Chapter 10 What It All Means

     In chapter 10 Richardson describes how he sees the read/write web offers many new opportunities for students and teachers to interact with each other and to interact with other people throughout the world.  He speculates that the read/write web is in it's infancy and "The coming years will be marked by a flood of new innovations and ideas in teaching, most born from the idea that we can now publish and interact in ways never before possible."  I do agree with his speculation especially considering that as more and more Internet web 2.0 experts and users become teachers and administrators, more and more the web 2.0 will be integrated into education.  I also agree that it is the schools responsibility to contribute to the education of the read/write web technology to our youth.
     So, how does this new technology affect me as a 7th grade math teacher.  I recognize that I can contribute to the education of our youth by using the read/write web as an extension of my classroom.  Not only can I be part of the education of the Internet technology to our students, I can also implement the technologies for enhancing the math education.  This will be a major change in how I manage my classroom.  And I know it has the potential for significant increases in student learning.  I will accept this challenge with open arms and will enthusiasticallyimplement these new technologies into my classroom.

Chapter 9 Social Networks

     In chapter 9 of our textbook, Richardson describes using social networks like Facebook and Ning.  I think for me to appreciate the real value of these types of web sites I need to use them for my own personal use.  Then I might be able to find ways to effectively use them in my class room to enhance instruction.

     I looked at the Ning classroom social web page  Sean Nash's Marine Biology Ning Page to get ideas about how other teachers have used social networking in the classroom to enhance instruction.  The page was a powerful way to make the classroom into a unique community where all the students have an identity and can participate in discussion and in adding information, ideas and photos.  In many ways this is a similar use as a classroom wiki but it differs in that it is more usable for computer "socializing".  I like it, but at this point I feel adding a classroom wiki is more than enough for me to handle so maybe the social web site is for the future after I am successful with the wiki.

Chapter 8 Podcasting, Video and Screencasting, & Live Streaming

     Wow, kind of overwhelming at first to think about.  Then I realize it's good to read about and become familiar with all these computer internet multimedia publishing web tools especially to offer them as options for students to use for presentations and/or other ways of communicating their knowledge and questions.   So, even though I may not use these tools for presentation of lessons or material to the students, the students can use these tools to present to the class or just to me.
     I tried listening to a math podcast on teaching with smartboard Podcast on Using Smartboard.  I could not hear anything so I'm not sure if I'm doing it wrong or my school computer equipment isn't set up or working correctly to hear it.   I found the screencasting web tool to be most interesting.  I looked at the screencast by John Udell a wikipedia entry about Heavy Metal Umlaut Wikipedia Screencast.  It was an awesome lesson on wikipedia and Heavy Metal Umlauts.  I could imagine using this web tool to create a math lesson or creating screencasts to post on my classroom wiki.  I do need to get an MP3 player or a microphone that connects to my computer to be able to make a screencast.

Chapter 7 Fun With Flickr

     As I learned by reading chapter 7, Flickr is a Read/Write web site used for posting digital photos to share with the world or to share with a select group of invited people, like a class.   My initial reaction was what math photos can I share with my classes?"  Of course there is the obvious fun with classroom photos.  Then, as I read I thought more about possibly posting math work that could be annotated and that students could comment about and vice verca where students post photos of math work with annotations and comments/questions.  Maybe this has value.  I looked on-line at Mr. Crosbys 4th grade class on Flickr Mr. Crosby's 4th Grade Class .  I did not see a lot of photos of math class or math work.  Looks like a lot of photos that might have value in social studies and science classes.

     Of course at some point while reading chapter 7, I thought about the major issues of safety and risks.  Wow, I'm not sure how you prevent students from finding inappropriate photos.  I guess it all boils down to the parents/guardians are responsible at home for what their child views and we are responsible for making sure that what the students post in our classroom web page is appropriate.  We also would need approval and authorization from parents to take & post photos of their children.