Do we need to start talking outside education circles, or more deeply within them? I think we need to start talking about weblogs and specific pedagogical strategies. Weblogs and i-search papers. Weblogs and lesson study. Weblogs and the writing workshop.

Also, if we had better software, that would help. We still don’t have a clear recommendation for blogging software for schools, which is *very* disappointing to me.

In Caracas, Venezuela, the British Council started training teachers from some public school and universities to integrate ICT in their curriculum this year…We started with a workshop…As a result we have a yahoo group for EFL university teachers interested in ICT and a beautiful project with kids from municipal schools using blogs…Here’s an example of the things we are trying to do with them:

http://ictleonela.blogspot.com/

It might not be exactly blogging, more posting than anything else but it is a start…I believe the first thing we should do is explore the ICT tools available and adapt (not adopt) them to our context (economic resources, infrastructure, access to Internet, etc) to reduce the digital gap, mirror the way our digital natives are learning outside the classroom with the help of digital immigrants like me, make their learning more meaningful through activities based on either constructivism or making connections when blogging, skyping or chatting.

Will,

Blogging/podcasting, read/write is taking place… folks are here this year to spread the enthusiasm about these technologies that are starting in their schools. We must above all maintain this level of enthusiasm.

Secondly, I think more research needs to be done. Best practices, best technologies, best solutions. Our educational leaders who sometimes stand between the ability for educators to use these tools want assurances in how it can help students, how it can be safe, how it can revolutionize learning, as we all believe it can.

Research takes time… and yet, new technologies are on the horizon and will no doubt surprise us and capture our enthusiasm, too.

What a fun time to be involved in education, when technology is marching forward. We still need to show the way back home, to be leaders, but also colleagues. I many times fear that while I can get many teachers on board with the read/write revolution, others are slow to change. Yet, all students can benefit from the best practices of technology integration, no matter what we call it.

[...] Both Will Richardson (Off to NECC…What’s Next?) and Scottish blogger, Bob Hill (The Rise and Rise of Web 2.0), have recently written that while the excitement about the new web and its potentials for affecting teaching and learning seem on the rise within our gradually growing conversations, it is only a drop in the oceans that so many educators are crossing right now, on their way to San Diego and the National Educational Computing Conference (NECC). [...]

Hi,

Hi, I am writing from Turkey where I am blogging about my experiences instead of going to NECC. I have two observations to add here:
1. Most people that I have talked to here and in Greece (from many different countries) have no idea what a blog is. They still pay about $1 for every 15 minutes on the Internet at the Internet cafe and not many people have it at home. I think that when people can be online most of the time easily it makes a huge difference.

2. Blogging has opened doors for me that I would not have had. People are really happy to talk to me about what they are doing and to answer my questions when I tell them I am putting it into a blog for students in the USA!

Janice
janicef@jfriesen.net