In the 2Learn.ca Academy, we touched briefly on digital citizenship and the role of the teacher in implementing the use of Web 2.0 tools in the classroom.  What are the major benefits, challenges and issues that you see for using Web 2.0 tools in your class?

I think the challenges are greater in Div I and Div II.  In our school blogs etc. that are published online are not practical because the students do not have their own email account through the school, we have safe guards put on the computers that blocks a lot of the sites and amount of lab times can be issues.  However, our region has set up folders that students can access as group work projects are assigned and anyone in the school has access to them to update, revise etc the work as necessary.  When brought up at staff discussions it always goes back to if it is on the web how can we protect our students and of course lab time to work with the Web 2.0 tools.  I think by doing similar things that are not published to the web, our students will be ready when the time comes for them to use the Web 2.0 tools as they are meant to be used.  Collaboration on projects is a life skill they can practice without it being published to the web yet.

DBoyda I can echo your concerns. It is very scary for teachers and parents to think that their children's work will be accessible to millions on the web. We of course want them to be safe but the motivation for them of having their voice heard on the internet (even though it might be a teeny tiny voice) is huge. For your blog posts I have to steer you to http://classblogmeister.com/ . This site allows all of your students to post and share their work in a secure environment and it is free.

I think the hardest push is going to be getting rid of that concern over computer lab time. With more digitally savy parents and students we are going to see a demand for wireless networks that support student owned laptops, netbooks, and iPad/iSlate like devices.This will change the school's site based technician's role. It will also free up school money for computer pods, netbooks for the less fortunate, and content creation tools.

Our job in all of this, as tech leaders, is to keep the tools relevant and seemless to the learning that will be happening. If we don't free up the tools and resources we will become less relevant to our learners and will have to concentrate on managing students who want more engagement with their learning.