Thoughts about Web 2.0 (Thing 2)

I mentioned it in my last post and I will reiterate now: I don't like the idea of thinking that the ultimate goal of schools is only preparing students for a competitive global workforce. Obviously, our students are going to enter the workforce in some way or another. And even more obviously, that workforce will be competitive and probably more global than we can even conceptualize at this point. However, if we really want them to become lifelong learners and learn for the sake of learning, not to get ahead of their competition for jobs, then we need to reframe the message. Otherwise, like generations of students before them, they are learning skills that only apply in a specialized context, and that seems to be the opposite of what we need to teach them now.

Another thing that bothered me about Web 2.0 (again, I mentioned this in my last post) was it seemed like the assumption was unless we are using brand new technology every minute of the day, we are doing something wrong. Especially in the "A Vision of Students Today" video, it appeared that the statistics about teachers who never used digital storytelling (for example) were meant to illustrate that those teachers were doing something wrong. I do realize that this video is from 2007 (many of these materials were several years old) and that it is at least partially because of my pre-existing feelings that I felt scolded. I actually have used digital storytelling in the forms of "This I Believe" podcasts and Garageband for both personal and literary argumentative pieces (and Storyboard That this year for the first time - loved it!), but I don't believe it was only the technology that made those experiences memorable for the students. It helped them literally bring their own voices and visuals to their stories, and that is absolutely important. However, using statistics about which teachers do and do not use specific pieces of technology (especially nine years ago, when the technology was pretty clunky) to presumably show that they are "behind the times" overshadows, at least in my mind, the very salient message of that video. We need to be responsive and reflective educators, and technology is ONE way to do that. It is not the only way.   

I feel like I need to acknowledge that I AM aware that this is an educational technology course and as such, we'll be exposed to a lot of different technology options that we could use in our classroom. They will probably also be presented in a positive light; after all, why would we be taught about problematic or inapplicable tools? I DO want to learn about different ways that technology can help my students learn or bring them closer to topics they care about. I just also want to make sure that we remember that technology is not the saving grace of the educational system: it is a tool. Students, teachers, and their relationships will always be the most important thing to the learning process.

I liked reading "A Day in the Life of Web 2.0" very much. It showed that even 10 years ago, people were tinkering with the possibilities of what online collaboration and communication could do for teachers and students. It also included examples of face-to-face collaboration that was supplemented by the online collaboration, such as the cross-curricular teaching involved in the Monday report blogs and the research the librarian did for the new math teacher. The freedom to use technology as the students and teachers saw fit made me wonder if our students would be that responsible with their tools. I have had to manage kids playing games on their iPads during reading time in my own classroom; I'm not sure that they would use texting or iMessaging solely for school projects the way these students did. It also makes me think that if they were more engaged, they wouldn't be misusing their iPads, but how can we change reading to be more engaging? They already have the ability and permission to read however they want (a paper book, on their iPads or Kindles, with an audiobook, etc.) but since that's a skill they need to keep practicing, there's not much we can do to change it. However you do it, reading is reading, and they need to be able to do it. 

They also need to be able to spell correctly or at least recognize when a word is misspelled so they can look it up; autocorrect and spellcheck have stunted those skills for our kids. They don't have to have the perseverance to double-check on a word anymore. And for as great as online discussions are - and I love them! - they have revealed another weakness in our students' communication: they don't seem to be able to recognize what is an appropriate tone for the school audience anymore. Schoology messaging and emailing seem to be places where they think they can use text speak, even with their teachers, and I will never be okay with this. I always teach tone and audience characteristics in a literary and argumentative context, but I have started to have to teach it in a classroom communication context as well. Incorporating technology into the classroom that they also use outside of the classroom creates flow and consistency, effectively breaking down the erroneous assumption that learning only takes place in the classroom from teacher to student. However, it also blurs the lines between talking to your friends and talking to your teacher, and I think those lines need to remain bold. I don't talk to my students' parents or my boss the same way I talk to my friends; this is a lifelong skill students will need.

I have used Schoology much more this year and have loved the perks of being able to only take home my laptop and have my quizzes and essays right there at my fingertips. I have also loved the online discussions; I get to hear more from the students who are quiet in class, and my students can respond to peers that they don't necessarily communicate with in class. I am also a huge proponent of students being creators, not just consumers, of content: that is the best way to learn something. It is much more active, and learning should be an active process. I read a study a while ago about how students who created content were more confident and ended up being more successful as adults than those who simply consumed it - I'll find it! Unfortunately, these consumers v. creators tended to fall along socioeconomic lines, so part of the article was about how to get technology in the hands of underprivileged students. We don't have that problem in our district, but we do have kids who are overwhelmed by the amount of content they are exposed to, and I worry about them managing their learning with all of these new tools. That's one more thing we need to teach them in this 21st century world, and it is an important one for beyond school. Too often, even adults just skim articles online and don't check sources: we didn't have to do that when we used encyclopedias! Of course, there is more information out there now, and much of it is great - but just like we had to learn things our parents didn't, our students now need to learn to catalogue and evaluate information at a much higher rate than we ever did. It is a daunting, but potentially exciting, task for everyone.