Comments about Chapters 3,5, and 7

In Chapter Three of Richardson’s book, I appreciated the fact that he discussed ideas for making the use of internet technology more practical. By discussing issues such as some students’ difficulty getting access to computers and the internet, maintaining control of student and class postings, and limiting access, he acknowledges some very real potential problems. It is always encouraging to me when an aficionado of any topic is able to logically assess problematic issues in a realistic way and provide solutions.

One of the ideas that Richardson presented was that it may be easier for a teacher, especially a teacher who is just staring to use information technology in the classroom, to utilize a single class weblog with posts only added by the teacher and students’ responses posted as comments rather than having to keep track of every student’s individual blog. Another idea that would help calm teacher and definitely parental anxiety was the suggestion to simply use access controls to make the site more of a closed community available only to students and perhaps parents, rather than open to anyone. Perhaps the most important advice was to be sure that all policies, permissions, and guidelines are well established from the outset. This critical step helps to assure acceptance of the techniques being used by administrators, students, and parents. Not only does this help protect the teacher, it also elicits support for the technology’s use by making it seem more benign than it otherwise might to some people who would be suspicious or critical of something they were unfamiliar with.

Chapters Five and Seven contained both straightforward directions and potential uses for RSS and Flickr. The statement that strikes me as being obvious but necessary to make is that the way to realize the usefulness of these programs is to simply try them out and give them a chance.