Quickie Wikis and Blogs

Well, I certainly have a better understanding of wikis and blogs. Though they are different, they make much more sense to me to think of them as quick ways to make a web page. I remember my apprehension about first using the internet. It is now second nature to use it. I remember how cumbersome it was to make my first home web page. Last week I created my first blog in a few minutes. I need to strive to have as little apprehension about new technology as my students have. Richardson talks about how the read/write web may/will make the differences between teacher and learner more acute. I even see this with cell phones. Teenagers know their way through all of the menus, while some of us are happy to be able to dial. Emailing and text messaging are considered as fun (and necessary) communications with friends, compared to my youth of “having” to write letters. Another point from Richardson that I find interesting is that wikis, while meaning quick, also have this component: “To write in a wiki is to write in a living organism.” I think this component will emerge for us as this course continues. I am slightly encouraged that I may not be too far behind the times. My MS Word dictionary doesn’t recognize the words wiki and blog. Yes, they just turned red.
David