The Read/Write Web in Your Classroom: Blogs, Wikis, and RSS

Alex Ragone

“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.” Charles Darwin

The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.” — Alvin Toffler, futurist

Questions to Answer

•What is so powerful about blogging, wikis and RSS?

•Why is blogging a good model for continuous professional development?

•How can you use blogging in your classroom to engage students?

Yarn Exercise…

Thanks to Bud Hunt @ budtheTeacher.typepad.comFlickr photo from: zeusandhera

Blogging in Plain English

Set up a Blog

•Go to Edublogs.org•Set up a blog – I’ll walk you through the

process.

What makes a great blog post?• What makes for a really good blog post --

one that others want to read and respond to? ▫Is it something you care about? Is it about

something important?▫Is there enough writing? Is there too much? What

keeps the reader reading?▫Is there an image? How does this help the reader?▫Are there snippets or quotations, and are they

interesting? Do they give the reader useful information?

from http://youthwiki.wikispaces.com/Basic+reflection+option

What are you passionate about?

20 minutes

Insert a Link

Add an Image

Flickr Creative Commons Searchhttp://flickr.com/search/advanced

Photo from: fortphoto

Tell Us your URL

• Go to http://alexragone.wikispaces.com

• Click on NYSAIS Blogging, Wikis, and RSS in your Classroom

• Click On Your Name

• Click on Edit This Page

• Add your Name, Subjects Taught, Blog URL

• Click SAVE

Read you’re the post’s so far and comment on two of them.

If one inspires you, write about it on your blog and link to it.

20 minutes

Post!

Change the look of your blog.

•Presentation -> Theme