The Dawn of a New Day
Real World Meets the Classroom

Will Richardson published a blog titled "Passion Based Learning", where he comments on a CNET review. The web and the 2.0 technologies are fostering the development of a passion and energy that promotes collaboration beyond anything previously available. Don't get me wrong, we have all been a part of some educational experience that has peeked our individual excitement and forced student collaboration. However, these technologies have enabled students to experience a more comfortable and user friendly platform unlike ever before. Over the course of the past two weeks, I have experienced this energy as a teacher from the sidelines. Having introduced students to blogs and wikis in the early part of the school year, I thought I would extend their understanding of the potential of these technologies by introducing them to Skype and an online whiteboard called vyew. What has transpired over these past two weeks has not only reinforce my own personal belief in these web 2.0 technologies, but more importantly, they have opened the eyes of the students to their value. During the course of these past two weeks, students in my classes have initiated online study groups on their own. They have begun to utilize these technologies to collaborate and prepare for tests, essays, and reading assignments on a nightly basis. Entering class each day, I would hear a new tale of the previous night's online happenings. I actually heard a student make the comment that studying is FUN! To further understand the phenomena that was occurring, I opened up this blog to parent comments. This only furthered my excitement, as parents began to engage in the process, and began to comment on their child's enthusiasm. Parents began to recognize these learning experiences and how these experiences were providing real world applications. One parent comments

I am delighted to see her enthusiasm each time you have introduced her to a new form of technology. "Social Studies", I'm showing my age, has never been my strong point and I find it difficult to help her. Your class has changed that.

I work for a company that was recently bought by a company in MA. My boss works there. We have created wikis to communicate and compile information regarding projects we are working on. We also use Skype to keep in contact. This is a real world example of how what you're teaching them can be used productively!

As long as I have been in education (16 years), educators have often claimed the value of parental involvement in learning. These technologies are beginning to cross the generational barriers that have often been a difficult obstacle to overcome. Imagine, teenagers and their parents, sitting in front of the family computer, working together to construct a wiki or a blog, while Skyping other teens and parents. Katie bar the door! What could be next, teens sitting with parents, helping mom with her company's wiki?