Get Educators into Online Collaboration Environments
We say we’re isolated, yet online collaboration tools exist....
Teachers are isolated to their rooms. Principals are isolated to their schools. Inservices, meetings, and the like, just put extra stress on the big time factor in our busy lives. Why not do what the students already practice? And yes, even some businesses are collaborating more and more online.
A whole series of tools, resources, solutions, whatever you want to call them, have begun to emerge with Web 2.0. Referred to as the Read/Write web, an evolution that allows us all to not just consume surfed web pages, but produce something back on the internet. The tools are called, podcasts, blogs, wikis, threaded bulletin boards or conferences, instant messaging, video conferences etc.. You can participate synchronously (online at the same time), or asynchronously (post and come back). But, they break down the barriers of time and distance. You can participate without leaving your school, your classroom, or your home.Teachers are isolated to their rooms. Principals are isolated to their schools. Inservices, meetings, and the like, just put extra stress on the big time factor in our busy lives. Why not do what the students already practice? And yes, even some businesses are collaborating more and more online.
All can participate, not just the loud or bold ones. Ideas become rampant, as peer review becomes the norm, rather than the exception. Imagine the possibilities of all three grade teachers, all Geometry teachers, all Principals, are provided and opportunity of inputting information, processing, then outputting. The record is kept, and the continual spiraling of thought and learning emerges. It’s powerful, and our choice is to participate, or remain isolated.
