and, as such, skills needed to make the experience beneficial and positive for all involved may need to be explicitlytaught. These skills are identified by the author who goes on to present snapshots of the experiences of practitionersaround the world as well as techniques for teaching and improving the requisite blended learning skills gathered fromher own experience as well as the experiences of the international community. These practical suggestions frominstructors currently working in the field add realistic discussion points for evaluating the various points of view.Blended learning and online tutoring: A good practice guide is recommended as a valuable resource for anyonecurrently teaching or considering teaching an online or blended course.

Elizabeth R.R. Maddrey7501 Boston Blvd, C-62, Springfield, Virginia 22153, United States

E-mail address: Elizabeth.Maddrey@gmail.com.

doi:10.1016/j.iheduc.2007.09.003

Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful tools for the classrooms, W. Richardson, Corwin Press, ThousandOaks, California(2006), 138 pages, ISBN: 1-4129-2766, (cloth: acid-free paper), US$27.95

1. Introduction

Will Richardson sparks the imagination of all who read this book to explore the potential of new learning tools in theRead/Write Web. He does so in a way that draws the reader into this rapidly expanding area of technology with an “Ican do it” attitude and a vision of how these tools can revolutionize teaching and learning.

Mr. Richardsons's career spans over twenty years on the K-12 level of education. His Weblog, www.weblogg-ed.com has been featured in such publications as the New York Times, Washington Times and Syllabus. With multiplearticles and workshops to his credit he is an ideal author for such a timely book. In his current role as the Supervisor ofInstructional Technology and Communications at Hunterdon Central Regional High School in Flemington, New Jerseyhe works with students and teachers to utilize these and other web tools in every facet of meaningful teaching andlearning.

2. Overview

The book is designed for readers at all skill levels and a must for the novice. In the Preface the author outlines threemain goals. They are; 1) create a context for the sweeping societal and cultural changes the web is creating, 2)encourage the educator to think differently about pedagogy and curriculum design and 3) guide the novice on theadventure in integrating the Read/Write Web into the everyday classroom with clearly defined and relativelyautonomous chapters, readers can choose to use this book in a way that is most meaningful for them. It begins with anoverview of the history of the web. From there it progresses to individual chapters on Weblogs, Wikis, Real SimpleSyndication (RSS), the Social Web, Frickr, Podcasting and culminates with a vision for the future of education.

In the first chapter, The Read/Write Web, the author reviews the history of the web and the vision of the creator, TimBerner-Lee. From its inception, in 1989, Berner-Lee envisioned a web that was real time interactive. By 2006,according to Technorati.com, there are over 25 million blogs and this service has been adding over 70,000 new blogs,with over one million posting on blogs occurring each day. This shift to real time interactive connections, not only withblogs, but also Wikis and other tools is causing a real shift in how people socialize and interact with each other. Itcreates the potential for collaboration and interaction beyond the classroom, the home and indeed the business. For thisto fully happen, the teachers must engage in use of these tools and the new ways of communicating. The authordescribes, Weblogs, Wikis, RSS, aggregators, social bookmarking, online photo galleries and audio/video-casting.Another focus of this chapter is how to keep the students safe in the Read/Write Web.

Weblogs: Pedagogy and Practice, the second chapter, focuses on why to use this tool and how to use it. One thingthe author stresses is how the Weblog supports “thinking in words, not simply in an accounting of the days events orfeeling.” (Richardson, 2006), p. 20). The author discusses how this tool can create online filing cabinets and be used for

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such projects as e-portfolios. When approaching pedagogy, Richardson describes the Weblogs as tools that can createlearning and interaction with people outside of the typical classroom situation, connect the classroom to the outsideworld, create an archival system so members can go back and review what they have done, it is adaptable to manylearning styles, support the development of skill and knowledge in specific areas and probably most importantly itfacilitates the students learning and use of skills they will need for the future. One key issue the author discusses is howthis tool supports a new form of writing. A form in which the participants need to be clear, articulate and know whothey are talking to. Its interactive nature supports feedback from other participants in a way that a classroom settingcannot. He includes a list of ways to use blogging creatively.

