Building a Digital Village

Web 2.0 tools and related technologies are redefining the learning paradigm that we as educators have a responsibility to embrace. The challenge that we face is that the model of teaching and learning is changing at a pace that at times is often difficult to keep up with, even for those of us who are somewhat tech-savvy. It is our responsibility to take ownership to learn and incorporate these resources into our educational environments to support the needs of today’s learner. Our learners are already there, using the tools of the trade without any instruction, and we should not deny them the use and integration of these tools into their daily learning environments. As teachers, we must guide them in the acceptable use of these tools.

The read-write web has changed the way students are responsible as learners to access, manage, and produce knowledge. Teachers are no longer a sage on the stage but rather a guide on the side. There is no longer a need for rote memorization: now there is a need to guide students to find, assess and process the information out on the web and to become producers themselves of new content.

The need to read and write is even more important as we use the web to share and manage all this information. We all have become constant communicators where reading and writing is more a part of our lives than ever before. Web 2.0 puts the resources literally at our fingertips, along with the collaboration tools and the programs necessary to produce and share information.

I believe the change before us with Web 2.0 is paramount and equally exciting. I have used Wikis to connect my students, our teachers, to professional development opportunities that are web-based. We use Google documents to collaborate on work-related projects and to communicate via Email and chat. Google forms allow us to gather much needed data to learn about the needs of our educational community. And the use of Google Sites quickly allows us to post and share resources.

At times, I feel like I am on an educational roller-coaster. The ride is going extremely fast, parts are exhilarating, yet around a few corners there is a drop that appears to be quite scary. Hold on tight, as Web 2.0 is a ride we must all board to get us to the new challenges we face ahead with teaching and learning in the 21st century.