I found chapter one of Will Richardson's book Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms to be of high quality. The chapter does a great job of providing an overview of how the internet has changed from a simple information-sharing of the few to a mass exchange of all types of information for the masses the internet is today.
The chapter also acknowledges that younger generations are using the internet far more than older generations. With younger generations using and having more experience utilizing the vast resources the internet has to offer, it is a 'no-brainer' that educators need to tap into this resource. Educators can now have students working on classroom assignments outside of the classroom. Educators can also monitor and provide feedback on these assignments in real-time.
I found a quote by Douglas Rushkoff to be of the utmost importance to how the internet has changed our culture. Rushkoff refers to this new age we live in as a "society of authorship" (Richardson p.5). In saying this, Rushkoff believes that today people are able to create their own everything. They can write their own blogs on whatever they deem to be important to them, they can comment on any other blog or article they seem fit, and can update their social status for the world to see.
I look forward to reading and learning more through Richardson's book!
- Richardson, W. Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms. 2010.
I agree that Ch. 1 was definitely enlightening. I knew things, obviously, had changed over the past decade, but the way he describes and connects the changes is great. The quote you mentioned from the book is a perfect fit for the chapter, I agree with you. Today's school-age children are all authors to some degree. Whether it's a blog, fb page, youtube..every person can find a way to put something "out there" they would like to say/share.
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