web 2.0

Based on Will Richardson's vidlogs, the power of communication is rapidly expanding. His vidlogs centered around getting the world to understand that blogging is the new paper and pencil, the new form of teaching and learning. Students can explore many topics and, through blogging, can become instantly connected to anyone else with the same or differing opinions. The blogs are a sounding board for students, as well as a place to explore new ideas and express old ones.

I like the idea that Richardson brings up: teachers have a responsibility to their students to embrace new technology and help students to become more aware of self expression through artistic thought (ie blogging).

One of my concerns is that students do not participate in enough critical and analytical thinking through only blogging. Richardson says he has a "paperless classroom." While I believe blogging is helpful and certainly valuable, I also believe that paper and pencil are invaluable. There is something about writing your own words and using your own head to think that makes paper and pencil, for me, an absolute necessity in the classroom.

I will use blogs (or whatever form of blogging there will be in the next few years) in my classroom because I believe that blogging allows for creative self expression, whether through the types of posts to the layout of the blog. Students need an outlet to communicate with each other informally.

I do, though, want to stress the value of paper and pencil work. I do not want to have a paperless classroom, because I want my students to understand the difference between informal and formal writing and communication. The internet, for the most part, is informal. The conversation on the blogs are typically informal, which can be purposeful and useful, but students also need to understand that writing is a language all its own.

English can be described as having two schools (and in the future will have three): written and oral. (In the future typing will have to be included). Written English follows traditional and Standard American English rules. Oral, on the other hand, is allowed to have slang, jargon, dialect, etc. I am concerned that students will forget and opt to use more informal language on the blogs instead of also learning the style of writing.

I believe Richardson makes valid, credible, and useful points. I feel blogging is an important tool to use in the classroom, and I will use it myself. However, I do believe it is up to debate whether or not a blog is an "online journal" because it all depends on how it is used and in what capacity.