The Fuse is Lit... Web 2.0 Needs School 2.0 Technology changing Education - and not just a simple change but a fundamental change. Changing students.Changing teachers.Changing schools. Stuart Hasic March 2008 Teacher 2.0Classroom 2.0School 2.0

What was Web 1.0?  When the Web started in the early 90’s only a select few could produce content for it: People who could code in HTML People who knew how to FTP People who had access to (usually paid for) webserver space  Many sites were produced full of static content: one-way information  In 1997, free “home page” sites like Geocities started...

What is Web 2.0?  The term was first used late-2004: A new wave of dynamic and totally interactive websites the previous travellers of the information superhighway could all suddenly become consultants to and constructors of it Web 2.0 sites and services are increasing the generation of content on the web exponentially, simply by giving everyone the ability to easily contribute – almost always for free. With Web 2.0, not only can you create a professional- looking website without any knowledge of HTML, FTP, Dreamweaver, FrontPage etc, but… …visitors to your site can add their comments, links and can also linkback to your posts – making your blog totally interactive. You also have full control over comments that are posted.

Web 2.0 – The Machine is Us/ing Us Michael Wesch, Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology Kansas State University Please take 5 minutes to watch this amazing video at YouTube:

Web 2.0 – in a nutshell Mitch Olson Outsmart Labs

“YouTube and other video sharing sites have 100,000 new videos uploaded… every day.” As at December 2006 source: Web 2.0 “myspace and other social blogging sites have 900,000 new blog posts uploaded… every day.” As at December 2006 source: “del.icio.us, digg and other social bookmark sites have millions of new sites and tags uploaded… every day.” As at December 2006 source: Flickr Social Photo Sharing Tag your photos Discuss your photos Blog your photos Last.fm Tracks music you listen to Recommends other music based on your listening choices Connects you to other people with similar tastes in music Blog about your musical tastes See why students might find it all so attractive? It gives them a voice. An identity. They are no longer just consumers.

TIME Magazine: 2007 Person of the Year It’s NOT: Bill Gates or Steve Jobs It’s NOT even John Howard or Kevin Rudd its…

Isn’t this just Information Overload?  The two-way Internet is growing exponentially  How is it possible for us to keep up?  How do teachers survive in this ocean of information that their students seem to swim through easily?  We may be afraid to enter that world, but we MUST – for our students often swim in uncharted waters without the benefit of adult guidance  Today’s teachers must help to build the new teaching playbook

Digest this Statement:  “ The Answer to Information Overload is to Produce MORE Information ” ...because it is in the act of our becoming a creator that our relationship with content changes  When we create content, we become more engaged and more technologically capable at the same time  In a world of overwhelming content, we must swim with the current or tide

Help Build the New Playbook:  How do you teach to a generation of students who are so tech-savvy?  The reality is they NEED you.  For centuries we have taught students how to seek out information Now we teach them how to sort relevance from an over-abundance of information  For the last 10 years we’ve taught students how to protect themselves from inappropriate content Now we have to teach them to CREATE appropriate content

Help Build the New Playbook:  Our students may be “Digital Natives”, but their knowledge is actually surface level  They have no Fear  They have not developed Patterns  They desperately need training in real thinking skills  Teachers MUST enter “their” world because “their” world is fast becoming the “Real” world

Shattering the Paradigms – We Need to Move From Consuming... To Producing From Authority... To Transparency From The Expert... To The Facilitator From The Classroom... To Any O/W/T From Access to Information... To Access to People John Seely Brown

Shattering the Paradigms – We Need to Move From Learning About... To Learning to Be From Passive Learning... To Passionate Learning From Presentation... To Participation From Publication... To Conversation From Supply - Push To Demand - Pull John Seely Brown

Now Let’s Take a Step Back…

The Trouble with Web 2.0  Web 2.0 is outpacing (by far): Governments Privacy & Copyright laws Schools & Teachers  Without any guidance, students are: Publishing videos and photos Writing articles on anonymous and identified blogs Communicating with friends & strangers Commenting on “Rate Your Teachers” Changing Wikipedia entries

Managing Students’ Internet Use  Educational Authorities and Schools have pretty simple Internet Access Policies: Typically devised in the 90’s and not revised and updated: “Using and school online systems to seek out, access or send any material of an offensive, obscene, pornographic, threatening, abusive or defamatory nature is prohibited and may result in disciplinary action.” “We have filters that will block you”

The Trouble with Web 2.0 and Schools  Most high-school students have a mobile phone with a camera  It takes minutes to upload videos taken in the playground and in class  YouTube has minefields of: Teenagers damaging property and themselves (Jackass-style) Playing pranks and bullying Schoolyard fights Teachers out of control (all PhoneCams)

...and of course it’s Newsworthy Source: SMH

Defamatory Articles and Comments  You can say whatever you like anonymously about real people:  Positive and negative comments about real teachers in real schools in Australia  Negative comments about men that women don’t like (justified or unjustified)  These are just two example sites

