Interesting read, quite scary honestly. Our world is ever changing, and luckily for me, my students are not yet more savvy than I am when it comes to using technology. I am very concerned that this will not last for long however! My students are online constantly and have a plethora of websites that they use to communicate, play and learn. In order to understand where they are coming from I often ask that they share with me what their favorites are during our free time together. So far, this works!
In regards to safety on the internet I think the best way is to simply teach students to be aware as Richardson suggests. We can not feasibly protect them from every lurking danger on the internet, but if we put our efforts into teaching them how to be responsible users than we can feel more confident in their use of the internet.
I believe blogs for teachers are important mostly for sharing of information and connecting with like-minded individuals. It is important for educators to stay connected so that they can learn from eachother. Additionally, blogging can help teachers stay more connected to parents. One of the blogs Richardson referrs us to Meriwether Lewis Elementary School, was developed by the principal and is updated much more frequently than my school district website ever is! Some teachers post daily about the goings on within the classroom. This is a surefire way to keep parents/families involved!
I support Richardson's theory in supporting the use of blogs by students to increase their online literacy skills. Until reading these chapters I had not truly considered the amount of reading comprehension that has to take place in order to respond to blogs. Let me rephrase that, the amount of reading comprehension that it takes to respond to blogs and come off sounding somewhat intelligent! Blogging can also help students connect to others in far away places and give them the opportunity to collaborate with children that they never thougth possible.
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