Although I hate to admit it, reading Richardson’s book was good for me. I am one of those anti-technology hold-outs that didn’t even get a cell phone until I was 24. Last semester, my first at KSU and my first back in school, I was surprised and frustrated that my teachers did not hand me a paper syllabus. However, it took me very little time to master Vistaview and I appreciate the lessening paper trail.
Richardson makes a lot of good points in his support of blogs. The fact that they provide a central location to archive student work, post class agendas and assignments, have conversations with primary sources, and get feedback from teachers makes blogs amazing resources that can be accessed anywhere. I agree that it is a truly constructivist form of teaching because it is ever evolving. Perhaps Richardson’s most persuasive argument is that blogging gets students excited about work, which is a triumph in itself, and helps students practice their analytic skills by reading as writers.
I also really appreciated his pointing out how revolutionary blogging can be, and likely will be. To think about all of the resources that we can have at our disposal and the possibility of having conversations with primary sources, authors and teachers is sort of mind-blowing to me.