The Moss-Free Stone

I had the opportunity to share an overview of Web 2.0 technologies with a group of secondary science facilitators yesterday. As a former science teacher, I knew up front that this can be a daunting task. Science teachers, especially the good ones, are a tough sell. They spend a great deal of time focusing on quality, hands-on learning, and in the eyes of many, there is not much that can be added in terms of educational value to a classic frog-dissection or chemistry lab. Science classes were also the classes that I, as a young student, found the most intriguing and motivational–they didn’t need “bells and whistles.” So the task, as I saw it, was to share a wide array of tools, then encourage the teachers to consider which, if any, would enable them to teach any of their objectives more effectively.

As I began by introducing the general concept of Web 2.0, some familiar questions arose. First of all, the subject of Wikipedia’s reliability came up. One teacher was concerned with the accuracy of information on Wikipedia, due to the collaborative nature of the site. They were pleasantly surprised to learn that Wikipedia is moderated, and even more surprised to know that studies have shown it to be comparably accurate to other sources, including Britannica online. I pointed out that no encyclopedia, whether print or online, would be satisfactory as a source for research, but that Wikipedia was a source for a general overview of a topic, which should then be used as a springboard to more in-depth research. Finally, the ability of Wikipedia to remain up-to-the-minute made it a useful resource.

This discussion led immediately into a great point, shared by a high school biology teacher for whom I hold the highest respect. He stated that students all too often lack the ability to be critical of the sources they utilize, especially online sources. He further argued that students often are too reliant on easily accessed information online, and they are unable or unwilling to do the work to create their own concepts. He stated,

“Kids are like a doctor that has all of the books but has never been to any classes. I don’t want my students to leave my class knowing where to find the information, but not knowing how to discover it themselves.”

I almost cheered! Students must, indeed, learn how to not only find and critique information online, but, most importantly, they must learn to put 2 and 2 together and get 4. In other words, they need to be able to gather information from books, journals, online sources, and by getting their hands dirty, then arrive at a logical, thoughtful conclusion. The Internet is not an evil enemy of education, but would it be fair to say that it can be a supporter of lazy scholarship? This great teacher rightly sees his role as being to encourage students to not simply to consume, but to criticize and, most importantly, to create (which so many Web 2.0 tools facilitate marvelously). I would love for my own children to have the opportunity to learn in such an environment!

Once we moved beyond this thoughtful discussion, I feel like I might have overwhelmed them a bit by giving too much information in a short period of time. I believe the most useful information shared was via the personal testimonies of my middle school science teacher turned Web 2.0 champion, Whitney Isbell. Whitney shared her recently created class blog, in which random students are asked to summarize the day’s learning, and the plans for a new wiki she had created for her students, which will focus on science tutorials. Participants responded positively as Whitney shared that these tools, rather than taking extra time, were freeing her to act as a facilitator and mentor, and that students were quick to engage in thoughtful discussion and in the creation of classroom resources. Her job was to create the framework, then to ask leading questions or offer praise/critique for their efforts. Thanks to Whitney for, again, reminding me that examples of tools in action beats theory any day of the week.

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