Academic institutions are usually slow to make changes,
especially when it comes to integrating new methods of teaching. We
keep talking about how the web will shape education, but school
administrations don’t make it easy to take advantage of all the new
tools out there. For instance, most schools block access to
YouTube, leaving teachers no choice but to roll in the VCR cart every time they want to incorporate a video
into a classroom presentation. 
Luckily, there are a few sites out there that provide the
platform for educators to upload and share media. Most notable is
TeacherTube, an obvious
YouTube copycat that’s been around for just over a year now. They
boast over 15,000 user-generated videos to supplement K-12
education, many of them tutorials for projects or instructional
videos. Teachers can upload material and collaborate with other
educators around the world, and most schools have allowed access to
the site.
It’s been a great way for teachers to generate new and
interesting lesson plans, and it allows students to review a
concept several times to make sure they understand it. It would
also be a great platform for students to share information with
each other from different schools or countries, and work on
projects together. But, despite its popularity and benefits to both
teachers and students, some schools are still wary of allowing
video-sharing sites to be used at school.
(cont.)
How soon will it be before online tools will not only acceptable
in the classroom, but a mandatory requirement for 21st century
learning? Some aruge that using blogs, wikis, videos, and social
networking doesn’t fit in with a curriculum, and the content
doesn’t meet educational standards. But what about the process
itself? Is it unimportant for students to learn how to collaborate
in an online space, participate in social learning, and become
content creators?
Please check out Steve Hardagon’s illuminating post
Web 2.0 Is the Future of Education to get an idea of how the
web and social media are changing the rules of education. He
definitely gets the big picture, and brings it all nicely together
to illustrate how the Internet has created a new medium for
learning that must be utilized.
The world is speeding up, and educational systems need to allow
students to develop the skills needed for lifelong learning,
collaboration, and content production.
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