Education by definition means, “the act or process of imparting or acquiring general knowledge, developing the powers of reasoning and judgment, and generally of preparing oneself or others intellectually for mature life.” What is education today? It has a whole different definition. First lets think about what is the purpose of education. It’s my understanding that the overall purpose of education is to create a productive member of society. At the pace that education is moving and tools and skills necessary for the up and coming generations to succeed; schools, education and society are no longer one in the same. School is no longer limited to a classroom; education is no longer traditional or conventional. Our conventional teaching methods must evolve in order for our craft and profession to survive.
Blogs are one of the web 2.0 tools that appear to be molding and shaping the new wave of students. In fact, I use a blog for the all the classes I teach as a way for students to turn in assignments. Blogs by definition are an online diaries and or journals; a chronological log of thoughts published on a Web page. When you have a class of students that all hate to physically write things down, and you see instant change with something as simple as a blog, as an educator you will want to be part of this movement. “It’s been almost 40 years since the teaching of writing in schools had its last major shift, a move to an emphasis on the “writing process,” which still holds sway in most classrooms today. But with the advent of Web-based social networking tools like blogs and wikis, YouTube and Facebook, it may be that the next revision of writing pedagogy is upon us, one that emphasizes digital spaces, multimedia texts, global audiences and linked conversations among passionate readers.” (Pascopella & Richardson, 2009) I have seen instant change in writing immediately when I offered blog as an option to my students. The only problem that I saw was that the quality of the writing remained the same, as when they were writing on paper, but you know what they say, practice makes perfect. I would rather be exposed to more writing than no writing.
While reading this blog look at education not as a landmark in the story that is your life, but more like a vehicle that will help you get to where you are going.
Last point I would like to make is that although I love technology and where it’s taking us I feel that many of these social networking tools are actually making us less social. All of these social networking tools are causing human contact to be optional and sporadic. Human beings, by nature, are social creatures, but social networking is encouraging us to be the opposite.
References
Pascopella, A., & amp; Richardson, W. (2009). The New writing Pedagogy. District Administration, 45(10/11), 44-50. Retrieved from Academic
Technology itself will never be the answer. Nor will Web 2.0 tools. It is in the way that they are implemented that will allow for the social interaction and networking which will transfer and connect to real world situations. It is already happening every day outside of formal educational settings. They are keeping the communications lines open 24/7. Just food for thought.
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