I know, arent I lucky. I attended the Learn2.008 conference, which was great. The keynote speakers were so inspiring, yet caring and sharing. You can see the sessions, and notes people made on the sessions at http://www.learning2cn.ning.com It was a true technological conference using web2.0 constantly.
Hi John,
As a teacher and technology student I want to disagree with your statement about students who are not using the technology tools that are learned. The schools still work with an old curriculum so it is an uphill battle by technology trained teachers to implement and use Web 2.0 tools. We have to get permission from the Administration to use any web-based form of technology with our students. This is because they fear retribution if the students are stalked by predators.
We are limited to using Web 2.0 tools as homework assignments and we have to make sure that it is approved by the school or else face having letters put in our files or worse. I have introduced the use of these tools without permission only as homework assignments, but it is not widely publicized. Some of my students are interested and some of them just put minimum effort into it for a grade.
I think you might have misunderstood my statement.... I was referring to college students, pre-service education students, future teachers. I recognize and clearly understand what you are saying about the Web 2.0 tools in schools. However, the students that I work with are future teachers that, even though they feel (and claim) that they are good at technologies like social networking, they seem to have no clue how to apply those technologies to their future career. They use the tools personally, but see no application professionally.
I cannot speak for actual practicing teachers that take the tools and implement them. The roadblocks they encounter are daunting, but it doesn't take long looking around this Classroom 2.0 community to see how well some make it work. I'm just personally and professionally struggling with getting my preservice teachers to understand how something they use everyday could also work in their future classroom.
Sorry for the misunderstanding. I hope I've explained my statements a little better.
~ John
Hi John
I must apologize for being so strong, I can understand your frustrations but technology can be so overwhelming that students that they tune out and so miss out on a lot of information. I teach high school so I have to be on top of them all of the time. I remember how overwhelmed I felt my first year in class. I still get a twinge on the first day of school after a long vacation
Boy you are really subversive--trying to use a webquest to enhance your curriculum and develop independent thinking with your students!! Doesn't it just make you sad.
Hello Classroom 2.0 I am joining this ning network from Yokohama International School in Japan. I have been on faculty here for 3 years and am enjoying the school quite a bit. I am a counsellor in the middle school and high school and teach PSHE G6-9. For those familiar with the IB Diploma Programme I am also the CAS coordinator and teach TOK. In all my spare time I participate on the IT team mainly as it connects to student life topics but also am developing our resources on-line for team teaching and inter/intra departmental collaboration. I look forward to learning more about how the rest of the members here are using web 2.0 technologies to enhance learning.
Hello, Adam! It is a pleasure to see another new-comer to Classroom 2.0 from Japan.
Although I'm not quite up to speed on all of the acronyms that you've used, when you speak of team-teaching and inter-/intra-departmental collaboration, I gather from the Yokohamo International School's Faculty and Staff directory (YIS) that you might be speaking of inter-/cross-cultural collaboration with Japanese colleagues as well.
Do endeavors of the YIS information technology team embrace any particular strategies for traversing information literacy divides, or utilizing multi-lingual technologies (such as the "Translate this Network" gadget in the Classroom 2.0 sidebar)?
Hello,
My name is Josh Sheridan and am an educator in Belmont, CA. I teach high school digital visual arts and am looking to incorporate more web 2.0 things into my classroom- whether its moodle, pbwikis, ning, or anything else that can empower students and improve student learning.
I specifically teach animation, computer graphics, and web design this current school year.