Tuesday 6.15.08

[Sonali]

I was able to get some necessary reading done on the train and learned more about web based projects. The authors suggest interdisciplinary collaboration to make the most of web 2.0 technologies. At my school, this seems to take a back seat despite the formation of grade teams which are alligned with the collaborative design model. Perhaps if I set up a wiki for the grade team, we will be more likely to talk about our curricula. My morning reading also gave me a great definition for literacy which includes the ability for people to effectively use technology and have a "continuum of learning" (Boss et al 49). I think this is important when discussing "literacy" in staff development sessions just so there is a constant emphasis on computers and the need for them. Lastly, the text described the importance of disposition and through synthesis, I can conclude that the use of "web 2.0" inreases student disposition because this is a "medium" they use everyday as a social space (Boss et al 51). Web 2.0 seems to be like the coffee shops and bars that students used around my high school as hang out spots. I can't imagine that my teachers would have ever taken us to those venues to learn but it would have been interesting if they did.

Homepages seem to be a good starting place for students but what about for teachers? Wikis? Have I already begun somehow? Somewhere?

[Sonali]

Thanks Felicia.

[Felicia]

Collaboration is a tricky word. It seems so simple but is so fraught with challenge and uncertainty. You have to be a good negotiator to collaborate well and you have to be accustomed to working as a team. When we take "lone rangers" or teachers who are used to working behind closed doors and ask them to work together on something, we are asking for trouble unless we do some careful preparation.
Collaborate for what purpose? What are our goals? Are each person's goals the same? Need they be? How do we work together and keep the integrity of our content area principles? These are only some of the questions I think we need to keep in mind when we say we are collaborating.