As educators we are facing the increasingly complex reality of a world where knowledge is abundant, where collaboration is the norm, and where students can begin to build networks and communities far beyond our classroom walls. Yet, our teaching and learning spaces are still defined by the traditional ideas that knowledge is scarce and that learning is situated by time and place. That traditional classroom concept must change if we want to remain relevant to our students lives and prepare them for their futures.

This presentation will identify the important, disruptive shifts that are taking place, identify the major obstacles and roadblocks that are being put up in an attempt to contain these changes, give examples of how educators around the world are responding to them, and lay out a path for educators to re-envision what they do in their own classrooms.

Attendees of this presentation will
*Understand how the Web is changing teaching and learning.
*Learn how Read/Write Web technologies are being used by educators to re-envision teaching and learning.
*See ways in which their own practice can be informed by these tools.
*Understand the obstacles to bringing about change.

Outline

I. The global shifts occuring in education (15 mins.)
II. How the Web changes traditional concepts of teaching and learning (15 mins.)
III. How some educators are responding by re-imagining their practice (15 mins.)
IV. Obstacles to change (15 mins.)

Presenter Background

Will Richardson is an internationally known “evangelist” for the use of Weblogs, RSS and related Internet technologies in classrooms and schools. He is the author of Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and Other Powerful Web Tools for the Classroom (Corwin Press, 2006), and over the past three years has spoken to thousands of educators on the merits of “The Read/Write Web.” In various Weblog projects, his students have collaborated with best-selling authors, Pulitzer Prize winning journalists, and with students in classrooms from around the world. One of the first educator bloggers, his own Weblog at www.weblogg-ed.com has been featured in the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Syllabus and others, and it is a primary resource for the creation and implementation of Weblog technologies on the K-12 level. His articles have appeared in Educational Leadership, English Journal and Principal Leadership, among others, and he has presented and given workshops about Weblogs and RSS and other technologies at national conventions such as the NECC, ASCD, Journalism Education Association and many others.