The Very Real Possiblilities of a Real Simple Read/Write Web

Before this weeks reading, I had not heard of "RSS" before, but I wouldn't have thought it had stood for "Real Simple Syndication." I would have thought it would have stood for something more technologically sounding - or at least gramatically correct (sorry - the language arts teacher in me comes out.)

As far as Richardson's conception of the Read/Write web is concerned, RSS provides for easy access to the reading half of that complex. Indeed, one of the greatest things about setting up an RSS for student use would be the ability to widen the breath of textual materials the students could access and read. Often times in my two years of teaching I've made the statement: "Whatever gets them reading." I think this would be a really engaging way to appeal to students' various interests . It would allow for more student choice in the classroom, and create an easy opportunity for immediate access to texts. It would decrease the time in which students would conduct research, and thus increase time for instruction and student expression.

While RSS provides greater access to the reading aspect of the Read/Write web, Flikr provides an excellent opportunity for students and teachers to contribute to the network in their own meaningful ways. Richardson suggests using Flickr to publish photos of speakers, fieldtrips, special projects, or as a celebration of students' hard work. These are great ideas. To add to the list, I envision using the website as a tool for collaborative group projects. Students who do group work in my room are each held accountable to certain jobs, such as recorder, presenter, director, etc. Flickr makes possible new jobs: photographer and publisher. By digitally documenting the students' work, I could view the annotated digital images, keep students on task, engage them further, give them a sense of ownership and responsibility over their work, and push them to be more creative and diligent than they ever have before. The online discussions about the photos could even serve as a new means of presentation. The possiblities are very exciting!

Another possible use for Flickr is to have the students conduct scavenger hunts or guided tours of the images and respond to particular photos as prompts for entries into their writing notebooks. As I read further, I saw the "Random Writes" idea on p. 107. This would be an exciting activity for my language arts students. I also really like the "Strength of Weak Ties" activity. In addition to using it to illustrate famous poetry, I would also like to use an adaption of the activity to help illustrate and guide the authentic writing of my students own poetry.

It's true that the Read/Write web really is revolutionary. My students, who come from disempowered and often disenfranchised demographics, will hungrily welcome this opportunity to publish in an authentic, public forum. I look forward to implementing these technologies next year to give my students a sense of ownership and empowerment, and to show them how their literacy skills can be applied in the real world so that their perspectives can be "heard."