Numbers as Web Text

In this article, Nielsen writes about how some of the standard writing formats of the past should be ignored when writing web content. Specifically, the use of numbers should be very different on the Internet than in a traditional print document, primarily because someone reading an article on the web is more likely to scan quickly. Therefore, "23" is more likely to be read correctly and interpreted correctly than "twenty-three", which has been the standard way to formally print this number.

That got me thinking about how we as teachers often take truths of a time to be truths for all time. For instance, should we be teaching "twenty-three" as an absolute for formal writing, when "23" might become acceptable in a different venue? If these writing absolutes are going by the wayside, how do we as educators keep up with these changes and implement the new ideas effectively in our classroom instruction? This is quite a challenge for the 21st century teacher.

One way to keep up with at least some of the new developments in technology and education is to create your own personal development network. We can provide our own professional development today because of the vast resources available through the Internet. This network may be one way for each of us to monitor the educational and societal changes we need to understand in order to best help our students.

I'm in the process of writing an article right now on personal development networks. For Lutheran Education Association (LEA) members, it will be available online.