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Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms

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If you are looking to add technology into your classroom, Will Richardson's book, Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms, is a good place to start. The book takes the reader through a journey of possibilities to using web 2.0 tools in education. Each chapter was dedicated to a web 2.0 tool, from Weblogs to Social Networks (and many in-between)! Each chapter describes the web 2.0 tool and then gives examples of how others have used the tool in their classroom. On top of that Richardson also has examples you can actually go to on the Internet! I found that the real life examples reinforced the idea that teachers all over the world are incorporating technology into their classrooms. And it was nice to see how others were doing that.

I like how Richardson wrote the book for educators and he understands that not everyone is an expert at using technology. He constantly is mentioning that before jumping into using this in the classroom, you must first become involved yourself in the technology. Which is so true; you must first understand how to use technology and what this all means in the education world before expecting your students to. He provides guidelines and steps of how to incorporate web 2.0 tools into your classroom.

From this book I have built upon what I already know about web 2.0 tools and learned some new things. In fact while reading this book, a colleague of mine should be how to use Jing and Screencast to record and share a video from my computer. When I went home to read the next chapter of Will's book I learned even more about Jing and Screencast and how other teachers were using it. There was however one chapter that was completely new to me which was chapter five RSS. Like the other chapters in this book, Will starts off by explaining what RSS is and then gives suggestions of how to get involved with RSS. I have not had a chance to try setting up an RSS feed for myself, however it is something that I will be doing in the near future.

I do not consider myself an expert on technology, however I do feel comfortable using it, and believe one hundred percent that my students need to be taught how to use the technology we have available to their advantage. As Richardson points out in his book, we need to prepare our students for their future, they need to learn to read, write, and collaborate using the web. The web is a place that Richardson defines as a Read/Reflect/Write/Participate Web. Another point Richardson makes is that students are using these tools at home and they may not be using them properly. If taught in the classroom how to read, write, and collaborate with others properly, students are going to be successful in the future. Teachers do not need to become experts but they should have a general idea of the tools out there and how to use them in the classroom to benefit students.

This book is a great resource to build upon what you are already doing in the classroom or for teachers who are just starting to incorporate technology. I hope that you read this book and find at least one web 2.0 tool that you find so incredible that you want to try and then you will bring to your classroom and use with your students.

Reading this book you feel like your actually having a one-way conversation with someone who is teaching a lot of new and exciting stuff. Throughout the text the author is constantly giving tips and information to make the things he is telling you about easy to understand and even use. In chapter 6 the author talks about the advantages of using twitter and how it's possible to use twitter for troubleshooting as well as to hear about new and exciting ideas from other professionals. Diigo is also discussed and it is noted that because it allows you to bookmark websites and is a web application, you can use it from any computer anywhere because of your unique login. Delicious is a site that allows you to use specific tags that allow for your students to easily access and find the work. Chapter 7 is a discussion on Flickr and the possibilities that come with using it. Being able to annotate items within a picture allows individuals to see and discover what they are looking at. The idea of using tags with the pictures allows anyone, if the picture is public, to view the picture. Chapter 8 is about podcasting, video and screen casting, and live streaming and how these tools work and are used by many people. This chapter brings together all of the tools in this chapter from iTunes to UStream offer many opportunities to provide teachable videos as well as to have students create their own as well. This book has many valuable aspects for the world of educational technology and would be a great asset to any classroom teacher.

In this book I really thought that it was helpful for teachers and parents alike. There are always those tough questions that we face as adults when it comes to parenting and educating and this was a helpful resource. One of the main chapters that I focused on was chapter 3. This chapter is about how all parents, students, and administrators are clear on why this technology is being used in the classroom. For parents the first thing that they can do to make sure their child is safe is give their student permission to use this technology for school. Most schools send home an acceptable use sheet to sign and parents should be aware of this and make sure that they get one. Parents also need to communicate with teachers about what the teacher is doing to make sure that student privacy is protected. Parents need to make sure they talk to their children about never putting personal information on the blogs and the parents also need to know the process for reporting problems with blog content. Lastly as a parent they need to oversee the student's blog and then decide what to do with it at the end of the course. When creating a weblog with students always start small and work your way up. Blogger.com created by Google is one of the easiest weblogs for anyone to use, there is no perfect way to use a blog but this one is up there for ease of use and not a lot of confusion. As a teacher it is hard to track all of what your students are doing, however, you can follow your students and watch their posts. You can edit and have different templates and even add pictures to blogs as well.

