A few months ago I read a book by Will Richardson that talks about blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other cool Web 2.0 tools. I took the chapter on blogging very seriously when it said something to the effect that true blogging is not merely journaling. OK---maybe that is true, but you know what? I have had a difficult week and I need to vent a little bit.

I am currently taking an online class through Chadron State College. We have been given the task of completing 16 weeks worth of work in four weeks. As a final project we were to write a paper on a behavior plan for an ED or BD student. One of the students suggested that we would learn more by working on the project as a group. Great idea! It immediately occured to me that we could collaborate using a wiki. I went to wikispaces and in less than one minute I had created the perfect online forum. I sent out a mass email to everyone in my class which included a link to the site as well as brief instructions. What happened over the next two days shook my faith in the future leaders in education. Most of my peers panicked! After reading discussion post after discussion post about how it was "too complicated" I could not take any more.

I posted again begging my peers to just try it. I explained that it was as easy as edit and save, but only a few were moved by my plea. I even posted a picture of me holding a sign that says "Please try the wiki" (See my image on this page.) That was a week ago. Out of 27 or so students only five or six actually tried it. They all remarked on how easy it was. No duh!!! A trained monkey can do it---we are graduate students for crying out loud!!!!

OK---I'm being a little immature. I am just completely frustrated. How are we supposed to teach our students 21st skills when we won't even try to use them! I bet 90% of the teachers in the Panhandle have never even heard of Web 2.0 or 21st century skills. Their excuse usually is that they do not have time to learn them or that since their students do not have access to computers every day that there is no reason to learn it. It is called PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT. If an educator is unwilling to learn new things then it is time to step out of the game. Teachers who do not possess the passion for learning have no place in a classroom.

I am still really upset which is ironic because I just finished writing a paper for my grad class on controlling emotions. There are just times when I need to get my feelings out there for the world to read.