The Web 2.0 classroom

 To answer what a Web 2.0 classroom looks, I must first describe what it does not look like. It doesn’t look like the traditional independent desks aligned in rows with the chalkboard and teacher’s desk in front. Nor does it look like a computer lab with rows of giant CRT monitors obstructing the view from other students. Web 2.0 is accessible, participatory, and social. The classroom does not necessarily have to have walls or “brick and mortal.” The classroom could be the quiet spaces where the students escape, however with Internet access. Physical classrooms could be rearranged in circular “clouds” to facilitate sharing of ideas with their classmates. Students would use smaller form factor laptops that take up less space and are portable. Students would be encouraged to move and share their ideas with other “clouds” in the class as well as other classrooms, schools, and nations. Teachers would be cross-trained in technology and would have the confidence to be technological leaders in the classroom. Instead of posting reports and drawing in the hallways of schools, work would be posted on the Web to share with other students. Work could be organized according to topic and grade. There would be a shared, multi-cultural learning experience. Students could see how others interpreted the same project from different perspectives in different regions of the U.S. and abroad.

Creating a technology-rich constructivist classroom requires money first and foremost. It requires training and, if applied globally, it would require removing non-conforming teachers. Lawsuits and a host of teacher union problems would ensue with that route. The simplest method would be starting the classrooms one at a time with federal, state, and district administrators supporting individual teachers incorporating Web 2.0 technology in the classroom. Web safety nets would have to be in place as well as a campaign to educate parents on Web 2.0 technology, benefits, dangers, and was to mitigate those dangers. Supporting research and documentation should be provided to parents. Also to help educate parents, schools could offer free classes on Web 2.0 technology. Teachers could be required to have profiles on LinkedIn, hiring could require access to the profile and resume instead of posting resume’s in the traditional HR website.

There are no easy answers for the Web 2.0 classroom, but I believe it must begin with administrators giving freedom to the teachers and teachers taking the next step with the freedom. And of course, money.