Web 2.0 – Fad or Future?
This week I took part in a Web 2.0 focus group where teachers, administrators, consultants, and techs from around Edmonton Public were discussing how these emerging technologies were being used in the classroom.
In EPSB it seems that we’re focusing our efforts in 3 main areas – Blogging, Wiki’s, and Video Conferencing. Schools and classes from all over the district are using these ‘net based technologies to encourage, inspire, and help our students interact with people from all over the world! But one of the questions raised was – is this a fad or the future of education? How much time, effort, and money should Edmonton Public as a school district devote to these technologies?
Our Provincial government seems to think this is the future – Alberta has just spent millions creating the Supernet – a broadband network connecting all provincial services (Schools, Hospitals, and Government agencies). While this may seem fairly minor to Urban Schools – it’s a wonderful advancement for Rural areas where they couldn’t get broadband connections before. On top of that the Alberta Government has also been helping to push/fund Video Conferencing Technologies – as a way to have Albertans interact more freely, and help bring some Urban resources to Rural areas. So the government seems to think there’s a future.
But what about teachers? It’s no secret that in most classrooms technology is a dirty word. Something that is glitchy, hard to learn, and just used to entertain a class when you’ve run out of planned activities. But that’s how it was… the attitude is changing.
Universities are now teaching Web 2.0 integration in their courses, and new teachers are entering our schools with a fire and zeal to help bring the world into our classrooms. The technologies are getting cheaper, and easier to use, so that even technophobic teachers are beginning to no longer fear them. After all – how many joke e-mails do most of them send out? Blogging is no harder then e-mailing (and some blogs allow you to e-mail your posts in) after it’s all set up.
Web 2.0 – Fad or Future? I think it’s the future of education… what about you?
I think this is defninitely the future. There is so much for students to learn beyond the curriculum and scope than a teacher is capable of delivering. With the blogging, Video Conferencing and Wiki’s, students can add to their knowledge by drawing upon experiences from all over the world. This is an invaluable opportunity that will place students in a better position to formulate opinions and develop an understanding of the curriculum as well as the people and places in the world around them. I suppose the trick now is to educate ourselves to be able to effectively utilize these tools.
Web 2.0? Hands down, I see it as the way of the future! Students are becoming more and more comfortable with technology and we could say “it’s their life” in a way. It’s what they’re comfortable with and it’s what they live for. I have my students involved in both blogging and podcasting projects and they are clearly motivated and empowered by the technology. It’s a mode, a resource, and further yet, a community. These programs are not games, technologies to be feared or passing fads, but viable, up and coming forums to showcase, discuss and share student work. Whether it be work in progress, or finished products, students are excited to publish their work and receive feedback and to know there is meaning and purpose for what they do.
Is it web2.0 that’s special or just a level of comfort that we’re finally seeing in our teaching environment? Perhaps it’s a bit of both. I’m looking forward to seeing everyday teachers embrace new, easy-to-implement and easier-to-use blogs, wikis and podcasts in their classrooms. Finally, a teacher does not need to be a technical expert in design to have a web presence! Content can now dictate how much a teacher can be involved in online learning experiences. And with teachers like Shane who are willing to set up systems such as WordPress on their web servers, those teachers will have less to fear and more to use.
There is a segment of our teaching population who will always embrace new ways of teaching, including new technologies. Great teachers like Shane, Pete, & others have the desire and willingness to see a new technology through the learning lens and find applications that will enhance the learning of the students whom they teach.
Is ‘Web 2.0′ going to be the norm in our schools, however? To me, the answer to that really depends. Primarily, it is the leaders of our schools and jurisdictions who can make or break this. If a district superintendent or if a school principal sets the use of these tools as priorities and requirements, I have no doubt that teacher use of these types of read-write web tools will be embraced and utilized effectively. Without that though, I’m not so sure that the uptake will be as rapid as we’d like to see. School and district techs will retain the right to block websites and browser functionality which would make the use of these types of tools feasible, and teachers will have the authority to choose.
