Read two or three of the perspectives from the list above.
2. Create a blog post on your reactions and thoughts regarding the articles you chose. In your post, make sure you include the answers to these questions:
What does "School 2.0" or "Library 2.0" mean to you?
What does it mean for schools and libraries of the future?
I read Wikpedia, Web 2.0 A guide for Educators and, Web 2.0 is the future of Education.
The articles are good and inofrmative, but I can't help worrying about those low SES kids who don't have access to the internet at home. Also, when I considered the idea that they could use it at school, I remembered that almost all forms of discussion boards are blocked by the school firewalls. How then can students read/write/edit the content of the web in these discussion boards?
School 2.0 is a good idea in theory, but how are we as a district and for that matter, as a state and country to fund the hundreds of thousands of dollars that it would take to enable students access to the read/write/edit world we are expecting of them?
I can see all the potential that the School 2.0 offers. I can envision 180 days of discovery lessons where my students discover for themselves the many facets of history. I cannot see where they are supposed to be able to create this content.
I recognize that parents often have access to e-mail through work, but that doesn't mean they have computers at home. Many of my students rely on school computers to do any research, but they would not be able to participate in discussion boards. I have a hard time envisioning the district providing enough server space for them to create and host their own websites.
I warned you in my Thing 1 post that I'm very good at seeing obstacles, but not that great at seeing ways around them. I see great things in the future of our students, but I can't get past the simple funding. Where is that money going to come from.
5 comments:
As more and more educators see the benefit of these web 2.0 tools for their students and request access, districts will have to revisit their internet policies and revise them in order to allow this access. All of the tools that we are exploring are free, so cost should not be an issue. My advice is to keep exploring the possibilities and communicate the kinds of engaging, authentic activities you could be doing with your students if you had access to these tools. It will take some time, but I believe that things can change.
Thank you MMW. I appreciate your response. I agree we will have to revisit the internet policies.
I too have been roadblocked in my acceptance of these tools because of the filter and block the district has in place. Although these tools are free, students probably need access at home to complete some things. High speed access is probably a definite need and that expense may not be available for all. I'll keep hoping too that things will change.
Gigi
gigi, I kow what you mean. I can't imagine trying to get this done without high speed.
I agree with your acceptance of students being able to utilize all these tools. I teach in a low income elementary school where the parents do not have jobs that have email. So the only time they have access to the Internet is during the school day. I'm trying to figure out how I can implement many of these ideas I'm learning about, but I too keep hitting road blocks!I admire your positive attitude though!
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