Week 1 - Blog Posting #2 - Learning 2.0

I think one of the challenges of teaching in the 21st Century is facing the fact that we are not doing everything we can to engage all of the students all of the time. And while I don't want to make excuses, there are some serious barriers and limitations we are up against--including but not limited to: computer/technology access, training, and of course the omnipresent variable of time.

That being said, my participation in this program has just made me more committed to doing everything I can to be part of the change. I have set a goal for myself, which is, to find a space in our curriculum for one new technology related project, instructional design or activity every month--whatever it takes. I want to be able to evaluate what works and how the kids respond so that I can be the best teacher of a technology tool, so that I then might influence others at our school and then at the district level.

How critical is it that we do all that we can to help bring about change? According to 2008 Speak Up results, when asked to imagine their dream school, middle and high school students were twice as likely as adults to select online learning as a technology with the greatest positive impact
on learning (44% of 6-12th graders compared to 28% of principals and 21% of parents and teachers). Awareness among 6-8th graders has caught up with their older peers with 42% choosing online learning as a component of the ultimate school, a 40% increase from 2006.
The statistics from the video, A Vision of K-12 Students Today (2007), were striking. 76% of teachers have never used wikis, blogs or podcasts. Only 14% of teachers incorporate any kind of technology that allows students to create something on a given week, while 63% never do. That's NEVER! These are students who spend the vast amount of their time, outside of school, connected to technology and through that technology to each other. As a believer in constructivist theory, we have got to change the way we teach, which means that if we do, if we are truly committed, students will get to experience Learning 2.0.





Project Tomorrow. (2009). Selected national findings: Speak up 2008 for students, teachers, parents and administrators. Retrieved August 29, 2009 from http://www.tomorrow.org/