While the concept of dragging teachers (some kicking and screaming) to use these technologies does not sound altogether desirable, there is some research to indicate (sorry – I don’t have the url handy despite furious searching over the past 20 minutes) that forcing a teacher to use a technology isn’t necessarily a bad thing. In the case of this research (wish I had it handy), the teachers involved were required to use a particular technology, and that once they were using the technology they realized that it was actually a good thing. That is, they wouldn’t have voluntarily used the technology but once they were required to, the level of satisfaction went up. Were those teachers not forced into the use of the technology, they likely wouldn’t have ever used it.
My guess, given this research, is that when a leader of a school or jurisdiction puts the use of a particular technology as a priority (or better yet, a requirement), the use of this technology will flourish. I’ve seen anecdotal evidence of this throughout the years with the use of email and online report cards in my school district – that only when the use of this tool was critical or required was there large-scale uptake.
Kind of a grim opinion, I suppose, but to me it actually provides hope – that there are cases where the use of a technology can rapidly occur. Providing the direction that Edmonton Public is currently doing with their VC, blogging, and wiki support is a great start!
Danny
Funny you should mention that report Danny – and if you find the ULR I’d like to read it. As a part of my leadership course I took this year I chose to start a school blogging initiative. It became policy that all classes had to have a blog and update in on a “regular” basis. As you can expect there was some opposition – but quite a few teachers began to like using their blogs, and saw it as a great way to share information. Even more so, they still come to me to find ways to update or include more content into their blogs. When I offered this last year on a voluntary basis, only one teacher signed up. Now we have 5 new teachers who were actively blogging (momentum died down over Christmas Break) and who see potential in the technology. I think some of it has to do with getting over that initial fear of learning something new…
I agree that this type of technology is very valuable, but like everything of value it takes time to learn to use it and then pass it on to students. Having it mandated by administration is one solution, but then devote time to teaching the technologically challenged (I am referring to the staff).
Then the issue is simply, what do we use this for. What objectives does it help us meet so that we are killing two birds (or more) with one stone. That is the most effective way to get people to use the technology or feel it is worth their time and energy. Otherwise it is one more thing to learn and teach and nothing taken off the overflowing teacher plate (platter).
I think that the term Web 2 is the fad, but the Internet will continue to grow in this direction.
I echo the comments made about leadership being a key to implementation of new technologies. Where jurisdictions have someone in that role the use of these technologies will flourish. Another key area that is on the horizon is that of Assitive Technologies as nowit is a requirement to be considered in the IPP process. This will have huge implications for all students as we know Assistive technologies will benefit all students just as universal design initially intended to assist the physically handicapped are used by all and enhance our quality of life.
It is my experience, after almost a year of trying to get the teachers in the five schools I service to actually read my blog, that teachers are EXTREMELY reluctant to change how they traditionally do things in the their classrooms. I wish I could give an exact count of the number of people who have emailed me with some comment similar to this: “I don’t know why you don’t just email us the information. Why do you have to put it on a blog? I don’t have time to read a blog!” While I can certainly understand the time crunch that teachers are under, I don’t understand why they are this way. These are the people responsible for shaping the minds of our children. They are tasked with teaching them to be creative and curious and seek knowledge of their world. However, they are most hesitant to do so themselves. Of the 300+ teachers I work with, I would venture a guess that only about 10% of them actually look at the blog on a regular basis. I believe that blogs, wikis, etc. are invaluable for sharing information. Websites such as myspace.com are proof that the students we teach are committed to using technology as a means of communication and learning. While web 2.0 will not always be the “new, best thing”, we always have to be on the lookout for new and innovative ways to engage the students!
blogs/Wikis/ Video Conferencing are neccesary communication devices in our world and many future jobs will be dependent knowledge and use of these modes of communication. It is imperative that our students know how to use them responsibly and for positive educational reasons. I am one teacher who is not reluctant, at any age to get children to use these communication tools, however we do need to use them for richer experiences and I need to practice using them more myself. I would appreciate more idea sharing at the div 1 level and explaination of what others have done before I can get my own creativity flowing.