Monday, July 28, 2008

Chapter 9: New Schools

This chapter offers an exciting look into the future of schools and our education system. What a wonderful place to be and learn with all these Web 2.0 tools. But my skepticism remains simply due to the lack of funding schools are given to educate the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic and now technology. Our students are digital natives, they grow up using Web tools in their day to day life and most schools limit these resources because we just don't get the funds to keep up to date with all this technology. In order for schools to succeed in educating students for the 21st Century, we need the hardware to access the tools. Educators need professional development and time to learn these skills so we feel comfortable teaching them to our students. Which will take more funding for schools. I've seen many charter schools come on board with this goal in mind, but then the rest of us are standing around trying to fill in the holes so our students aren't left behind. I have to agree with Elaine and I just love her analogy about buffets. Educators must focus on what is useful and relevant to the education of our students, which varies from school to school. We must use Web 2.0 as tools to lead our students into the 21st Century without bombarding them with too much "junk" and hopefully create mindful cyber citizens.

No comments: