Web 2.0: Learning from Blogs and Wikis

In Bill Ferriter's article "Learning with Blogs and Wikis," he argues that the new emphasis on collaborative learning in small teams within schools and the widespread access to digital tools like blogs and wikis provide teachers space to transform hostile learning environments into professional learning communities. While I absolutely believe in the democratizing power of such a bottom-up approach to systemic change, I think in order for such a reshaping of PD and school culture to take root, school leaders and district leaders will also need to create structures that support teachers in creating professional learning communities and employing Web 2.0 effectively.

Although new technology can be scary, it is incumbent upon all of us who want to transform the cultures of our schools to explore the possibilities and constraints of the various technologies now available to us. Two years ago I took the plunge by creating a Google Reader account, after many years of swearing I would never read blogs. I'll admit that I became immediately overwhelmed by number of blogs I could subscribe to and the amount of information that I encountered. My first impulse was to give up or pick the first thing I saw. Only after talking with friends who had suggestions for blogs to follow, did I begin to actually get excited about reading blogs. As my friends and I read the same blogs we began to talk and write about what we were reading in the same way my students would in a book club or literature circle in my classroom. One blog that sparked many interesting conversations was Bridging Differences, which is a back and forth between Deb Meier and Diane Ravitch on issues in education policy. I hope that it will inspire debate with you and your friends the way it did for me and mine.