Conclusions...?

It's rather odd for a writer of a blog to make a traditional conclusion, so I can't begin to describe how strange this feels. In the same way that this has been a very non-traditional research paper, this conclusion is going to be very non-traditional as well. I honestly don't feel like I've covered enough of this topic to really give a decent conclusion to walk away with. I hope (if I have time) to continue posting on this in the near future. Realistically, though, it will probably die as soon as I "turn it in" (if you can do such a thing with electronic media). Lots of topics didn't get covered that I hoped to go over in my "Beginnings" posts and many other things I had hoped to touch on a little more than I had. Regrets? Perhaps.

It's been a lot of fun for me to experiment and learn about different aspects of technology and how they are affecting the writing world (especially inside our classrooms). Would I use blogs for writing? Definitely. I think there's something to it that links to kids on a level that a paper and pen just can't do. Do I want to give up that paper and pen as well? No. Another part of me says that formal, traditional still has an important place in the world and technology hasn't developed enough to include it. But it might someday.

We can't abandon the technologies that are advancing and changing the way we see writing. On the opposite side, we can't go into the digital age unprepared. There are a lot of risks involved in getting technology right in the classroom (and not just security risks, either). Teachers should approach new technological resources with caution and education before applying it to their students, but they should approach it. They should use it in ways that haven't been thought of before and then publish their successes (or failures) to the public. The internet is a great resource for sharing and collaborating. If software can go open source, why can't teaching? We've seen lots of success in that field, so I can only imagine what it could do for our students or fellow teachers.

Can you?