Hi and welcome to my blog site. It is my hope that through comment and collaboration, we can share ideas about education and lessons in a Christian school setting.
The rest of this posting will be dealing with a workshop I am currently taking... Web 2.0. We are at the end of the first day of training, and our assignment is to read and comment on an article by the instructor about the uses of Web 2.0 in the classroom and if it will ever be accepted and fit into our educational system today. (If you are interested in reading the article, please go to techlearning.com and read the "Square Pegs, Round Hole" article.)
How do I feel about using Web 2.0 in my classroom? To be honest, I am unsure. I can see the benefits of having the students do digital storytelling, or even wiki sites (such as wikipedia) for some research, but I do have questions about blogging. My mind keeps switching between the "Hey, I could use this with one of my literature units for feedback and open conversation between students," and the "Is this really safe for our students to use?" thoughts.
To be honest, I think I'm stuck in the oh, oh... here comes a change frame of mind. Many good points are brought up in the article, such making sure that the use of this technology works hand in hand with the school's level of literacy and that a level of learning must be achieved that wouldn't have been reached without using the technology.
I agree with this outlook for how to use it. It must be in a responsible way. Looking at today's world and how the young people are "connected", we need to take a look at how to reach them in a way that is real to them. However, I don't think we can rely on total technology for education... there's still something to be said for the tried and true educational instructional process.
1 comment:
I agree with you that safety is an issue anytime the web is involved. As educators I think we need to consider how we can teach students internet safety as we brave the new world of web 2.0. Further, I think you are right that a balance between new technologies and tried and true instructional methods must be established.
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