Will+Richardson+Keynote


 * Will Richardson Session Description and Materials**

__**Session Description:**__

**A Web of Connections: Why the Read/Write Web Changes Everything**
 * //Keynote://** The Web has brought a world of information to our fingertips and, in the process, has transformed much of the way we work and live. But now that we have the ability to contribute our own ideas and experiences to the sum of human knowledge that we are building online, the impact of the Web is even more powerful. This shift in how we use the Web is already challenging political, business and media leaders to rethink the ways in which they operate. But what about education? Our model of schooling hasn’t changed significantly in over 100 years, and it continues to be resistant to change in any meaningful ways. Yet in this new world of global connections, of powerful personal learning opportunities online, of shifting notions of information and knowledge, we must begin to re-envision the basic foundations of teaching and learning. If we don’t, if we sit back and watch the world change without us, we risk our relevance and our ability to prepare our students for the world in which they will live and work.

__**Bio:**__

Will Richardson is known internationally for his work with educators and students to understand and implement instructional technologies and, more specifically, the tools of the Read/Write Web into their schools, classrooms and communities. A former public school educator for 22 years, Will’s own Weblog ([|Weblogg-ed.com]) is a leading resource for the creation and implementation of Web 2.0 technologies on the K-12 level, and his is a leading voice for re-envisioning learning and teaching in the context of the fundamental changes these new technologies are bringing to all aspects of life. His critically acclaimed, best-selling book __Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and Other Powerful Tools for Classrooms__ (March 2006, Corwin Press) has sold over 50,000 copies and is already being used by tens of thousands of teachers to reinvent their practice, and his keynotes, presentations and workshops to audiences in China, Australia, Europe and throughout North America communicate a fresh and inspiring vision of what schools can and must become. Through the [|Powerful Learning Practice Network] which he co-founded with Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach, he works with schools and teachers around the world to re-envision their learning cultures and communities

He is also a national advisory board member for the George Lucas Education Foundation, a columnist for District Administration Magazine, and has published dozens of articles in various professional and mass market journals and magazines.

Will lives along the Delaware River in beautiful Western New Jersey with his wife Wendy and his children Tess and Tucker, all of whom are bloggers.