As my teaching partner and I continue to work together we are discovering new ways of sharing information each day. We are now using technology to share ideas and thoughts. By teaching partner, Chantelle Davies has written a reflection on how web 2.0 and sharing can support teachers.
"It is one of the most beautiful compensations in life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
As a leader or even as someone's equal in the education world, you would be doing a disservice to not only others, but to yourself if you did not choose to embrace the beauties of what we now call web 2.0. As noted in an early post by my teaching partner, Ray Swinarchin, the web has evolved from being just a static resource with read only material (web 1.0) to being a tool that allows for reading, sharing, collaborating and interacting (web 2.0). I have spoken before about the importance of embracing interactive social media tools as a leader in education. To further elaborate on this, I think by using web 2.o tools such as twitter, blogging, instagram, etc. leaders are not only encouraging other educators to lead by example for their students, but they are also helping to open the door for those educators to a much greater wealth of knowledge and expertise. In addition, as per the quote from Ralph Emerson above, leaders are also able to gain something for themselves. By creating and using platforms that encourage sharing, leaders will naturally build networks that they too can rely on as a further source of knowledge. In the age of information it is not possible to know everything about everything in education. Building a network fostered by the sharing of information means leaders can manage this. they can simply turn to their network to ask questions and seek information about the topic they are focusing on at any given moment. they inevitable will benefit from the process.
In an effort to follow this message, we have created a wikispace. It's a bit of a mash up of ideas that all pertain to where we are at in our teaching and learning. Included are sections on split classrooms, blogging and other tech related ideas for the classroom. Please consider sharing in this wiki and add anything you have created for your classroom.
https://21stcenturyclassroom-splits-blogs-tech.wikispaces.com/
I love wikispaces and also appreciate how you are using tools differently. You will be asked, why Wikis vs Blogs vs websites vs livebinders vs evernote vs google docs. You clearly demonstrate that each has a different purpose. Why pencil vs pen?
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