I’m kind of confused.
I thought I knew what Web 2.0 was, and frankly I was and am excited about some of the possibilities it holds for my students, particularly wikis.
But I’m going to admit after reading Clay’s post here, and Will’s post here, I’m not sure anymore.
What do we really want to accomplish with Web 2.0 technologies? What do you think Clay and Will are saying? (And I’d encourage you to continue the conversation on their blogs as well as mine, as I’m not sure they’ll see it here if you have something to address to them personally.)
[tags]web 2.0, wikis, education[/tags]
Thanks for this, Dana. Maybe we can start a conversation here about how to make that 1001 Flat World Tales collaboration into something relevant now?
I'm open to your ideas.
The problem is, I'm not sure I understand why it wasn't relevant before. I'm trying to get what you and Will are saying, but I'm not sure I do.
I just spent three hours or so on Teaching Grammar on the Titanic: on fear and irrelevance in education, partly in response to your reply above. Thanks for that, and does it help you see what I'm trying to get at?
OK, I think I see what you mean. So how do we go about it? My choices involving novels are pretty much set in stone at this point — books have been ordered (and I can let you know what they are), but I have more freedom as far as shorter works of fiction and poetry. I think a lot of the work I've been doing with UbD is helping me see how to make assessment more relevant — more real-world problems and such.
What are your novels? Again, I'm only teaching AP Lit, plus a second-semester writing workshop for 9 and 10.
See any openings?
I make the following highly sarcastic criticism out of a sincere desire to see educational technology improve the situations of students everywhere, and I intend no personal disrespect for the two bloggers you linked to:
Frankly, my brain shut off after about a paragraph in each of those two posts. I had no idea what the authors were trying to say. It was so full of buzzwords that I was inclined to create a drinking game out of those posts (drink a shot every time you see the adjective "flat" modify something in education; drink another every time you see an injunction to "join the conversation"; etc.).
The collection of people who think and write about "Web 2.0" is rapidly entering the status of an echo chamber/cult/mutual admiration society and departing from common-sense, in-the-trenches work with teachers and students who are, on the average, ambivalent about technology and don't have the time or the inclination to learn it. These folks do not need thick, Faulkner-like theses on Web 2.0 that are impenetrable to anybody outside the inner circle of ed tech. We get enough of that in postmodern "studies" curricula.
Modern technologies do have enormous potential for good, and our school systems really need clear, practical thinking about how best to use this stuff. There are a lot of people out there smarter than I am who can do this. Please let's start.
Re: Robert's comments. Congratulations, Robert, you're the first flamer I've encountered in my 7 months of joining this community.
If you read past one paragraph, and replace that mental switch, you'll see that I and many others of us are in the trenches, practicing this, and reflecting on it to others who do have the time and inclination.
Anyway, thanks for trying.
Clay, I don't think Robert meant to "flame." He has been reading my blog for two years (and I've been reading his for as long). He is a math professor — very conscientious and reflective of his practices. But he also calls it like he sees it and gives his honest opinion. At the same time, I think (and I'm sure he'll let us know if I'm wrong) that maybe he's having the same confusion about all of this that I am and is maybe expressing that frustration. He's actually doing some really cool things with technology himself. It can be daunting to enter into these conversations and feel like you don't know what's going on, and then when you think you do, the rules seem to be changing. I think that's what I was trying to express. I felt like I knew what we were all talking about with regards to Web 2.0, but now, as I said in my post, I'm confused and frustrated.
I just deleted a few paragraphs in response because really, this is unimportant.
Let's get back to our conversation, those of us who want to.
I'm feeling very new, a neophyte in the world of educational technology. Next year I will have a "smart" classroom and I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed by the responsibilities. I'm interested in the idea of web 2.0, but I feel almost as if it's over my head. Where should a newbie begin to make the knowledge most useful for students?