It is easy for me to confirm that, without a doubt, Will Richardson’s book, Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for the Classroom has really stimulated my interest, the most, out of three books we have read this semester, thus far.While I would, as some of my other classmates have noted, not consider myself a “digital native,” I would like to think that I was much more than just a “digital immigrant.” But, Will Richardson has allowed me to realize that there are a lot of technologies that I haven’t even considered…
Two weeks ago, to this day, if someone were to ask me what a wiki was, I would have no answer to give him/her. “A strange word in an even stranger language,” I would say…I would have never guessed a wiki (specifically wikipedia.org) was a place that attempts to store, “the sum of human knowledge” (Richardson, 59) in one place. It really is shocking. What a powerful concept we have at our fingertips. Richardson is a herder and we are the sheep. He must show us the way, allowing us to utilize this concept. He does an excellent job.
I remember when I lived in the dorms during my undergraduate studies…
Young college students, about eighteen years old, would come back from a weekend of binge drinking and post all of their pictures (in which some seemed to me to be quite inappropriate) on to a website for all to view. That’s all I knew about websites like flickr.com. Richardson allowed me to understand the positive benefit that could come from websites such as this. Who would have known that the creators of flickr.com instituted a very handy annotation feature? That could be handy in a classroom.
So, I guess that it’s time to admit, that I wasn’t as proficient with modern technology as I first thought. But, the good news is that I am learning already. I’m excited for what is still to come.
P.S. I’m pumped for this iTunes U concept, although…I don’t really get it.
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2 comments:
Ray,
I know exactly what you're talking about; it's hard to see the positive aspects of something that as college students, we are seeing used to celebrate drinking. I have a bit of a stubborn streak, and I've found myself consciously not posting pictures on the web and not joining Myspace or Facebook simply because I associated all of these things with, well, childishness. While I still don't think that people use technology responsibly, I also realize the incredible power of learning some new things in ways that many people our age aren't. I can't wait to incorporate all of this into a classroom (I know you're not thinking of teaching, but I've gotta say this) because students need to learn how to present themselves responsibly.
Nat
Ray-
I agree with you and Natalie both in that posting pictures of drinking and such is inappropriate. But yet everyone still does it. Wait until they try to get jobs. Actually a student at Cortland HS got in trouble for posting a picture of herself at a party (over the summer). Besides the fact that doing that was a stupid move I don't think the school should have punished her because school was not in session at the time. It's like she was spyed on or stalked. But that's a whole different issue for another time. I don't subscribe to Myspace or Facebook because I don't want people to be able to find me and know things about me.
I also agree with what you said about feeling like you were a native but realizing you have so much to learn. I had never heard of a wiki page either. But I have to say that I'm enjoying my blog and editing wiki pages. I never thought I'd say I'd like blogging.
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