As an educator, exploring the tools and applications Web 2.0 offers is like being a kid in a candy store. Everything looks so good…but when I try to consume it all at once I end up with a stomachache! I have always believed in the power of collaborating to create a superior product. Two minds are better than one. Isn’t that the old saying? Well, Web 2.0 takes that idea to a whole new level. Perhaps the new saying should be six billion minds are better than one.
Solomon and Schrum (2007) point out that, “intellectually, Web 2.0 signals a transition from isolation to interconnectedness…(p.13).” This interconnectedness was obvious in Dr. Michael Wesch’s YouTube video, Social Media in the Classroom. In the video, he depicts how his students use a collaborative class wiki to take notes and explore topics. Students contribute outside resources as well as have discussions about the topics or what they found in their research on the wiki page.
Before the tools of Web 2.0 existed, those students would have taken their own individual notes, studied in isolation or perhaps small groups and the collective knowledge of the class would have been low. Now, with access to tools that enable the students to share and synthesize together, the collective knowledge of the class soars…along with each individual student’s knowledge.
Yet, while extolling the wonders of Web 2.0 and what having access means for the future of schools, businesses, and the world, simultaneously I consider the consequences for those who are digitally deprived. Although I live in an urban area (Albuquerque), many areas of my state (New Mexico) are very rural. On a recent trip, I found myself wondering about the digital situation in the small towns that I drove through and the reservations that I drove by.
My suspicion is that many of those communities do not have broadband connection or adequate access to computers, which is important to be able to take advantage of what Web 2.0 offers. In Web 2.0 New Schools, New Tools, Solomon and Schrum (2007) describe Intel’s World Ahead Program that is aimed at helping emerging nations get the necessary infrastructure and trained teachers so that they can join the digital revolution (or evolution) that is taking place. They also point out that in 2006, the United States ranked 20th among countries of the world for broadband penetration at only 44.45% (p.12). Iceland, Israel, and Taiwan all ranked higher than the US. So, I found myself wondering who is seeing to it that emerging towns in the United States are also receiving the proper infrastructure, trained teachers, and digital access needed to be able to experience the interconnectedness that Web 2.0 offers. Shouldn’t everyone be able to indulge and experience a stomachache?
References:
Solomon G. & Schrum L. (2007). Web 2.0 new tools, new schools, International Society for Technology in Education.
AllMuscle1 (2008, September 23) Dr. Michael Wesch - Social Media in the Classroom [Video File]. Video posted to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQPe8bNnjx4
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