Web 2.0 Sites at School  The most popular Web 2.0 sites used by students: YouTube – BLOCKED: STUDENTS & STAFF Myspace – BLOCKED: STUDENTS & STAFF Bebo – BLOCKED: STUDENTS & STAFF Facebook – BLOCKED: STUDENTS & STAFF Blogger – BLOCKED: STUDENTS & STAFF Digg – BLOCKED: STUDENTS Flickr – BLOCKED: STUDENTS Rate Your Teachers – BLOCKED: STUDENTS

How Edu Depts Manage Web 2.0 “…just as long as they can’t do it at school!” “It’s OK if they do this Web 2.0 stuff at home…”

Students are Smarter than Teachers  There’s a huge school student self- help library on the internet to show students how to: Bypass any filter using an anonymiser Install keyloggers on staff PCs Gain the trust of teachers in order to be given ICT privileges Perform Social Engineering on teachers to get their passwords (my secret question) Cover their tracks Stand behind their “rights”

So How Applicable is This Really? “Using and school online systems to seek out, access or send any material of an offensive, obscene, pornographic, threatening, abusive or defamatory nature is prohibited and may result in disciplinary action.” “We have filters that will block you”

What Authorities Should be Doing  Governments and Laws are ill- equipped to manage the problems of Web 2.0: What if the poster is a minor? What if the service is hosted in another country? What lesson will be learnt by the poster if the only repercussions are that the offending post will be removed - sometime after it has been found and reported?  Appropriate, enforceable guidelines and laws are needed

What Edu Authorities Need to be Doing  Be open-minded about the social- networking phenomenon  Stop managing the posts and start managing the students who post  Update the age-old difference between right and wrong to mould it into a Web 2.0 environment  Model appropriate use of Web 2.0  Teach respect, critical thinking and consideration and responsible self-publishing

What Parents Need to be Doing  Understand that “I need a PC and the Internet in my room to help me with homework” is a just a tiny fraction of the truth  Reinforce the core family values of respect, sharing, communication  Take an interest in what they do and get them to talk about their on-line “friends”  Find the right balance between caring and being over-bearing

What Students Need to be Doing  It’s GREAT to have an on-line identity – BUT: You have to be aware of the risks It’s safer to keep your MySpace/Blog set as Private (invitation only) rather than Public (globally visible) Carefully consider WHAT you publish on-line. Your Digital Footprint will follow you years into your future Prospective employers now regularly check for employee “on-line lives”

School 1.0 : What Schools Currently Do  The traditional classroom operates around anchors: Desks anchor students the front of the classroom anchors the teacher Textbooks anchor the content the walls anchor the relics of what was learned and is to be learned Grades anchor our children’s attention Teaching the same thing, the same way, year after year anchors our understanding of being a teacher. education technology pioneer, David Warlick

School 1.0 : What Schools Currently Do  The traditional classroom is also made to feel safe at anchor: When major pratices remain throughout generations of school attendees. Just try changing the [insert capital city] excursion ! When pedagogy reflects the experience of the parents. When our view of leadership is a blended vision of what we have seen as effective in our past. Added by a secret visitor to this ppt

Let’s Shed the Anchors  “Today’s children, the Millennials, enjoy and flourish in an information landscape that would have been unimaginable when most of us were in school. And it dwarfs, by comparison the experiences they have in their classrooms. Their information experience puts them in control, gives them information that becomes a raw material for new information experiences. It connects them to wings instead of to anchors.” education technology pioneer, David Warlick

The Difference with School 2.0  “The education that we received was defined by limits. Its rules and roles were confined to what could happen inside the four walls of a classroom and the two covers of a text book. The education that our children and our future deserve, must be defined by its lack of limits.” education technology pioneer, David Warlick

What YOU Can Do  Find out more about blogs, wikis, forums, and other Web 2.0 sites  Start a blog yourself – doesn’t have to be about school or work Investigate other blogs in the same field of interest and make contacts  Ask students if they have a blog Some may be hesitant to tell you Others are very proud of their self- produced on-line work Show an interest and ask them about it  Think about ways to use Podcasting

How You Can Get Started  Back to School with the Class of Web 2.0 – Parts 1, 2 and 3:  23 Learning 2.0 Things:  Coming of Age – An Introduction to the New World Wide Web:  Room 9’s Writing Spot – 6 and 7 year olds class blog (NZ):  Mullum Writers:

Web 2.0 is Windows AND Mac Who cares about stupid platform arguments?

Pay Attention Darren Draper, Secondary Schools Technology Curriculum Specialist Jordan Schools District, Utah. Please take 5 minutes to watch this motivational video (Quicktime required)

Stuart Hasic Regional Technology Adviser Sydney Region NSW Department of Education & Training Website – Blog –