This week in Miami the National Reading Council is holding its annual conference. NRC is a professional organization for individuals who share an interest in research and the dissemination of information about literacy and literacy instruction. Today their President, Don Leu, delivered his 2005 Presidential Address entitled, New Literacies, Reading Research, and the Challenges of Change: A Deictic Perspective of Our Research Worlds. I have known Don since my years as a teacher at Buckman Elementary. Much of his research deals with "new literacies" and how technology and reading interact.
Today I had the opportunity during Don's address to speak via iChat about weblogs and how they are being used by students and teachers. I shared with the group the work of John Johnson at Sandaig Primary School in Glasgow, Scotland. The teachers and students are using weblog technology to share the work of their school in interesting ways including student produced podcasts. I also shared a bit about the Lewis site and our use of tools such as Flickr and RSS. After my little part, I was able to listen to the rest of Don's address. I am amazed with the quality of the video and audio that is now available with tools such as iChat. Also, I hope they had someone recording this and the other talks...
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