Presentation notes

Are we educating our students for their future or ours?

The Web is challenging our assumptions about classrooms and teaching. Is it wise to ignore the digital tools, students are engaged with on a daily basis, instead of using them in the classroom to keep them engaged when they enter our school?

There is a shift happening - the Industrial Age is at an end and we are living in the Information Age where there is never a deficit of information available for people at any age, to use for connecting and learning with others.

Before 1988 the Web was predominantly Read-Only i.e. Web1.0
Web sites were static and users had access to material provided for them. We were the consumers of the information and had no real say about what was available to read and view.

With the emergence of new technologies such as videos on mobile phones, cheaper digital cameras and video recorders we are no longer limited to the perspectives provided on the Web. New online software applications have made it easy for the hitherto consumer to upload their own created content on their own Websites. Thus the Read-Write Web emerged - Web2.0

These new Websites e.g. blogs and wikis are not static but collaborative. Communication between the author and reader in the form of feedback is encouraged via the comments section.

Business models are changing because of this user-creates aspect of the Web.

We are at the cusp of educational change. New technological innovations have made an impact in business and in our students' lives. They are using this technology to connect with others globally so it follows that it must also have an impact on pedagogy. 21st century literacies need to be taught. However education seems to be the last institution to acknowledge this change - perhaps because of the issue of student online safety. Digital citizenship must be taught to students by teachers so that their experiences on the Web are safe and functional. This can only be taught if students have access to other students on the Web - (we don't learn to swim or cut paper using scissors by watching a video)

Many forward-thinking educators are progressing in this area with the help of other educators in their Personal Learning Networks and creating global projects with student groups around the world. The resulting benefits of students learning with others from different cultures and backgrounds are many - harmony , understanding and respect are but a few but very important.

The teachers role becomes one of guide and facilitator. Our job includes teaching students how to learn for themselves. We are not always the experts and can invite experts in to help our students learn.

The Australian Minister for Education Julie Gillard, in June 2008, announced new opportunities for Australian teachers to develop skills in using ICT in their teaching and learning and committed $650 000 between states over the next twelve months. In Victoria, the DET promotes e-learning with a variety of incentives including the Global Teacher Project which is a joint project between the Victorian Education Channel and The School Library Association of Victoria.

Curriculum Support- School Libraries and Information Literacy section advertises a journal called Scan which has has two pdf articles by Professor Len Unsworth, which provide helpful ideas for supporting literacy in a digital world:
Using e-literature and online literary resources in the primary and secondary school. Part 1
Using e-literature and online literary resources in the primary and secondary school. Part 2:
Unfortunately, subscribing to this journal is not free.

If the web2.0 jargon is unfamiliar, that in itself, could be a reason why we should wade the web and play with these tools - the digital world will not disappear. Instead it is increasing at an exponential rate. We will be left further behind in understanding not only the terminology but the new symbols and what they mean.

Because Web 2.0 is about collaborating with others, ideas are formed and grow. This nurtures creativity which is the highest of all of Bloom's levels. Web2.0 promotes and supports high Intellectual Quality in learning for both staff and students.