Matthew_DEngel_Web20

Essay on Web2.0

The following quote accurately describes the situation in many classrooms today.

"Classrooms tend to encourage and reward individual knowledge stored in the head, not distributed knowledge. They don't often allow students to network with each other and with various tools and technologies and be rewarded for doing so . . . . classrooms tend to narrowly constrain where students can gain knowledge, rather than utilize widely dispersed knowledge."

Because the foundations of American education have always been based on the performance of the individual in comparison to a norm or standard, the idea of collaborative learning is a developing one. It is necessary to inculcate our students with the ideas of teamwork, but so far, it seems that we only use extracurricular activities to try to do this. Due to the extreme focus and stress on the accountability of teachers to their schoolboards and schoolboards to their communities, standards in the three R's remain at the forefront of every administrator's mind. Some schools are changing these attitudes.

The educational benefits of using Web2.0 are numerous. First, since Web2.0 is designed to allow users to interact and post thoughts, ideas and emotions, it allows students an avenue of expression. Traditional avenues of expression are typically elective classes such as art or music. In core courses, history IS history and Shakespeare is Shakespeare. By using Web2.0 in core courses, students can express how they feel and can analyze and evaluate ideas as well as critique each other. Second, Web2.0 can be a collaborative help. Using Google Docs, people can work on projects without being in the same physical location. This emulation of the real working world allows students to adapt to a business reality in short order. This bolsters a students ability to work in harmony with other group members. Third, a computer does not judge, condone or condemn, it is a blank tablet until a student uses it. Therefore, a student who may be less than comfortable "on-stage" can participate with a greater sense of ease.

Henrico County does block some aspects of Web2.0. The abuse of proxy servers, Myspace, Facebook and other social networking sites during the school day have necessitated this. Unfortunately, instructors who do speak the same Texts as N-Gen who want to use these sites can rarely get things unblocked for use. HCPS still constrains Web2.0 a great deal. Technology training and web freedom should be expanded in order to take advantage of the tools available. This constraint is county wide. Students cannot access Diigo or many other blog type websites or discussion forums.