The One With All The Memes

Web 2.0 Technologies, which allow users to contribute and create content on the Internet, have changed how teachers provide lessons, activities, assignments, tests, quizzes, you name it! The day to day job of teacher has evolved and continues to evolve because of these technologies. No matter the grade level, subject matter, or school district, all teachers are becoming more familiar with web 2.0 technologies to enhance the lives of their students. 

So why exactly do teachers love these new technologies? Based on research and my own opinions there are 3 reasons that Web 2.0 technologies are becoming so popular in education.

1. Interaction and Collaboration

Web 2.0 Technologies are all around us. That is even true inside the classroom. Classrooms are far from traditional today. Teachers and student alike are always looking for ways to interact with one another. These technologies allow for classrooms to turn into communities. Students, teachers and others can collaborate and share. Students enjoy being apart of their learning, playing an active role not a passive role, like students did many years ago. If used correctly, the numerous applications using Web 2.0 technology that were made for education can help students connect with one another.

2. Flexibility

 

While the word flexibility in education may not directly mean staying home in your robe or pajamas but these Web 2.0 technologies allow students to feel connected, even if they are not physically present in class. I do think there is something special about face to face classes that should not be completely taken away, which is why blended learning is so important. It gives students that traditional classroom feel but incorporates the numerous technologies that surround us. In unprecedented times like today, it is a blessing that we have these technologies to administer online learning and students can still communicate, share, and interact with their peers and teachers while sitting home in their robes! The technology we have today in education gives teachers that flexibility to administer assignments online, allow absent students to catch up on work and really takes away the constraints of just having class inside the 4 walls of a "classroom."

3. Knowledge Creation

Long gone are the days of Bill Nye teaching us our science lessons because the teacher is sick, tired, or just not in the mood to "teach" that day. Also, long gone are the days of just sitting in a lecture for hours a week. Say hello, to Web 2.0 technologies! It is vital in student success that they contribute to their learning and create their own knowledge. The platforms and applications created from the Web 2.0 technologies allow for students to create the content themselves instead of just listening to a lecture. We all know lectures are BORING! Students fall asleep, don't retain all the information needed and ultimately don't see their greatest level of success in those type of classroom settings. What students enjoy more, and ultimately have more success in, is hands on learning that they relate to and feel apart of. Teachers today may even see themselves as facilitators of learning more than someone who just distributes information and knowledge. With teachers providing the guidance and stepping stones, students can take that and create their own knowledge with the help of technology. 

With Web 2.0 technologies all around us, it is important to take the time, as an educator, to get to know what is out there and how it can help you and your students!