This course has been a wonderful experience for me. It was refreshing to see the excitement that all of the members of the class brought to their work. This is an exceptional group of educators who care and dare to try new things to keep themselves from getting stagnant in their teaching.
As I was commenting on everyone’s final projects, I checked my CoComment account to see what had followed a comment I made on David Warlick’s blog on a post about First Year Teachers. The comments on this post are well worth a read. The conversation morphed a bit from first year teachers to the term Web 2.0 and it’s significance. Some highly respected educational technology folks have positioned themselves on either side of the conversation. I must say that I see the term Web 2.0 as more than just a marketing term. I see it as a philosphy of a shift of a single direction Internet to multi-directional one. The tools of the “Read/Write Web” or Web 2.0 allow for collaboration and communication. These tools have brought the power of publication to the masses. Anyone can create a blog (web site) in order to get their word out. While David Thornburg feels that this is nothing new, I would suggest that it is new that so many people take part in the conversations. Without the tools of Web 2.0 and RSS this whole conversation would not have even happened. The fact that 31 people joined in the conversation within 24 hours shows the power of these tools.
These numbers may not sound all that powerful at first glance. How many more conversations have occurred since this first post on other blogs (like this one) and more comments on David Warlick’s follow-up post, In Response – The Need For Web 2.0? While these tools may not be completely new ideas, they are allowing the masses to enjoy and learn from them. These tools may have been available in the past for the geeks who decided to take the time to learn them, but now mostly anyone with a computer connected to the Internet can take advantage of them.
The question then is are the tools better or are people becoming more adept at the use of technological tools?
I would have to say that it would be a bit of both. We are involved in a world that is becoming smaller, flatter, or whatever other adjective you prefer. These open tools are easy to use and with the mashups that are evolving from them, the future is looking bright. I’d rather not argue about the semantics of the merits of the term “Web 2.0″. I just really enjoy getting teachers and students involved in their use in the classroom as a way to reach more learners within a classroom.
I realize that this is an odd reflection on my course experience. I also realize that this is how I feel about the “Read/Write web in the Classroom” in my heart. Call it whatever you wish. The Internet is a kindler, gentler place for educators and students. We need more folks like David Warlick (and many others) to continue to bring these tools to the attention of educators who do not know they exist.
