TTT#342 A Conversation with Will Richardson on Why School? Third in a series with NWP's Connected Learning Inquiry Group 3.27.13

On this episode of TTT join Will Richardson @willrich45 to discuss: With teachers and learning everywhere, why do we need schools? This is the third in a series of webcasts done in collaboration with the National Writing Project's Connected Learning Inquiry Group, which is led by Jennifer Woolven @mswollven and Joel Malley @joelmalley.

On this episode of TTT Paul Allison, Monika Hardy, and Chris Sloan are are joined by Jon Barilone, Jennifer Woollven, Will Richardson, Joel Malley, and Kim Douillard.

This is Will Richardson's About page at http://willrichardson.com/about

A parent of two middle school aged children, I’ve been thinking and writing about the intersection of social online learning networks and education for the past 10 years at Weblogg-ed.com, in numerous journals and magazines such as Ed Leadership, Education Week and English Journal, and most recently atwillrichardson.com. I’m an outspoken advocate for change in schools and classrooms in the context of the diverse new learning opportunities that the Web and other technologies now offer.

A former public school educator for 22 years, I’m a co-founder of Powerful Learning Practice (http://plpnetwork.com), a unique professional development program that has mentored over 5,000 teachers worldwide in the last five years. My first book, Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms (Corwin Press, 3rd Edition 2010) has sold over 80,000 copies and has impacted classroom practice around the world. My second book, Personal Learning Networks: Using the Power of Connections to Transform Education, (Solution Tree) was released in May, 2011. And my third book, a collection of blog posts titled Learning on the Blog, was published in August of 2011 by Corwin Press.

Over the past six years, I’ve had the amazing opportunity to speak and work with to tens of thousands of educators in over a dozen countries about the merits of online learning networks for personal and professional growth. I’m proud to ba a national advisory board member of the George Lucas Education Foundation, and a regular columnist for District Administration Magazine.

When I’m not on the road, you can find me in rural New Jersey with my wife Wendy and my children Tess and Tucker

Read Why School? How Education Must Change When Learning and Information Are Everywhere, then enjoy this episode of Teachers Teaching Teachers.

Here's Amazon's Book Description of Why School? http://goo.gl/joIS9September 10, 2012

Traditional educators, classrooms, and brick-and-mortar schools are no longer necessary to access information. Instead, things like blogs and wikis, as well as remote collaborations and an emphasis on 'critical thinking' skills are the coins of the realm in this new kingdom. Yet the national dialogue on education reform focuses on using technology to update the traditional education model, failing to reassess the fundamental design on which it is built.

In 'Why School?,' educator, author, parent and blogger Will Richardson challenges traditional thinking about education — questioning whether it still holds value in its current form. How can schools adjust to this new age? Or students? Or parents? In this provocative read, Richardson provides an in-depth look at how connected educators are beginning to change their classroom practice. Ultimately, 'Why School?' serves as a starting point for the important conversations around real school reforms that must ensue, offering a bold plan for rethinking how we teach our kids, and the consequences if we don't.