Chapter 9 “New Schools”

Our students are already immersed in technology. Our educational system is not keeping up with the rapidly changing world and the role that technology plays in it. If schools can’t teach what students need in a way that suits students learning styles, schools become irrelevant. The world is changing, our students are changing, and our schools need to follow suit. This chapter is all about possibly ways to make that change happen.

Education software could be written that is interactive like Amazon and eBay. It could track each students learning style, and knowledge base to suggest sites and activities to learn a lesson.

Teachers can use Web 2.0 tools to keep all stakeholders (students, parents, staff, community members…) up to date on what’s happening in the classroom and school. Librarians using this information to make and maintain a curriculum map. Parts of this are being done already. In my school many teachers send their weekly newsletter to parents via email, one teacher sent a daily email to all parents in her class of what happened that day. This year I want to be on those email lists to see what each class is studying.

In the same way that textbooks are sometimes not used, the same can be said for software. Our administrators and curriculum committees need to acknowledge that not all students are the same, and so the same teaching materials will not be effective for all students. The same can be said for Web 2.0 based learning. The key difference though is that through the connectedness of Web 2.0, students can learn what they need to even if they didn’t learn it to mastery the first time. If students had access to the Web, learning can take place not only in school, but when the student is ready, even if it is outside of the regular school day.

Professional development is key to making these changes happen. Teachers need to not only learn what the tools are, but how to incorporate them into their classroom (library, gym, school, etc.) This class is an example of how professional development can be accomplished online. Even after the “for credit” class is over, the content will still be up on the Web for others to access.

For all students to be able to compete in the technology-based environment that they are growing up in, they must have access to broadband. I was surprised to see that in a 2007 study by the federal government, “42% of households have either no computer or a computer with no Internet connection.” These students are at a serious disadvantage.

How to pay for Internet access is another issue. Periodically, there are rumblings that Web sites that provide a lot of content should pay more. Some fear that this will leave small sites at lower speeds that will then result in fewer site hits. In the past few months some companies have started to charge more for users that access the Internet more. In my opinion, this is a step backward.