The first thought that I had when reading this book was, "Wow I actually am following what is going on." The book is written in a way that anyone would be able to follow along and understand what is being portrayed. The book is filled with real creative ideas for the use of each tool. Along with exmples that other teachers and professors have used. He also gives the bennefits of using these tools in the classroom. Along with his suggestions of which site or tool to use. One thing that really made me see how important it is to use these tools in the classroom was when he was talking about how technology and the world around us has changed so much, yet teachers and education hasn't. I agree with him that education and teachers need to catch up with the use of technology. Our students are using it on a daily basis outside of the classroom. We should embrace it and encourage them and show them the right ways to use this technology. I think that Will Richardson is helping teachers do just that with this book.

Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms is a useful and highly recommended book. Richardson provides many helpful examples and practical ideas of how to implement the topics in the book into your classroom.

The book begins by explaining the theory and research behind the need for these tools in today's classroom. One of the most moving quotes comes from the first chapter "The people who'll understand this best are probably just being born." (page 3) The chapters that follow are full of practical teacher information. Each chapter begins by explaining what the tool is (example: what a wiki is). What follows are examples of how to use the tool in the classroom, links to view actual examples, and steps (that often include pictures) of how to set up the tool and create the account. The book introduces teachers to weblogs, wikis, RSS, social networking, flicker, podcasting, and multimedia publishing.

Read this book slow and have a computer handy when you begin this book. Take the time to stop reading and explore the suggest links. Practice using the recommend tools yourself before moving on to another chapter. This is not your "bed time reading" kind of book, however; I would highly recommend it to any teacher who is looking to expand their teaching into the age of technology.

Hands down! This is a great add to your literature library of resources for teachers. I am a computer savvy teacher and I have been known to incorporate technology into my lesson but Richardson's book gives you excellent ideas on how to incorporate technology into education. From helping you be a better teacher in your management of paperwork and communication Richardson gives A+ ideas on how to make blogs that keep you organized and in touch with students and parents in this technological age. He even gives easy and simple ideas on how to create and manage school websites. This book gives countless ideas on how to engage students into activities through technology. Many areas are catching on to technology but Education is slow to adapt but it is inevitable. Our students are using many technology tools but without proper guidance while many teachers have no clue about Facebook, podcast, and blogs. The tools in this book are easy ways to use within a classroom and will help close the gap. Richardson shares with educators a few tools that can be used in the education that will connect technology with education. The tools are Weblogs, Wikis, Really Simple Syndication (RSS), Aggregators, Social Bookmarking, Online Photo Galleries, Audio/Video Casting, Twitter, and Social Networking Sites. This is a book that will help all teachers increase their technology knowledge in the schools and classroom.

Richardson has a comprehensive book on blogs, wikis and podcasts. Although it is not extremely deep in content for any specific topic he does educate the reader on how to begin using one of these technologies in the classroom. His book begins with a history lesson on the internet which shows Richardson's wisdom on knowing where the technology epidemic started.

Tim Berners-Lee was the visionary behind the World Wide Web. Since its creation in 1989 it has grown immensely. Ninety-seven percent of today's teens believe that education should incorporate technology (Netday News, March 2005). They are already using social networking sites, researching, uploading, downloading, and are "content creators" for the web (Lenhart, Madden, Macgill, & Smith, 2007). Unfortunately education has not kept up with the internet learning curve. The National Educational Technology Plan (2005) stated that today's students are more advanced than their teachers when it comes to technology. Fortunately, as Richardson (2010) says, the tools are easy to learn, implement, and many are free. This means that teachers can still utilize technology in their classrooms if they make some changes to their teaching practices. Richardson's (2010) toolbox contains nine pieces: Weblogs, Wikis, Really Simple Syndication (RSS), Aggregators, Social Bookmarking, Online Photo Galleries, Audio/Visual Casting, Twitter, and Social Networking Sites. Additionally it is important to discuss with students saftey in regards to the internet. This should include not putting students and their locations on the web, appropriate behavior toward improper sites, inaccuracies found on the web, and posting information/images that will not affect their lives in the future. Learning is inevitable with the internet. Richardson's biggest question for educators is "...how can we as learners begin to take advantage of the opportunities these tools present, so we may understand more clearly the pedagogies used in the classroom?" (p. 6).

Richardson also makes a strong argument for using a weblog within the classroom. Not only does it publish work publicly, but it also allows networking educate rather than lectures. His biggest advice on the subject includes starting small, going public (understand the ramifications), read other educational blogs, encourage your students to blog, make posts, or even make their own personal blogs, go over safety precautions, and give feedback. Richardson gives step-by-step instructions on how to create your own blog site through blogger. The instructions include how to open an account, make posts, upload pictures, and adjust your blog settings. Concluding the third chapter is a list of "Good Educator Blogs" to review and from which you can gather ideas. Richardson condenses blogging for beginners into a short, concrete set of instructions that are easy to follow. His understanding on the topic is thorough. Because of his knowledge is is able to give educationally sound advice on how to begin using this new technology within a classroom immediately. Additionally, he has the foresight to give warnings such as knowing the ramifications of going public with a blog and policing the blog for inappropriate posts, blogs, and comments. This book gives good instruction to the beginner blogger.

