Thing 5

As I attended the MACUL conference last spring, I was inundated with presentations on Web 2.0. I was interested in this "new" phenomenon and how it could and would impact the way I teach computer education at the middle school level. I had conversations with our tech. department about how it would affect our infrastructure and ability to "use" these tools without affecting the "safety" of our network. I found it to be a frustrating experience when attempting to research many of the popular Web 2.0 sites and received our "access denied" prism. As I investigated further on my home computer, I found these sites to be extremely useful and helpful. I am confused with the thought process that protecting the sanctity of our current educational goals limits the possibilities of creating solutions for students. Higher order thinking skills would increase our student's abilities to problem solve and collaborate in a learning environment that they are comfortable in. I fear that many of the staff I work with will rely on the "computer teacher" to teach "that stuff" because they don't have time nor the desire to implement it in their curricular areas. I hope my continued growth in this process and the tools I have access to will empower me to lead my staff in applying many of these sites and online applications throughout other academic subject areas.