Book Review for W. Richardson's Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts

W. Richardson wrote a very easy to read book called Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms (2006) which serves as an excellent guide for educators to learn about Web 2.0 tools. The book helps to demystify some of the terms that are associated with Web 2.0 and illustrates with numerous examples on how it is utilized in the classroom in various age groups. The book works with a premise that the wave of technological innovations are bringing changes in many aspects of our lives and these innovations would and should evolve how education is delivered to our students. We need to change our education because the students who are learning today are shaped by the use of technology.

The author is well aware of problems and limitations that both educators and school districts face in terms of the need for training that is necessary and the availability of computer equipments. He puts himself in teacher’s shoes as he writes from the heart of a teacher.
At the end of each chapter of this book, it is very clearly written so that every reader would know a few things about each given topic. It is written sequentially with detailed descriptions and examples of each tool and thereafter, providing a guide to using that tool. For example, chapter 2 explains what blogs are and how they are used in education and Chapter 3 teaches step by step how to start a blog for the classroom.

Richardson explains that web blogs are different from web pages in that “they are comprised of reflections and conversations that are updated everyday. They engage in ideas and questions and link” (W.R., pg. 18). Unlike web pages, it is a tool for communication where teachers and students can use it as a forum for discussion, sharing, and learning. He illustrates Tim’s weblog as an excellent example of a weblog which is complex in that it has all of the features of a webpage and as well as those of a weblog where readers/participants can given contribute their ideas. Richardson convinces that weblog can be a valuable tool for teachers as it has many benefits for learning such as “Promoting critical and analytical thinking skills” and a social interaction that allows for people to exchange “quality information” (W.R., pg. 20).

Chapter 3 is a step-by-step guide to creating a weblog and using it as a publishing tool. He tells the readers to start by reading other weblogs (W.R., pg. 46). Kids need to be taught that weblogs can be a powerful tool and training them by assigning them to read a few can help them feel more accustomed to reading from a computer. Another important point is that teachers need to be using a weblog and feel enthusiastic about it in order to motivate the kids to use it. He says to start out small at first in order to make it manageable for the teacher and the kids to use and enjoy it. He talks about how one can start a weblog for a class by having the students post their homework assignments and encouraging them to write more by posting their writings.

I enjoyed reading this book because it really takes the fear out of Web 2.0. I feel excited about having a clear idea about weblogs and would like to use it to enhance teaching. As a kindergarten teacher, it is challenging to use blogs because the kids are not big enough to have the skills to type or read. I would like to start out small and post some good examples of student work to make parents and kids feel proud of their accomplishments. I would like to have the parents participate by having them share their family stories in both Spanish and English. I think that weblogs will be a great forum to tighten our classroom community.

Bibliography
Richardson, W. (2006). Blogs, Wikis, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms.
Corwin Press. Thousand Oaks, California. ISBN: 1412927676