What School Administrators Need to Know About Web 2.0 & Social Media

What is Web 2.0? Web 2.0 is a term coined by Tim O'Riley to describe the read/write or two-way nature of interactive online tools that emerged in the wake of the dot.com crash in 2000. Among other things, it includes: Blogs Wikis Social Networking Social Bookmarking Podcasting Vodcasting Microblogging Another term often used to describe these types of tools is social media. What these tools allow is for everyone to be a prosumer (producer & consumer) of content. It also means that content is no longer scarce. Our model of schooling was designed to help disseminate information to the public in an environment where information was scarce. The problem: For many schools this poses an identity crisis. If schools and teachers are no longer the primary guardians and disseminators of information, what is their purpose? What is the purpose of school? How do people learn? http://www.c-spanarchives.org/program/ID/52461&start=6835&end=7123 Web 2.0 tools epitomize the spirit of creation and knowledge construction. Their use supports powerful research-based methods of teaching and learning. Web 2.0 tools are: 1. Virtual Learning Environments - Supports Alan Kay's statements 2. Constructivist - Supports Seymour Papert's statements 3. Social - Supports Chris Dede's statements Web 2.0 & Social Media is a natural step in the evolution of human communication: Social Media and Web 2.0 are quickly becoming socially, economically, and politically important. If we do not use them in school, or at least modify what we do in school to acknowledge their existence, are we living up to our charge to: 1. Prepare students to function in a democracy? 2. Prepare students for the workplace? 3. Prepare students to be world citizens? Isn't this an equity issue? What do you, as school leaders, do with this information? What in this presentation do you agree with? What do you disagree with? Do you see contending with social media and web 2.0 as a real problem or have I just created a strawman argument? What other questions does this raise? Talk amongst yourselves. http://community.tncc.edu/faculty/dollieslager/rcte/ESCCAcademy.html