Students 2.0

"Be Prepared....We won't be raising our hands anymore..."

... is the message this group of students is sending classroom teachers. Adroit at using the tools of Web 2.0, they are working collaboratively and internationally (of course) to share their thoughts. They are responding to the idea that "students are continually redefining their own lives and how they want to learn and interact." They are aware that we have entered an age where "thinking is more important than knowing." They are adding their voices to the future of education. They have the wisdom to perceive that they, as students, have something to teach. These lofty ideas are their words.

Check them out at http://students2oh.org/


Students 2.0 Launch Teaser from Sean on Vimeo.

Reflections

Three short months ago, I had no idea that there was a new "generation" of web applications that facilitated collaboration. Though I intellectually see the phenomenal creative potential of technology, I continue to be amazed at what it is making possible and I admire the imaginations of the people that are coming up with these ideas. Even more exciting is that with these tools, groups of individuals are bringing their energies and focus together - synergy.

I live in the transition between two generations. The elder is family, friends, and colleagues that take limited advantage of the internet; the younger is our children who spend more time viewing electronic messages than possibly anything else they do in the course of a day. Furthermore, they have all the facts and formulas at their fingertips. And I, of the elder, will be trying to teach students, of the younger, something that it seems they are more familiar with.

Wait, I do have experience to share. Collaboration, not always simple, improves with practice. I can provide students practice in doing nothing less with the ideas of others than they would do with their own. I can help them identify friendly environments. I can facilitate discrimination of helpful actions vs. actions that "pollute." I can provide practice with organization, following directions, reading.....and.....I can introduce new web applications. Although they may take those applications and run (farther than me), I can provide practice in making introductions and connections.

Having worked with different developmental stages and needs, whenever I think about computers in the classroom, I carry the concern that we are offering electronic tools to children at too young an age. I believe this is a appropriate question that must be sincerely entertained by innovators in the field. That having been said...

Experiencing Classroom 2.0 has given me a new set of powerful teaching tools that are already engaging my students and I in a broader level of awareness. Teaching and learning in a networked classroom opens the doors to the world. How exciting is that?!

Audience

All the world's a stage...

This morning at breakfast, a discussion on politics led to the observation that actors are often effective public speakers. Consider the actress on stage. Her key focal point is that she is loud enough and clear enough that the audience will be able to follow her message. She has a repertoire of delivery styles and will choose the style based upon the audience. There have been many rehearsals all, again, with the mission to clearly deliver her message.

Consider the word "delivery." There is a specific recipient in mind. Packages come to our doorstep. They are prepared according to the contents and how they will be received. They are not left out in the rain or by the side of the road. Their receipt is acknowledged.

Are teachers effective communicators? Do we look to our audience as conscientiously as the performer? Do we deliver our messages - messages prepared with the sole intent of being understood? Do we assure that our delivery has been received?

One secret to assuring that a delivery will be received is to send something that the recipient cares about. I hope this is the direction that technology in the classroom is going - toward lessons that engage the learners emotionally. The use of Web 2.0 applications provide infinite opportunities to give learners a sense of connection.

It's been said, "Technology is about connections." Indeed - of many kinds.