Chapter 3, Weblogs: Get Started, contains a wealth of practical information for starting a blog and creative ways touse one. He does stress blog safety and how to make sure students are being educated consumers. He includes a list of adozen teachers' blog sites to explore.

Wikis: Easy collaboration for all, chapter 4 explores the history of Wikis, from their inception in 1995 to the present.His explanation of how a Wiki creates collaborative interactive learning within the development of information wasclear and eye opening. He uses the example of the Indian Ocean Earthquake of Christmas 2004. Within 9 h the firstposting appeared in the Wikipedia and within 48 h of the posting the entry included over 6500 words and had beenedited 1200 times. It included pictures and videos. A major point of this chapter is that history becomes a livingdocument and instead of being written in a book and becoming static it can exist on the web. He states, “Wikipedia isthe poster child for the collaborative construction of knowledge and truth and that the new, interactive Web facilitates.”(Ricardson, 2006, p 61). He goes on to describe a range of tools to use in the classroom. One tool is Peanut Butter Wiki,at http://www.pbwiki.com which is a great tool for beginning to work with Wikis.

A must read is the RSS: The New Killer App for Educators, chapter 5, Through the use of RSSs the user has a toolthat can go out and retrieve requested data and articles as it emerges on identified sites and notify the user that it is there.This decreases the amount of time a user has to search the web and also allows the information to be available in atimely way. The author goes on to show how to set up an RSS feed reader and then ways it can be modified for theclassroom and the user.

Chapter 6, The Social Web: Learning Together, introduces the concept of creating social networks that are built oncommon interest. These networks transcend the boundaries of the classroom and create new ways for people to interactwith each other. They also create new ways of organizing information. The process is called social bookmarking. Theauthor uses the word, “folksonomy” to describe this process. He talks about how participants are organized into acommunity of researchers, and indeed anyone can participate in this process, rather than just experts. A site for thisprocess, Furl.net is one the author discusses extensively.

2.1. Fun with Flickr

Creating, Publishing and Using Images Online takes the reader on a journey of exploration to how to share, use andwork with digital photographs online. He proposes multiple uses for such sites as Flickr.com. He describes somecreative uses for images include a students project that allowed the viewer to click on parts of a photograph forexpanded images of the areas, and how students can engage in the creation of such projects.

Chapter 8, Podcasting and Screencasting: Multimedia Publishing for the Masses introduces the new frontier,podcasting. Podcasting allows anyone with a digital voice recorder and a connection to the web to broadcast audiofeeds. Video feeds are just emerging. He talks about how they are becoming available on phones and can bedownloaded to MP3 players making this material extremely portable and flexible. One area he talks about is podcastingclassroom materials and lectures. This idea also stretches the boundaries of the classroom seamlessly into the world. Italso allows teachers and students to create their own radio shows and visual projects that can be available to everyone.

What it all Means, chapter 9, Will Richardson focuses this chapter on the future. He talks about two key points; theweb is ever expanding and will continue to expand and secondly the every expanding information source supportscollaborative interaction. There is a new type of literacy being created which involves the participants as activelearners, rather than passive receivers of information. He stresses the importance of literacy in this new environment,people need to be able to work together and new ways of managing the information need to be developed and utilized.He ends with a list of 10 major shifts. A key shift is that course content is no longer static. It is ever changing and canevolve through the course of a class and beyond. Other points include that the student is part of the learning process, nota recipient of information, and that learning becomes a conversation, not a lecture.

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3. Conclusion

Will Richardson has written a book that is well references, well thought out and proposes a new platform for theteaching/learning paradigm. His use of multiple examples, sites to visit and clear directions on how to use tools preparethe reader to use these tools. This is a must have for anyone interested in using the Read/Write Web to createmeaningful learning experiences.

Judith A. ParkerOccupational Therapy Department,

Nova Southeastern University,3200 South University Drive, Fort Lauderdale-Davie,

Florida 33328-2018, United StatesE-mail address: jparker@nsu.nova.edu.

doi:10.1016/j.iheduc.2007.09.004

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