I am an educational technologist who has been working in the field for over 20 years. I like progress. I like technology. Yet, I do not own an mp3 player. I really prefer cameras with film but use what is available, and have been known on rare occasion to Photoshop the results. I do not subscribe to RSS feeds. I do not read friends’ blogs and wikis although almost everyone I know has one—I’m just not really interested in what my friends and colleagues are doing every minute of the day. My cell phone which was purchased solely for the purpose of being accessible when there was an emergency is five years old. I do own a computer which I do use for work, school, and play. But, similar to the great Groucho Marx, (Go! Look him up, all you young’ns) and his cigar, I do turn the machine off once in a while, along with the tv and radio. Sometimes, silence is soooooo nice.

That rant is over. Now for the next rant. I’d really like to know how other school districts get away with student texting, teacher web sites, student and teacher blogs and wikis. I’d really love to know. Did they shoot all the lawyers in those towns? Does every student really submit a signed acceptable use policy? Does every teacher have back up lessons to accommodate the student who’s parents’ religious or political (is there really a difference?) beliefs want to maintain complete control/censorship over everything their child is exposed to? When do these students learn to type fast enough to complete their school work within a given amount of time? Is the building educational technologist, the person who has some level of responsibility for enforcing the district AUP, supposed to tell his or her colleagues they can’t mention on their blog, web site or wiki that the homework they post is for their class. The district needs plausible deniability, just in case the teacher has some minor tidbit on his or her web site which might encourage someone seeking to make money off the district, to sue.

Will web 2.0 help in education? Maybe. Depends on what educational goals are being sought.

Addendum. Now that I’ve found where to post. The skills we were taught as students to prepare us for the 20th century are not the same as those our students are learning for the first score of the 21st century. The question is, will those skills still be relevant when these students become adults? There are indications that the technology will completely change again. Input devices will be totally different.

This generation of kids is different from ones in the past. They have grown up digital and computers, iPods, PSP’s, are part of their everyday life. There are so many different things that we as teachers could use with these different technologies to help educate our students and keep them activity engaged in the learning process.

I feel that many teachers are afraid to try something different along the lines of 2.0 or some kind of pod cast because they themselves are not comfortable using the technology and often times do not want to leave their comfort zone. Times are changing and we as educators need to adapt to the change.

However, one issue I’ve noticed with respect to using new devices such as iPods and cellphones in the classroom is that they are used for real educational purposes a very small percentage of the time. It’s great for a student to be able to look up a quick fact or definition on their smartphone, but while they’re finding out the information, they also check their e-mail, send a few text messages, and read their Facebook feed. These devices are distracting, and in reality they end up providing an opportunity to lose focus and interest on the current task at hand.

We recently had a “Web 2.0″ guest speaker describe a situation where his student was constantly checking his cell phone in class, so he asked what the student was doing. The student responded that his sister was going into delivery, so the speaker said it was fine that he keep sending messages, and what a great use of technology this was. Clearly, this student was using his phone for no educational purpose whatsoever, and in my opinion, the student should have excused himself from the room to take care of his personal business, rather than create a huge distraction that had nothing to do with English class.

I am not proposing that these devices should never be used in the classroom, but they are only appropriate in certain situations. One upcoming topic I will be teaching in physics is inertia, and I have students first pass a basketball around, and then pass a bowling ball around to compare the difference in inertia between the two objects. I cannot think of anything you could put on the screen of an iPod or cellphone that would describe an object’s resistance to change in motion better than this hand-on demonstration.

Students do need to learn many skills with respect to technology, as they will continue to use them on a daily basis for the rest of their lives, but I believe technology should not be implemented as an all-out replacement of hands-on demonstrations and lab activities that teach students core physics concepts.