Bridging the Conceptual Gap in Education (2.0)
Many divisions are creating obstacles for learning in Education. The digital divide is real and some efforts are being made to bridge this gap. Defining the digital divide is fairly straightforward: Those with access to high speed internet and content-rich websites have a distinct advantage over those that are not so connected. The divide is evident in rural areas in the U.S., in particular.
But there remains another divide perhaps more threatening to progress in Education than the digital divide: It is the conceptual divide that exists between teachers who have educated themselves in the area of 21st century learning tools (sometimes also called Web 2.0, Education 2.o, e-learning, ed tech, etc..).
Attempting to tag websites bookmarked at del.ici.ous or diigo highlights the problem. Depending on the site, all of the following terms potentially describe the content in them:
- Web 2.0
- Web 2.0 in Education
- Education 2.0
- E-Learning
- Education Technology (or EdTech)
- Digital Learning
- Digital Teaching
- Web-Based Learning
- 21st Century Skills
- 21st Century Learning
- Classroom 2.0
- New Education Paradigms
As Sylvia Martinez points out, all of these terms are open to (mis)interpretation. Depending on one’s level of experience in the “2.0″ realm, many of these terms can be taken to mean anything from student’s word processing on a single computer in a Language Arts class to asynchronous, media-rich, web-based learning activities received through multiple wireless access points.
What is becoming evident is that specific professional development initiatives in the very general umbrella term of 21st century learning tools are essential so that ALL Educators can join the “__2.0″ party in the proper spirit and with the proper conception of what this all means for potential quality student learning. These professional development efforts need to be led by folks keen enough to understand that “Education 2.0″ represents a shift in dominant paradigms in education as well as ever expanding web-based tools for learning and teaching.
Other thoughts/efforts on how to begin to gain a common conception are most welcome.
Save to Browser Favorites
Ask
backflip
blinklist
BlogBookmark
Bloglines
BlogMarks
Blogsvine
BUMPzee!
CiteULike
co.mments
Connotea
del.icio.us
DotNetKicks
Digg
diigo
dropjack.com
dzone
Facebook
Fark
Faves
Feed Me Links
Friendsite
folkd.com
Furl
Google
Hugg
Jeqq
Kaboodle
linkaGoGo
LinksMarker
Ma.gnolia
Mister Wong
Mixx
MySpace
MyWeb
Netvouz
Newsvine
PlugIM
popcurrent
Propeller
Reddit
Rojo
Segnalo
Shoutwire
Simpy
sk*rt
Slashdot
Sphere
Sphinn
Spurl.net
Squidoo
StumbleUpon
Technorati
ThisNext
Webride
Windows Live
Yahoo!
Email This to a Friend
If you like this then please subscribe to the Filed under: classroom 2.0, education
[...] new content all the time – there are plenty of other places on the web to get research, data Bridging the Conceptual Gap in Education (2.0) – educationalparadigms.com 12/26/2008 Many divisions are creating obstacles for learning in [...]
Exactly why self tagging is doomed and community building is vital.
Simple lists and follows are impersonal and meaningless. We need to join actively in the conversations, not just hoard uncontextualised content and hope others will get it.
Who’s tags are better? Maybe not yours, certainly not mine but if we are conversing on a like project with some depth, my del.icio.us context will become self evident.
Deep semantic auto tagging will rapidly supplant personal choice tags anyway.