SCROLL DOWN TO READ THE POST
New CoSN Doc on Web 2.0 in schools
Many of you out there will find the new CoSN study, Leadership for Web 2.0 in Education: Promise and Reality, a very useful document, a document that might just inspire change and innovation–well, at least some reflection–in your district.
Released on May 1 by the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN), and supported by a MacArthur Foundation grant, the study finds that although school district administrators grasp the significant potential for Web 2.0 in learning and teaching, its actual use is quite limited.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
The study collected data from nearly 1,200 school administrators–superintendents, curriculum directors and technology officers. It was designed to examine the role of digital media in American schools and to
gain understanding of the beliefs, perspectives, and practices of administrators which are conducive or constraining of effective use of Web 2.0.
Principal investigator James Bosco noted:
The study’s findings help to put a spotlight on the discrepancy that exists between attitudes toward Web 2.0 and actual implementation and use at the classroom level. If U.S. students are to be the next inventors, entrepreneurs and leaders in the global economy, we must see to it that our young people have the innovative tools they need to be successful in the 21st century, particularly in the classroom.
Among the key findings recorded in the Executive Summary:
- The nation’s district administrators are overwhelmingly positive about the impact of Web 2.0 on students’ lives and their education. Nearly three-quarters of respondents (superintendents and curriculum directors) said that Web 2.0 technologies had been a positive or highly positive force in students’ communication skills and the quality of their schoolwork. Over 50% of those same administrators believe that Web 2.0has had a positive or highly positive impact on students’ interest in school (67%), interests outside of school (70%), self-direction in learning (65%), sense of community and culture (65%), peer relationships (58%), relationships with parents and family (56%), and homework habits (55%). On the flip side, nearly half of these district administrators said that Web 2.0 had a negative or highly negative influence on exercise/physical conditioning. In addition, some district administrators (26%) said Web 2.0 negatively impacted homework habits.
- Keeping students interested and engaged in school is the top priority for Web 2.0 in American schools. The seven highest-ranking priorities for Web 2.0 use by district administrators were:
1. Keep students interested and engaged in school
2. Meet the needs of different kinds of learners
3. Develop critical thinking skills
4. Develop capabilities in students that can’t be acquired through traditional methods
5. Provide alternative learning environments for students
6. Extend learning beyond the school day
7. Prepare students to be lifelong learners - The majority of district administrators believe that student use of Web 2.0 should be limited to participation on approved educational Web sites. Ensuring that students know how to utilize Web 2.0 tools in a safe and ethical way. The technology is here to stay—but our efforts to educate students on ethical use of this technology is primarily in implementing its regular use in the classroom.– A Superintendent in Nebraska
- The majority of school districts ban social networking (70%) and chat rooms (72%) while allowing prescribed educational use for most of the other Web 2.0 tools (e.g., blogging, using wikis, sharing music or sound files, sharing visual media, posting messages, participating in virtual worlds, playing interactive games, creating polls or surveys, etc.). Over 50% of district administrators reported
that their filtering systems were more restrictive than that required by the federal policies. - While curriculum directors report low levels of general use of Web 2.0, they describe significant opportunities in curricula and teaching materials. While district administrators believe there is potential value to learning in the Web 2.0 applications with significantly less use, the implication is that the more such use would require significant shifts in instructional approach, use of time, role and responsibility of learner and teacher, etc., the less likely it is that they will be used in schools.
- Curriculum directors reported that Web 2.0 will be used most effectively in social studies, writing, science, and reading at all grade levels. Over half of the curriculum directors reported that they expect little Web 2.0 impact at the elementary level in the areas of mathematics, visual and performing arts, or foreign language. Conversely, curriculum directors anticipated a positive Web 2.0 impact in those areas at the middle and high school levels.
- The use of these tools in American classrooms remains the province of individual pioneering classrooms. The majority of administrators reported that Web 2.0 tools have not been integrated into theirdistrict’s curriculum. Over half of superintendents and curriculum directors also reported that these applications were not being used to support teaching and learning in their districts.
- Web 2.0 is outpacing the capacity of K-12 education to innovate. “The traditional way we ‘do school’ will change as students have more access to the world around them. If we are producing globally competitive students, we have to adapt to the world they will encounter.”
–An Urban Superintendent - District administrators, the persons responsible for the decision-making on Web 2.0 in schools, are more passive than active users in the Web 2.0 space. “I am not sure we all know what is out there to be used — no less how to effectively use it!”
– A Superintendent
Keith R. Krueger, CEO of CoSN, noted in the press release:
Our schools must better align the reality of the technology-rich world in which our students live outside of school with the learning experiences they have in the classroom each day.
Other CoSN leadership initiatives might also be of interest to teachers, administrators, and librarians:
- Cyber Security for the Digital District
- Data-Driven Decision-Making
- Empowering the 21st Century Superintendent
- Green Computing
- IT Crisis Preparedness
- K-12 Open Technologies
- Small District Technology Leadership
- Taking Total Cost of Ownership to the Classroom
- Value of Investment
- Web2.0 Policy and Leadership
Filed under: Uncategorized
About Joyce Valenza
Joyce is an Assistant Professor of Teaching at Rutgers University School of Information and Communication, a technology writer, speaker, blogger and learner. Follow her on Twitter: @joycevalenza
ADVERTISEMENT
SLJ Blog Network
Endangered Series #30: Nancy Drew
Research and Wishes: A Q&A with Nedda Lewers About Daughters of the Lamp
Preview: Archie Jumbo Comics Digest #350
Take Five: New Middle Grade Books in May
The Classroom Bookshelf is Moving
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT