School 2.0!!!

So I went to Mr. Warlick’s site, http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/2007/02/27/more-on-school-20/ and read about school 2.0.  His discussion is most interesting.  I agree with his premise that our task as educators is to prepare out students for success in the adult world.  In today’s world, this includes the internet.  Whereas some of the students figure all of this web 2.0 business out on their own, many may not.  Are educators prepared to lead the charge, I fear not, knowing this from personal experience and the slow spinup time for schools to catch up with what’s out there. 

Tom, 28 Jul 07

 School 2.0, article 2.  http://www.districtadministration.com/viewarticle.aspx?articleid=1060 This is the second article I read.  The premise of the article is to rethink the way we are educating students.   Right on!  The article questioned the reality requiring students to be in classrooms, say in a math class.  Students can learn outside of class, and so on.  I sort of agree.  Learning mathematics is like learning a language.  To be proficient at an advanced level, you need skills learned at a lower level.  Can the students learn these skills by themselves on computers?  Well perhaps if they are properly guided.  I was tempted by a link at the bottom of the page, and went to www.districtadministrator.com site and read an article (perhaps more with teacher 2.0 intent) which really faulted the teacher education system we use.  I couldn’t agree more.  I think our teaching education programs are disfunctional and next to worthless.  How are teachers taught to incorporate technology into their classroom?  Probably not at all. Humph.

Tom

Facebook and Friends

I read the article http://insidehighered.com/news/2006/06/15/facebook, “The many faces of Facebook”, a second article, “Thoughts on facebooks”, and finally, “Myspace in College Admissions. The bottom line…whatever you post out here, it NEVER goes away.  The articles were peppered with instances of people making inappropriate or poor judgment comments about themselves or others in myspace or facebook, and having people in decision-making situations “discovering” these comments, with unfortunate consequences following, such as losing a scholarship, school suspension, not getting a job, and so on.  It seems that somewhere along the line, students must be reminded to be discreet, kind, and respectful of themselves and others, when they go posting something about themselves or others for the world to see. 

I did have one student this year who connected with her future roommate on one of these social interaction sites.  From hearing her discussions on this, it seemed to be a very positive use of the technology.

Tom