Richardson's book is a good read for those dabling in the art of technology. It gives thorough directions and is a quick read. I highly recommend reading for any teacher looking to integrate technology into the daily classroom.

I primarily taught higher education students and I thought that this might be aimed at a lower age group - but it's applicable to adults in many cases. I really appreciated the theoretical side of the book - which wasn't inaccesible - and the many practical examples.

Will Richardson has made a good case for using the Read/Write Web in the classroom. His command of the technology, his ability to explain the use and his understanding of how the technology could enrich the learning experience for students and teachers is impressive.

I particularly liked the chapter on RSS (really simple syndication). When I ran across something intimidating, I was glad that the author had warned me early in the chapter to take things slowly. He actually suggested taking a few weeks to digest the information. Richardson pointed out that a key value of RSS is that it requires students to learn how to sort through information to make sure they are subscribing to relevant sites. In other words, it's an excellent tool for developing higher level thinking skills. The value of RSS for teachers is that it provides an efficient and organized way for them to monitor a student's online work.

In a discussion on Weblogs, Richardson nicely explained them and then walked the reader through setting up a blog. Even so, I wanted Richardson to send the reader to the blogger tutorial for that information. His strength in this chapter came in pointing out things early that the user would only learn from experience. For example, he provided an excellent safety tip to ensure that teachers who set up classroom blogs protect students from accessing inappropriate blogs.

His use of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake was an excellent way to show how Wikipedia works and its relevance. He told how the first entry about the earthquake appeared nine hours after it happened and 24 hours later had been edited 400 times and had grown from 76 words to 3,000 words. The site continued to grow and is now considered a premier source for information on that event. Richardson advocates that requiring students to use and contribute to Wikipedia and other wikis is a great learning experience. I also liked that he gave examples from a variety of disciplines. This should provide encouragement to teachers who might think their subject matter isn't suitable for this type of collaborative learning.

Richardson's writing is clear and conversational, which I found to be very engaging. His "how-to'' approach to the content was easy to follow. At times though, I wondered if a worksheet at the end of each chapter would be helpful to the reader. I also liked that Richardson tried to provide links to many of the examples he referenced. It was a little annoying though that he used tinyurls. It became an even bigger annoyance after I tried a couple of them that didn't work. I think the reader would be better served by an index of useful links.

"Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms'' is an excellent resource for educators or people in any profession who are striving to get the most out of the Read/Write Web.

Will Richardson's book, "Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Web Tools for Classrooms", is a must-read for educators, technology specialists, and others interested in increasing teacher technology use and integration in the classroom. The world of Web 2.0 is rapidly changing every day. Trying to keep up with the wide array of available technology tools can be overwhelming for those new to and unfamiliar with Web 2.0. Richardson's book acts as a quick and easy-to-read road map for Web 2.0 beginners and reluctant technology users to understanding, implementing, and using Web 2.0 in the classroom.

Richardson divides and categorizes Web 2.0 technologies into manageable sections, based on those that publish, manage information, and share content in collaborative ways: blogs, wikis, RSS feeds, aggregators, social bookmarking, online photo galleries, and audio/video-casting. By breaking Web 2.0 down into its various functions, it becomes easier for teachers to identify which tools they will need to use as a vehicle for their learning objectives. Understanding how different Web 2.0 tools work and how it can aid and supplement the curriculum helps teachers to create a basic "toolbox" that they can refer to and use.

What sets Richardson's book apart from other how-to Web 2.0 books is that it is tailored specifically to educators who are curious to find out why and how they can specifically use the portrayed Web 2.0 tools in their content areas and classroom. The information from this book provides teachers with strategies and teaching applications so that they can hit the ground running. This, I think, is the key to encouraging more teachers to increase their technology use and integration.

Most reluctant teachers are afraid of changing what already works for them. It is important for decision-makers in school districts to realize that if they want to move their teachers forward in the technology sector, teachers shouldn't be asked to change what they do. Instead, they should focus more on finding technology solutions that fit in and work with the way the teachers and their system works. Richardson's book does that--it explains Web 2.0 in a way that helps great teachers become even more effective in their work with the help of technology.

As a content teacher and technology specialist, this is the first book I recommend to peers and colleagues who are interested in learning more about Web 2.0 and upgrading their technology skills and repertoire.