Simply Teaching

I chose to follow the blog Simply Teaching because Jim Hansen discusses ways that he incorporates technology into his classroom. He looks for simple connections between the technology and his current curriculum rather than inventing new new projects to fit his curriculum and the technology. I think that having this blog and his ideas available for teachers to examine will encourage them to think about their own curriculum and practices and find ways to incorporate the technology into what is already being done.

I also like this blog because he asks deeper questions of himself and his readers as well. In his May 28 blog he asks the question, "Are we human . . . or are we dancers?" This question comes from a song and he discusses his, and others, teaching practices and rephrases the questions in this manner, "Are we allowing our children to dance to the beat of their own creativity? Our we allowing that particular door to be opened? Or our we and our educational system closing that door to our children in the pursuit of other lofty goals?" His discussion includes a speech given by a politician about reforming educations and a video of the song mentioned earlier.

Both aspects of his blog, incorporating technology and teaching practices in general, make this a good blog to follow. I think I will gain a lot from following.

Chip's Journey

I found this blog while researching information for my Info Lit pathfinder. Bruce Chip is a professor in Library & Information Science, Curriculum & Instruction, Bioengineering, the Center for Writing Studies, and the Center for East Asian & Pacific Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

This blog contains many links to a variety of articles dealing with many aspects of inquiry learning. The author of the blog is a professor in Library & Information Science, Curriculum & Instruction, Bioengineering, the Center for Writing Studies, and the Center for East Asian & Pacific Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

His background is in computer science which leads him to a continuing interest in all that information and communication technologies can do to help us understand, represent, and transform our world and our experiences in it. This interest has led him to explore a wide variety of topics ranging from poetry to health-care.

His entries range from discussing community as intellectual space to new media and its possibilities in education, as well as informatics and inquiry.

Not all of his blog entries have to do directly with education and technology. One entry titled "For the sake of a single verse" written on June 17, 2009 contains this quote

"I first encountered Shahn’s book when I was also in my late 20’s. That was a time when I began to feel that I was completed–finished with schooling, past the age for the military draft, onto a job in industry after three years teaching at Rutgers, married and already divorced. Then it hit me: I barely knew how to live, much less to turn experiences to memories to “blood within.”"

I like this quote because I agree with it wholeheartedly. I thought when I graduated from college and got my first job I, too, would feel completed but it didn't take long to realize that was not true. So I thought maybe when I was married or had children . . . Still don’t feel completed though since there is always more to learn. Now I’m feeling so overwhelmed by all of the new tech tools that I know I will probably never feel totally complete. However, I think I have reached a point in maturity that allows me to be OK with this rather than being worried about seeming competent about everything I am dealing with even when new.

Weblogg-ed: learning with the read/write web

Will Richardson’s blog will be very useful as the tech coordinator and I work to convince administrators and teachers about the value of blogging. With so many different reasons that one would read educational blogs found in the entry, “A Cocktail Party Filled With Educators,” I’m sure I could find one or more for any objection that could be raised. The staff at my school is fairly tech literate and they are past the point of using technology for technology’s sake so having valid reasons before their questions would allow me to respond with good answers rather than simply react off the top of my head. The other blog entries looked just as informative.
Mr. Richardson is well-established and respected in the educational field as shown by the hundreds of other blogs that follow his blog as well as the numerous hits one encounters during a search of the internet. His credentials listed in the about section of his blog show that he is sought after by others in this field to partner with him.
His blogs relate to many aspects of education each relating in some way to the read/write web.