Comments on: Reading to Find: Rip-Mix Classrooms

By: Andrew Kern

Andrew Kern — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 19:48:56 +0000

Will,

Loved your blog post as it reminded me of how we really think and of how Socrates taught his students. You chase the hare, you find the dinner, right?

It’s never enough and can’t be the only way we educate, but it’s astonishing to me how quasi-rational we’ve made education – which is to say, how disconnected from our actual thinking.

Congrats on your excellent blog!

Andrew Kern

By: Tami

Tami — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 03:10:58 +0000

I, too, superficially read your blog until something caught my eye. I then went hitchhiking on my way to Rip-mix because it sounded active. It seems they have good intentions of sharing information…but what if the profs don’t want it shared, like test questions? Could this good intention go bad?

According to their page “This is the wiki for Rip Mix LearnERs to create courses and collect educational materials e.g. lecture note, lecture recordings, as well as Previous years Examination and test papers.”

By: John Grahl

John Grahl — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 19:25:17 +0000

Some of us were responding to his comments about the dance that he engages in with the Web, the one that sparked you to ask about his ability to swing dance??? I was unaware that we had to keep our comments dutifully focused on the Rip-mix topic in light of the fact that the first three paragraphs were dedicated to his thoughts about meditatively perusing the net. In fact, I found it quite amusing and apropos that his intro to Rip-mix was about dancing from topic to topic, which led Barbara to think about reading Girls Like Us, which in turn caused her to turn to the net to search for photos, videos and tunes which were ripped by someone and put onto the mix we call the net!

By: Carol Arc

Carol Arc — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 19:00:55 +0000

I’m a little confused. I understood Rip Mix to be the sharing of courseware (tests, notes, etc) over the internet:-%???

By: Reading for Pleasure as a Rip-Mix Experience | Independent Thinking

Reading for Pleasure as a Rip-Mix Experience | Independent Thinking — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 18:22:31 +0000

[...] just finished reading a post on WebLogg-Ed describing the Rip-Mix concept. I’ve been looking for the right terminology to describe an [...]

By: Barbara Cohen

Barbara Cohen — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 17:34:02 +0000

I’ve been looking for the right terminology to describe an experience I’ve been having recently and “Rip-Mix” may be just the ticket…

Lately I’ve been reading Girls Like Us, a biography of Carole King, Joni Mitchell and Carly Simon. The book is laden with references to specific songs, regions in Canada, neighborhoods in NYC, musicians I’d never heard of, historical events, etc. What I’m finding is that it’s impossible to simply curl up with this book unless I have my laptop right next to me. As I read, I’m listening to snippets of songs in iTunes, looking up locations in Google Earth, searching for photos, reading Wikipedia articles, watching vintage YouTube videos of these performers and listening to to Pandora as the sountrack as I read. I usually read as a way to “unplug” at the end of the day, but with this type of book I’m finding it virtually impossible.

Clearly, it’s time to switch to fiction for my next bedtime reading!

By: John Grahl

John Grahl — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 01:46:10 +0000

This may sound odd, but I have difficulty reading so “superficially” (sorry could not think of a different word) and jaunting from topic to topic. It’s not that I do not want to. I actually find myself wanting to click off on another link but I have an even stronger urge to read more thoroughly or in-depth. Possibly it is the early years of training myself to read for complete detailed comprehension (as in a textbook or a deep philosophical work). Maybe I am alone in this, but if not what can we do to become more adept at reading at this “different depth?”

By: Julene Reed

Julene Reed — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 15:17:33 +0000

I love this concept of the Rip-Mix because I find that I am constantly being diverted while learning new things on the web!

By: Carol Arc

Carol Arc — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 02:18:52 +0000

Will – There’s alot to absorb in your post. I guess it’s a result of you dancing from blog to blog. How are you at swing dancing? I have to laugh about JD’s comment. I’d be lost too if I wasn’t semi-familiar with all this jargon and made this part of my life. I think Rip Mix learning has always been around, but the power of 21st century networking/technology has made it more (readily)available. The sharing and distribution of tests and answers has always existed. Haven’t most of us had the opportunity to learn what was on a test given in 1st period prior to taking it later in the day? Teachers could’ve made different tests. Why didn’t they? The creation of Rip Mix is intuitive of the mindset of 21st century user’s; to move forward and use the available resources to connect to a community of people who share the same interests and goals without the waste.

By: Hi, My Name is Christy and I’ve Participated in a PLN for 8 Months « EdTech4Newbies

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 01:35:35 +0000

[...] blogs, and jumping from link to link…practically swimming in new ideas and information. (Will Richardson describes it as a dance, and Steve Dembo reminds us to Link it Up!) To be honest, I often feel [...]

By: Harry Pence

Harry Pence — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 20:45:10 +0000

It seems to me we are talking about two different ways to use the information,browsing (which you describe) and burrowing. Both are useful, and students should recognize when to use each method and be able to use it well. Right now, most students learn to browse, although they may not have developed good strategies. It is a real effort to teach them when to burrow down into a source and get everything possible out of it. When do we use these two different strategies, and how do we teach students to be able to use both strategies?

By: Jack

Jack — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 18:18:17 +0000

Your blog is great for reading …. yob write like I think and that makes it easier for me to follow. I added your log to my site in Education Networks. You are clearly a 21st century educator and I’m interesting in talking about networking we can do. Jack

By: Timothy McGee

Timothy McGee — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 19:52:10 +0000

I am a ninth-grade English teacher at Forest Hills Northern High School. I listened to you talk at professional development for teachers in Forest Hills a year ago, and you were very interesting. I am taking an online class in Educational technology through Michigan State and that brought me back to your web site. I hope that I get better at creating this Netvibes Page, gathering information, because every time on go online to do this I end up spending a couple hours looking for ways I can use technology to improve my teaching. Andy Chlup, in the above comment, mentioned that filtering skills are critical to managing the flow of information. I am feeling ripped and mixed, and I need to get better at gathering feeds and utilizing the information.

By: Andy Chlup

Andy Chlup — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 14:41:34 +0000

I read the blogosphere exactly as you described and I believe that the filtering skills that we use are critical to the ability to manage the flow of information we receive.

But think about the literacy skill set you have, were did it come from? What knowledge makes it possible for you to have such an effective filtering mechanism?

Do today’s students have the filter pre-built because their immersion in the Web?

By: Elena

Elena — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 21:48:36 +0000

I really like the way you depicted it. This post is an ode to serendipity, you have to be looking for something in order to find something else.