Technology+Leadership+Book+Summary

Below is a Wordle to describe my technology leadership book, //Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms// by Will Richardson.
 * Technology/Leadership Book Summary **



Will Richardson’s book, //Blogs,// //Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools// //for Classrooms// is an easy-to-read and provides an overview of several Internet tools, as well as a brief history of the Internet. The original name of the Internet was the Read/Write Web, which started in 1989 as place to collaborate. However, the technology was slow to develop due to use of complex codes and programming knowledge. (p 1) Now days, the Read/Write web has the capability to transform traditional education into a more collaborative setting between students, teachers and others than education practices in the past. The 21st century student has different expectations than an older learner and has different forms of communication and learning styles. Education has started to make major shifts in integrating new Web 2.0 tools in schools. The Web 2.0 technologies covered in Richardson’s book are Weblogs, Wikis, Real Simple Syndication (RSS), Aggregators, Social Bookmarking, Online Photo Galleries, and Audio/Video Casting. (p 9) The book contains a vast amount of excellent information, general use instructions, and URLs for all listed technologies and applications. Each topic has concrete information, with suggestions on how the applications are used in education. The author also provides screen shots and video addresses for tutorials. (p17-127) According to Richardson, most schools are slow to adopt social learning and the full technology trends that students use. The main reasons for this are that teachers have not adapted to new teaching/learning methods, privacy and safety issues of student data, and funding adequate to make technology access equitable. (p 6) In order to for technology to be fully integrated into the classroom, teachers need to learn the technologies that students are using and use those same technologies to facilitate students’ learning. The technology must be used in different ways-not just doing the same paper and pencil drills digitally. Just as importantly as the proper use of the various technologies, or possibly even more important, is Internet safety. At one time, keeping students safe on the Internet consisted of only of keeping personal information off the internet and preventing access to pornography. However, that simplistic view of safety prohibits access to many valuable resources on Web 2.0. Rather than blocking access to these tools in the interest of safety, students need to learn skills to keep themselves safe while on the Internet. (p 11) The Read/Write Web has brought about major changes in the manner students access information, but education has not kept up with the challenges and advantages of the new technologies. Richardson lists several ideas that he calls “Big Shifts” (p 131-137) and he believes these must all occur in schools in order to facilitate collaboration, individualization, as well as active participation by the students and teachers. One of the shifts most interesting was #9-Mastery is the Product, Not the Test. We have been conditioned to think of [|education] and learning as collecting and memorizing facts, passing tests and earning acceptable grades. The Read/Write Web allows students to exhibit mastery through project-based assignments which allow them to delve deeper into their coursework and get away from focusing on facts that can be later referenced on the Internet. Richardson’s “Big Shifts” concepts include open content, increasing numbers of teachers and 24/7 learning, the social and collaborative construction of meaningful knowledge, teaching becoming conversation not lecture, and students achieving know “where” learning rather than rote memorization. Other ideas include that readers are no longer just readers, the web as notebook, writing is no longer limited to text, mastery is the product not the test, and contribution (not just completion) is the ultimate goal. In redefining the art of teaching, teachers must begin to see themselves as connectors of content __and__ people. Teachers must become content creators and learn to become collaborators, and finally the teachers that use the Read/Write web must become change agents for the future of education. (p 137)

 Richardson, Will. Blogs, //Wikis, Podcasts and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms,// Second Edition, 2009. Corwin Press, Thousand Oaks, CA.