One feature the website offers is Framework options for most subjects including English Language Arts & Reading. The Frameworks provide grade specific introductions, assessments, matrices and related websites for more information.

Another feature the website contains is a Resource and Video page, which provides education resources for standardized testing information and links, ESOL information, gifted education, a monthly teacher newsletter, a Reading initiative framework, school library media program information, professional learning services, Special education information, teachers-as-advisors framework, and educational videos.

The website also feature collaborative training opportunities.

I think the skills that the article suggests students learn in order to competently navigate through the interpretation of media literacy will also make them more politically savvy. I don’t think we, as teachers, really give students the tools and critical thinking needed to wade through the media saturated political arena. The very skills we will be giving them to determine messages about what to wear, how to act, who to be, will also assist in the long run for making more informed decisions in their personal and professional life.

I also thought this question posed under Essential Questions for Teachers was interesting:
“At the end of the lesson, are students likely to be more analytical? Or more cynical?”
I distinctly remember becoming both at once when I began peeling back the layers of media messages in a classroom.

Overall, I thought the article provided some excellent concrete suggestions on how to delve into the multi-layered media and become a critical thinker. It’s interesting; I think this is an area that we have avoided in teaching our students to the full extent, historically, due to fear. What I mean is these tools are the very foundation for questioning everything in our world, like our parents’ rules, beliefs and values, or our teachers for that matter. It opens up a whole new avenue for students to form their own ideas, which may not be in line with our own. There is no right or wrong answer to grade, and I think that scares some people.

The Encyclopedia Americana presents information in a very straight forward linear fashion. The information is usually presented in a concise timeline format up to the date the edition was published. The information is face based, leaving no room for bias, judgments, or interpretation. It is strictly an informative source, expecting the reader to take the information and expound upon its meaning in another setting. The Encyclopedia Americana in unable to be continually edited, resulting in possible old or inaccurate information.

The Wikipedia presents not only fact information, but also controversies, world views, related articles, and up-to-date status of subject. As Wikipedia allows for public editing, the entry is currently being revised and reviewed by peers with links to sources. Wikipedia has free access and is user friendly. Wikipedia has links to clarify any words or idea utilized to describe an entry.

The Britannica presents information, assessment of subject, additional readings, and external websites, for a price. To view for free, a reader is bombarded with pop-ups which may or may not go away once the money has been paid. It also cannot be edited without consent. There is a feature with a suggested edit, but appears to be ultimately up to “the powers that be” regarding the final content provided.

After all were reviewed, Wikipedia definitely shines as the winner.

Richardson’s point that Wikipedia is in essence a written research paper that can easily be accessed by students to repeat a report that has already been written is a very valid point. I think the way around this is to create paper topics that are specific and individual instead of really broad like Richardson’s example of Argentina.

I start to get hesitant when the chapter begins to discuss Weblogs in the classroom. Again, the theory of a relationship building interactive classroom resource sounds ideal. And maybe if the use of the Weblog was kept strictly to the classroom, I would be more comfortable with the concept of a class weblog. But it would have to be inaccessible at home, as I fear it will never be accessible to all students once outside of the classroom. Is it fair to offer a Weblog resource (and in some cases mandatory out of class participation) to students when it is not accessible for everyone? And in that vein, is it causing an even wider educational gap between lower socioeconomic students, who may not have a computer and/or Internet access, and other students with Internet access? On page 22, Richardson comments on how parents enjoy the ability to monitor and stay on top of the class activities and work. This ability to hold their students accountable and assist them after school will not be available to all parents. Again, it is creating a gap in the educational development of the students due to socioeconomic differences and restrictions.

From a personal experience as a social worker, I recently worked with an 8th grader who had an IEP and was failing two of his classes. His teachers continually referred the student and his mother to the school website for the online tutorials and extra homework assistance. This student lived in a home that could not afford a computer or Internet, nor did they have a car to go to the library and get on the computer, as one administrative person suggested. Granted, this is an individual circumstance, however I fear this will be a trend. Where schools used to have homework hotlines that parents could call to get homework assignments, class websites have taken their place. Even in circumstances where alternative options are accessible (phone, notes, etc) I still feel there will be an unfair advantage to students who have the Internet. A parent’s quick access to information and “inside knowledge” because they can read a teacher’s Weblog, will give the student a greater advantage in the class.

With all of that said, I love the idea of using a collaborative Weblog for classroom use only. Richardson’s example of the collaborative activity with Sue Monk Kidd was amazing. I loved the suggestion of students communicating with other students in different states and even different countries. It encourages such creative discussion and interaction, which will dramatically enrich a student’s educational and life experience.

Ultimately, the instruction of creating a Weblog discussed in Chapter 3 was clear and insightful. I did not find it nearly as difficult as I feared in the implementation of a Blog in class.

So here it goes…