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[|Posted on Infinite Thinking] by Wesley Fryer

"When I share collaborative research, learning and digital storytelling tools like [|Flickr], [|del.icio.us], [|Google Notebook], [|Google Reader] and [|Ning] with many classroom teachers, I sense [|I'm unintentionally inviting a "shock and awe" experience] instead of one where teachers walk away empowered and confident in their ability to use new tools effectively with students. Such an outcome is counterproductive to the goal of helping teachers use digital technologies effectively for learning."

More than a comprehensive hotlist, however, I'm seeking frameworks for "cognitive maps" that can help me as well as other teachers better understand the FUNCTIONS, respective PURPOSES, and appropriate CONTEXTS for using read/write technologies for learning. Although there is obviously overlap, I'm wondering if most tools can be categorized into the following groups: - Collaborative tools - Research tools - Digital storytelling tools

[|Education needs to be read/write] Wesley Fryer

"...education (as well as LIFE and LEARNING more generally) in the 21st century is about much more than content CONSUMPTION. The mistake of assuming that digital technologies should fundamentally be focused on the goal of more efficiently transporting CONTENT into the minds of learners is also made by the [|eRate program in the United States]. In my view, educational providers need to recognize the need to EMPOWER learners to remix and share their learning on a regular basis via read/write technologies, not simply be the passive “receptors” or “receivers” of content delivered in a 1-way transmission model."

and... instructional vision re: laptop programs... "And what are students going to be able to DO with their laptops and iPods besides passively watch content? These students should be empowered to CREATE content with their digital devices. Failing to do so equates to simply providing each one of them with scaled down, sexier versions of a television set. If that miniature TV permitted customized DVR program recording, that would be a step in the right direction of differentiation. It does not sound like the project has an instructional vision that includes differentiation or read/write education, however."

From Wesley Fryer (Wagging the Dog in Educational Technology: Elevating 'IT' Into the Clasroom - = = [|Published in the TechEdge, 1998-99] Our goal as educators is to train students to be flexible in their use of technology and performance of computer-related tasks, so they will be able to successfully adapt to the changing nature of the electronic global village. To this end, school districts require computer systems which primarily meet the instructional needs of the classroom.