Consider these two rather common incidents:

1. My daughter Jessica posted on FaceBook that Robert Bellah had died. A great sadness swept over me as I considered his influence on my intellectual development . . . but I could not remember the title of his book that significantly reoriented my own thinking and became a mainstay of my courses in American religious thought.

2. At lunch yesterday, our conversation turned to Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby. Gatsby and Nick, DiCaprio and Maguire, okay . . . but who played Daisy?

You know . . . you could Google that! (The Germans may not be happy that English has begun to capitalize its verbs.)

We might try an experiment . . . ask a student, "When was the first time a teacher asked you to Google something?"

The puzzled expression that takes shape before you might disclose a secret fear of the new generation: there was a time before Google!

Technology has a way of doing that . . . something called transparency . . . what for us was at hand, quickly becomes old hand -- one of the 'manipulables' . . . on the way to reflexive . . . a 'natural(ized)' expression of our lives.

If we are skeptical of all that . . . we should check our blood pressure when we realize that the airport terminal in which we must spend the next three hours has no free wi-fi.


So here's a question . . . could we imagine ourselves reflexively asking: "Why don't you blog that?"

A quick "Google that" garners the following . . .


5 reasons why schools should blog (in three iterations)

1. They encourage higher order skills such as reflection and analysis but also encourage reading, writing and collaboration
2. Publishing commentary and entries can lead to peer learning, peer assessment and a sense of ownership, all of which are highly motivational
3. The technology involved is easy to use
4. They easily support video, audio and other media and file types therefore creating a very dynamic learning experience and supporting various learning styles
5. Learning is extended to outside the school environment

• Create opportunities for students to reflect on and discuss what they are learning
• Practice the written expression of ideas and opinions with an authentic audience
• Help students explore classroom learning through what others have written
• Receive support and feedback on their own ideas through teacher / peer comments
• Learn about and practice collaboration, respect, and relating to others online

1. Open Reflection
2. Developing Literacy with Different Mediums
3. Student Voice
4. Creating an Open Archive of Learning
5. Developing a Positive Digital Footprint

We (at least some, if not many) already do . . . 

the technology is at hand . . .

and with that . . . may I defer to the children?