Out with the Old, In with the New

Web 1.0 is a thing of the past! Who wants to be in a classroom where it is strictly teacher-based instruction and rarely allows collaboration with others? Not me and I would certainly hope not you! Educators today need to be able to effectively deliver material to their net gen. students. Teachers who are utilizing methods and tools of Web 1.0 will not deliver the best education to their students which leaves them with a negative experience.

The characteristics of a Web 1.0 classroom are: teacher centered instruction, not being able to work with groups, using only one media to relay a concept, a non stimulating environment, passive learning, and factual knowledge based. None of these characteristics seem to engage students. The only one I feel may be appropriate at times is the teacher centered instruction for certain content areas such as math. I believe math and any other topics that require more of a direct instruction approach can be teacher centered, however, the classroom environment still needs to be stimulating.

A web 2.0 classroom will be stimulating for students. The students will be taught with more than one means of media to relay a concept and student center learning is encouraged. Working collaboratively with others and learning through experimenting and inquiry based learning are present in a web 2.0 classroom. I prefer a web 2.0 classroom over a web 1.0 classroom because I learn through experimenting and enjoy collaborating with others. Some of the tools utilized in an Web 2.0 classroom are blogs, wiki's, podcasts, internet, email and more. In a blog posted earlier, I described my Web 1.0 high school experiences to the Web 2.0 college experience.

The only issue I forsee with Web 2.0 is the implementation of it with teachers who are not willing to utilize the tools or methods of Web 2.0. There are educators who have been teaching for 20+ years who are not willing to modify their instruction. Whether these teachers realize it or not, they are seriously hindering their students learning. Either one of two things need to happen so the education of these students are not seriously hurt. These teachers must be trained how to effectively teach using Web 2.0 methods and tools or these teachers must find a new profession. Honestly, the net gen will not benefit one bit from a teacher who teachers via Web 1.0.