The State Newspaper has an article in today's paper (http://www.thestate.com/education/story/388640.html) about using the web to communicate with students, teachers, and the community (actually the world). This is something public schools have been slow to grasp - I suspect largely because they don't see this as one of their core beliefs for educating children. I believe this is the future and it's the schools responsibility to prepare students for it. Not using technology - or allowing students to use it - is not preparing our students for the rest of their lives.
So why are schools so hesitant to allow this use? One reason may be found in today's Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/27/AR2008042702213.html?nav=rss_education ). Quite often, authors don't realize the implications with posting items on the internet. However, the Open Education Blog (http://www.openeducation.net/2008/04/28/technology-in-the-classroom-the-role-of-the-principal/ ) has a great interview with an elementary principal, David Sherman. He asks the question, “Protect or Prepare: Which is better for children?” . He goes on to state, "We are very fortunate to work in a school district which places a high value on the use of educational technologies, so many valuable sites are not blocked including YouTube, Wikipedia, Flickr, del.icio.us, and other social networking sites. Of course, we have strong filters protecting students from inappropriate material, but generally speaking, we believe that our responsibility as educators in the 21st Century is to teach students how to use the Internet responsibility as opposed to automatically shutting them out of everything which is done in too many schools through the world and across our country. "
If you are concerned about how best to use technology, I suggest a visit to Open Education and a follow up to one of David's sites.
Jim
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