Review of the book Blogs, Wikis, Podcast, and other Powerful Web tools for Classrooms

Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms is about educators, like the author Will Richardson, who use Web 2.0 tools to creatively motivate their students. These tools include wikis, blogs, and podcasts. This book has three main objectives. It aims to challenge teachers to think of technology as an aid to education instead of a burden. This book teaches educators how to use these tools and apply them to their instruction. Lastly, it explains the basic components of each tool and how each functions.
In the case study in the first chapter, a classroom teacher writes a letter to her students’ parents. The content of the letter explains that her students will be participating in a web-based project that requires blogging. She explains what blogging is, the securities (since the students are minors who will posting their blog publicly), and the assessment of their project.
The teacher in the case study will give her students a series of weekly writing lessons. Her students will be required to type up a summary of their learning and submit it for review for their teacher. After reviewing students’ summaries, the teacher will give her students permission to post their blog entries publicly on the World Wide Web. Anyone surfing the web will be able to reply to her students’ blogs.
To secure the students’ identity, the following information will not be posted in their blog: their last names, personal information, and information pertaining to their school’s location. The teacher will allow her students to comment on their peers’ blogs. But her grading will be based on a rubric that sets criteria for each specific grade.
Based on this case study, I hold a very high opinion of blogging because of its superiority over tradition submission of classwork. Blogging does not require paper, which saves trees. For students who have learned how to type, it is faster then tradition pen and paper writing. It is also easier to edit and proofread work. Student work can be publicly displayed in such a way that allows others to comment on the content of their blog, enhancing learning through quick and easy communication. The idea of putting out their work for the public to see also draws out better quality of work from students, boosting student effort and achievement. Blogging can keep student work organized according to topic. Lastly, blogging can keep student work archived for future reference, in the same way a portfolio does.