The good, the bad, and the ugly. Everyone starts out explaining how great and marvelous the web is and all the new and cool tools to use. There are many things to Web 2.0. Some things are great and wonderful others not so good. It opens new doors and closes some old. The trick is to find a balance that will be successful.
To use the web there are many factors. It was funny one day when I talk to my prinicpal about some programs and ideas I wanted to do in my classroom. He was supportive and told me that the only limited I had was myself. True to a point. So I started but limit was not me. I ran into some obstacles. The equipment could not connect to the WI-FI at our school so software could not be loaded on. I had to ask permission to bring the equipment home to download it without having connection problems (no servers or networks). The collabation aspect of the project could not be used at school. Had to find an alternative. Lets not even talk about the Firewall and all the legal issues that come into play. So I laugh it off knowing I was not the limitation. The tools are there but not for everyone. Of course I am not saying that it is all bad. I was still able to use the equipment and had the students complete there work but some parts of the plans had to be changed.
Schools are a great place to teach about and use the web. Safety is a big issue when it comes to young students and the web. There are many things that not only parents have to worry about but teachers as well. You want a student to have a pleasant experience and be able to use the web. This does limit some of the tools that a teacher can use in a school environment. Also the ablity to acquire such tools may be difficult for some because of school policies. Everyone wants to see schools move into the 21st century but they need to let go a little of those walls. If you trust the teachers to their jobs correctly then there shouldn't be so many limits placed on everything. Even with so much protection the students of the future will find a way around it. You need to teach them and that can only happen if you can have those teachable moments in class.
Collaboration is important factor with Web 2.0. Collaboration between teachers in different subjects can help to expand the way a student invisions the connection between them. Use the Web to collaborate with other students around the world or in the next state. These are connections and skills that the students of the future will need. (just notice some of the commercials out there)
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