Leaving our Teachers Behind

I just got back from co-presenting at the Expeditionary Learning National Conference in Portland, OR with Stephanie Gallegos.  Our presentation relied heavily on technology - which has become an essential part of our active pedagogy.  We brought with us iPods from our classroom, we were going to have the participants use TodaysMeet.com to have an ongoing conversation with us during the presentation.  We were also using the iPods for video and music as part of our instruction with them.  I was quite shocked to find that there were many participants who did not know how to use the iPod.  I've been living in my little technology world with my students, that I have lost sight that there are many teachers who are not literate in technology, and some are even resistant to the new technology.  It makes me think a lot about how we have high expectations for students and technology...but do we have high expectations for our teachers to learn this? I keep thinking, how are we going to move our students into the 21st century when some of our teachers can't get there?  How are going to raise the bar without leaving our teachers behind? 

A Review on "Do Web 2.0 Right"

The last time we met as an E2T2 cohort, David gave us an article from the publication Learning and Leading with Technology from February 2011.  The title of the article is "So Web 2.0 Right"  The article is not a step by step guide on how to incorporate Web 2.0 tools, but more of a philosophy of Web 2.0 tools to consider.  The author, David Light, went into 22 schools and interviewed 39 educators throughout the country about how they incorporated Web 2.0 tools.  

As I was reading this, I found myself agreeing on what Light found based on what my experiences have been thus far with incorporating some of these tools into my own classroom.  Light writes that "we identified three elements that have clearly shaped how these teachers used Web 2.0 to create sustained, meaningful communication among their students:

• instituting daily practice
• carefully considering the audience
• teaching and enforcing appropriate behavior (11)"

Instead of using these tools as "special projects", teachers should use these tools "the same way adults use them in a social or business context(11)."  When thinking about this, this makes sense, especially when you look at standard #2 of  National Education Technology Standards (NETS)  for students.  This standard requires students to use digital media to communicate and work collaboratively. If students are using a daily blog or wiki to help build a common understanding of content, instead of just during "special projects" they are more likely to be motivated to use the tools, and use them correctly and more effectively.  

I was surprised about the section about audience and why some students don't post on a classroom/public wiki or blog.  While we have our entire reading class posting on their blogs, we are having a difficult time getting our entire social studies classes posting on the wiki.  Some students have forgotten their login information, and I don't have access to that, and wikispaces doesn't make it easy to get that information.  But I wonder if students fear posting their opinions because they don't have the trust in their classmates.  Which is what part of this section on audience discusses.  I will need to further think about this. 

Appropriate behavior is key on the web.  Just like we need to teach our students how to behave in class, and how to behave in groups, we need to teach appropriate web behavior.  I wonder what and how these teachers do to build online communities of appropriate learners and behaviors?  The article doesn't go into how teachers do this?  What do teachers in E2T2 do?  I'd love to hear your strategies...

Noel