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.” A classroom teacher for over 20 years, he has integrated these technologies into his curricula and his school over the past four years. 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 Times, 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. He is also a featured blogger at Ed Tech Insider (http://www.eschoolnews.com/eti) and is a regular on the bi-weekly "Ed Tech Coast to Coast Podcast" (http://www.edtechcoasttocoast.com).

Will is currently the Supervisor of Instructional Technology and Communications at Hunterdon Central Regional High School in Flemington, NJ where he also oversees the a Weblog program of over 400 sites.

Blogs and Wikis: Connecting and Collaborating on the Read/Write Web

The "old" Web which has brought reams of information to our fingertips was a transformative technology, but the "new" Web that allows us to contribute our own knowledge and ideas and collaborate in the construction of content is even more powerful. Weblogs and wikis are a major part of the read/write Web, and it's crucial that every educator understand their importance. This workshop will provide hands-on experience with these tools and focus on questions such as what needs to change about our curriculum when our students have the ability to reach audiences far beyond our classroom walls?  How do we need to rethink our ideas of literacy when we must prepare our students to become not only readers and writers but editors and collaborators as well? And how do we best put to use the reams and reams of "digital paper" that this new "writeable" Web provides?

This hands-on workshop will take place on Thursday, April 20, 2006 from 1-4 p.m in the Schwitzer Center at the University of Indianapolis. The workshop fee is $50.

Important note: Workshop participants must bring a notebook computer with a wired or wireless Ethernet adapter.