As the exponential growth of the Internet continues to soar, teachers find themselves in a unique position in which they alone are not the sole bearers of knowledge in the classroom. In fact, as Richardson (2010) suggests and statistical research corroborates, teachers are, in many cases, decidedly “less agile with the [technology] tools of the trade” than are their students (p. 7). Therefore, just as teachers must know their content fully before delivering it to students or creating learning opportunities for students to discover this information on their own, teachers too must be well-versed in the use of technologies that can be integrated into the classroom before employing these techniques as a means of enhancing the student learning environment. In a sense, the teacher must first become a student herself, engaging in collaborative online environments with other educators and fully participating in Web 2.0 programs before implementing such tools in the classrooms. Doing so allows the teacher to not only understand how the tool can be used by students, but also allows the teacher to anticipate potential problems and be more effective when troubleshooting these problems with students. Richardson’s (2010) simple remark—“We cannot honestly discuss twenty-first century learning skills for our students until we can make sense of them for ourselves” (p. x) underscores the importance of teachers themselves acting as twenty-first century learners in order to help students more fully engage with twenty-first century learning practice.
As a teacher, I feel like I am slightly ahead of some of my fellow teachers in terms of understanding how to incorporate technology into the classroom and actually using technology to provide students with positive learning experiences. I regularly using blogging and wikis as a medium for students writing and collaboration and have dabbled a bit in allowing students to use audio/video casting tools. My advanced students collaborative work in Google Docs and submit their papers to me electronically for feedback. However, like Richardson noted, I think in many areas my students are ahead of me, especially in terms of using social networking sites and Twitter. Therefore, I’d like this semester to consider especially how to harness students’ extensive knowledge of and familiarity with social networking sites, like Facebook and Instagram, to encourage new learning experiences. I know that students do not typically see these web tools as learning engines, yet I hope to be able to investigate their potential for supporting student inquiry. Similarly, I’m excited to learn about various organizational tools, such as RSS feeds, aggregators, and social bookmarking sites. I regularly engage in informal, self-directed professional learning (i.e. Internet searches for new ideas or inspiration!), but I have never consistently organized this information to be able to use it at a later date. I think doing so will prove a positive experience for me.
I hope, as soon as this school year, and definitely next school year, to begin to implement some of the suggestions offered by David Warlick in his article “A Day in the Life of Web 2.0." While the implementation of Web 2.0 tools will certainly change the day to day workings of my classroom, what I saw as most important in Warlick’s description of a typical work day using Web 2.0 was the sense of cohesion and collaboration that Web 2.0 tools fostered. Just as these tools encourage students to extend learning beyond the classroom, they also awaken that same sense among teachers, in that they make it easier for educators in different positions, subjects, and grades to work together. The teachers he describes, moreover, were using technology to do things that previously could not have been accomplished without the use of technology. Therefore, instead of merely publishing information electronically, students (and parents) were using Web 2.0 tools to collaborate with and comment on the writings of their peers, both in the classroom and across the globe; teachers used the tools not only to find resources for students, but also to help students make connections across content areas. One thing not mentioned in Warlick’s article, however, was the possibility of technology failure; yet, I think a discussion centered on using Web 2.0 tools in the classroom would be incomplete without at least a mention of the need for flexibility in the event of technology failure. Devices need to be charged and Internet servers crash, so teachers of “digital learners” must be flexible and prepared in these events so that learning does not stop just because technology malfunctions. In many ways, this is just as important of a skill for students to develop as the ability to actually use these tools since malfunctioning technology is about as “real-world” of a lesson as students can learn!
Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for the classroom. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.
Warlick, D. (2006). A day in the life of web 2.0. Technology & learning magazine. Retrieved from http://sddial.k12.sd.us/events/laptop_institute/Files/monday/warlick_harnessing_the_new_shape_of_information.pdf
As a teacher, I feel like I am slightly ahead of some of my fellow teachers in terms of understanding how to incorporate technology into the classroom and actually using technology to provide students with positive learning experiences. I regularly using blogging and wikis as a medium for students writing and collaboration and have dabbled a bit in allowing students to use audio/video casting tools. My advanced students collaborative work in Google Docs and submit their papers to me electronically for feedback. However, like Richardson noted, I think in many areas my students are ahead of me, especially in terms of using social networking sites and Twitter. Therefore, I’d like this semester to consider especially how to harness students’ extensive knowledge of and familiarity with social networking sites, like Facebook and Instagram, to encourage new learning experiences. I know that students do not typically see these web tools as learning engines, yet I hope to be able to investigate their potential for supporting student inquiry. Similarly, I’m excited to learn about various organizational tools, such as RSS feeds, aggregators, and social bookmarking sites. I regularly engage in informal, self-directed professional learning (i.e. Internet searches for new ideas or inspiration!), but I have never consistently organized this information to be able to use it at a later date. I think doing so will prove a positive experience for me.
I hope, as soon as this school year, and definitely next school year, to begin to implement some of the suggestions offered by David Warlick in his article “A Day in the Life of Web 2.0." While the implementation of Web 2.0 tools will certainly change the day to day workings of my classroom, what I saw as most important in Warlick’s description of a typical work day using Web 2.0 was the sense of cohesion and collaboration that Web 2.0 tools fostered. Just as these tools encourage students to extend learning beyond the classroom, they also awaken that same sense among teachers, in that they make it easier for educators in different positions, subjects, and grades to work together. The teachers he describes, moreover, were using technology to do things that previously could not have been accomplished without the use of technology. Therefore, instead of merely publishing information electronically, students (and parents) were using Web 2.0 tools to collaborate with and comment on the writings of their peers, both in the classroom and across the globe; teachers used the tools not only to find resources for students, but also to help students make connections across content areas. One thing not mentioned in Warlick’s article, however, was the possibility of technology failure; yet, I think a discussion centered on using Web 2.0 tools in the classroom would be incomplete without at least a mention of the need for flexibility in the event of technology failure. Devices need to be charged and Internet servers crash, so teachers of “digital learners” must be flexible and prepared in these events so that learning does not stop just because technology malfunctions. In many ways, this is just as important of a skill for students to develop as the ability to actually use these tools since malfunctioning technology is about as “real-world” of a lesson as students can learn!
Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for the classroom. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.
Warlick, D. (2006). A day in the life of web 2.0. Technology & learning magazine. Retrieved from http://sddial.k12.sd.us/events/laptop_institute/Files/monday/warlick_harnessing_the_new_shape_of_information.pdf