As a teacher from Ghana and an immigrant in the United States, I have come to realize how different the teaching profession is standardized based on the social needs and the resources available in a particular time frame. While regular access to high speed Internet in Ghana sometimes become the privilege of the urban dweller and particularly the few who can afford the devices required to get connected (affecting mode of instruction in general), Internet access in the US has been a part of everyday life, including instructions in the classroom. Campbell High School, where I have a mentor for my Instructional Technology program, is no exception.
Surfing through the school's website, I was convinced that the high school has a page that better gears towards the integration of Web 2.0 than their counterparts in Ghana who are even privileged to have a website. The school has an academic portal page but had no entry as at the time of writing this piece. There is a link to the principal's blogs where students, teachers and the community are given the opportunity to post their comment. The announcements section is giving an RSS button where readers can subscribe. It also has an active Twitter account that encourages conversations about pertinent issues. I would say, at least it is on the right path of fostering digital collaboration between students and teachers as well as the community, if already not at where Richardson (2010) suggests. It is hoped that the success of teacher and administration participation in weblogs and wikis would encourage the inclusion of students to promote teaching and learning.
Finding myself teaching in one of the boarding schools in Ghana where Internet access is not as widespread as it is in the US schools, the integration of the Web 2.0 in lessons might be limited, at least at this current state. Baring the limitations, the Web 2.0 has the potential to help encourage collaboration in my Art class via the use of weblogs and wikis where students can publish and share ideas about new findings. It also opens the opportunity for students to organise electronic portfolios of their artworks whilst the rest of the class is encouraged to provide constructive comments. Class demonstrations can be recorded and saved online where students can visit for a review. With RSS feeds, school announcements would not easily be missed. The social networking sites have always been the medium through which students and the public have got access to some of the portraits I have done as an artist.
Today's learners have grown up immersed in technology, Richardson (2010). They carry devices ranging from cellphones to laptops that have internet access. Most have social networking accounts and are associated with blogging and audio/video casting. Pedagogically building on what students do most outside the school walls would not be a bad idea.
I had always associated Web 2.0 with only the social networking sites like the Facebook and had seen no use of it in the 21st century teaching and learning since most parents complain about the distractions students get from participating in these social networks. The so called distractions can be redirected if students are encouraged to publish posts that are of academic value.
Surfing through the school's website, I was convinced that the high school has a page that better gears towards the integration of Web 2.0 than their counterparts in Ghana who are even privileged to have a website. The school has an academic portal page but had no entry as at the time of writing this piece. There is a link to the principal's blogs where students, teachers and the community are given the opportunity to post their comment. The announcements section is giving an RSS button where readers can subscribe. It also has an active Twitter account that encourages conversations about pertinent issues. I would say, at least it is on the right path of fostering digital collaboration between students and teachers as well as the community, if already not at where Richardson (2010) suggests. It is hoped that the success of teacher and administration participation in weblogs and wikis would encourage the inclusion of students to promote teaching and learning.
Finding myself teaching in one of the boarding schools in Ghana where Internet access is not as widespread as it is in the US schools, the integration of the Web 2.0 in lessons might be limited, at least at this current state. Baring the limitations, the Web 2.0 has the potential to help encourage collaboration in my Art class via the use of weblogs and wikis where students can publish and share ideas about new findings. It also opens the opportunity for students to organise electronic portfolios of their artworks whilst the rest of the class is encouraged to provide constructive comments. Class demonstrations can be recorded and saved online where students can visit for a review. With RSS feeds, school announcements would not easily be missed. The social networking sites have always been the medium through which students and the public have got access to some of the portraits I have done as an artist.
Today's learners have grown up immersed in technology, Richardson (2010). They carry devices ranging from cellphones to laptops that have internet access. Most have social networking accounts and are associated with blogging and audio/video casting. Pedagogically building on what students do most outside the school walls would not be a bad idea.
I had always associated Web 2.0 with only the social networking sites like the Facebook and had seen no use of it in the 21st century teaching and learning since most parents complain about the distractions students get from participating in these social networks. The so called distractions can be redirected if students are encouraged to publish posts that are of academic value.