Recently I visited several secondary classrooms where i was trying to identify the way Web 2.0 was infiltrating education. I found out... It isn't! This was a really worrying experience for me, expecially considering the way a lot of primary schools are now embracing it. In many of these classrooms, 'big brother' providers have blocked most sites that could be used to connect their students with the outside world. Blogs, wikis, Skype, Twitter, SMS messaging, are just not available to some of these students. In some schools, social networking was seen as a big bogey that could expose them to dangers beyond redemption. In others, it just hadn't been considered as a possibility, but for those, after it was demonstrated the teachers agreed that it could offer huge potential to broaden their students' connectivity to the bigger world and are keen to give it a go. i wonder how wide-spread this finding is in NZ. This is my first foray into this field so am i receiving a biased view? Do others find that secondary schools are being controlled by the service providers they are locked into? How easy is it to push these people around and get sites that could be really useful to teh students unblocked? When i talked to one student about using Skype and Blogs, she instantly rattled off a list of ways she could use these to enhance her learning. Without prompting.
I'd be interested in feedback...