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Thoughts and Reflections
May 22, 2007 | | Leave a Comment
I have to admit that I am new to the whole discussion on Web 2.0 technologies in the classroom. I am not new however to the use of technological tools (I am the Google Generation). I was listening to an older episode of TechPodZone where the discussion led to the evolution of web tools in the classroom over the last few years. Wow, the rate of techvolution (technology evolution) is staggering! I know in my own teacher training the term “Web 2.0″ was never mentioned. The idea of “podcasting” or “blogging” with students… was never encouraged. Keep in mind that I only graduated from college 2 years ago, so in no way am I an authority for classroom instruction and practice. All I am is a teacher looking to my own peers for guidance, and hoping that my abilities can guide them as well. So this causes me to question. With those out there sharing the message of the read/write web, and web 2.0, how can teacher preparation programs keep up with the evolution of the classroom? I believe the drive towards test based initiatives will come to a head with the inquiry driven opportunities of open source technologies and multimedia art tools. How can I (we) overcome and evolve at the rate that industry is retooling and rebooting?
Along with the wonderful discussions and insights I hear from new and old shows on the TechPodZone, I have been reading through and viewing some of the sources from Karl Fisch’s blog, the Fischbowl. His “Did you know?” powerpoint, which has since evolved into numerous creative renditions, has been cited on numerous blogs, and I first heard about the slideshow from Will Richardson at a conference I attended recently. At this same conference, when Will geared his discussion to the use of social networking sites and the familiarity (or lack of) parents and adults have with these sites, I personally was afraid to raise my hand (my fellow teachers already pick on my age enough) when he asked how many people have participated in a social networking site. For the 500 or so people in the audience only 10 people raised their hand. To be honest I have a facebook account, a holdover from my college years. I do not update my facebook account very often, but sometimes I do check back and see where my fellow graduates are now (many in their 4th job since graduating). Just recently I signed up for teachade.com which seems so far to be a professional networking site that is more alive (in a collaborative face to name sort of way) than a traditional “click, submit, and wait” teacher resource drop website. I will have to experiment a little more with the site to see how effective and useful the resources are, but the interest groups and profiles are friendly features which can certainly open the door to collaboration. Time shall tell I guess, I just NEED to keep up with the times…
