Unit Five - Technologies to Promote Communication, Collaboration/Cooperation, and Community

Community, it takes a village, no man is an island, stand together - all concepts or phrases we know that show us that good things happen when we work together.  When we were young, our report cards said, (hopefully) that we "play well with others.  Even if subliminally, we were being taught even then that collaboration is important.  

Now we live in this exciting and transformative time in the world as a whole, where technology and the web are bringing collaboration to a whole new place.   Facebook, Twitter, and Wikipedia to message boards on ESPN and cult-like followed blogs - they're all taking the world by storm.  

Obviously, the educational world needs to tap into this, and in many cases, have already begun to do so.  More and more classrooms are using wikis, Facebook, and online discussion boards to get students to work collaboratively in the 21st century millennial way. 

I think the use of these and other Web 2.0 tools is important, not only because it draws in the interest of students who are already familiar with this format/style of interaction, but its working towards teaching them how to use these tools for more than just social networking.  In recent decades,  a gap has existed in education from pre-k to college.  While many are encouraged to "play well with others" in pre-school, many times students learn to work, test, create, etc individually until undergrad and grad school, where they are once again encouraged to "work well with others."  Since the real world, more and more as our world gets smaller and more connected with each technology-advancing day, shouldn't those years in between pre-k and college echo those collaborative lessons?  

As arguably a member of the millenial generation, I definitely feel that disconnect.  While I spend time talking on gchat, catching up with friends by reading their blogs, and plan social events through facebook, I still struggle to work with others, with or with out the use of Web 2.0.  I learned by practice in school that group work can be good, but a lot of times there is that one, or several, group members that don't do their part and you, along with everyone else, has to pick up the slack.  That may still prove true, but that doesn't change the fact that I have to work together with other colleges in several different settings in my job - from curriculum planning with my history team, to coaching basketball and softball.  If used well, the use of wikis, googledocs, etc and help teach kids how to collaborate effectively in the modern world.  Again, our roles as educators is now about teaching them skills, especially skills of adaptability, just as much as it is to teach them content.  I see the point others have made, that with the amount of online tools there are out there, that we could be in danger of way overloading our students with them - rendering them obsolete in their intended purpose.  That is obviously very true, but I think our focus still be should be on using them.  Fear of using something too much, shouldn't prevent one from using it at all.  I think teachers need to find tools that apply most to their kids and the learning objectives of their classrooms and focus on using those.  Using too many web 2.0 tools is not just overwhelming to the student, but often for the teacher as well...maybe more so sometimes.