Week 2

Thoughts on School 2.o...

I'll be honest, my first impression of this site was not overly positive. I think that it initially did not live up to my expectations. Everything I've seen, reviewed, downloaded, etc. associated with this course has been very user-friendly, visually stimulating, and appealing. When I first followed the link to School 2.0, I immediately began to critique in my mind the layout and design of the web page. I am not a web designer and I usually do not analyze web pages as a hobby, but I could not ignore the small font size, the empty space on the right side and the multi colored squares logo. It bothered me. But why?

I think in this age of instant access to information, I was a little annoyed that I could not just click away and follow link after link and page after page. Well, I could have, but it did not look interesting to me and I would not have gained anything from my efforts. On this site I actually had to read the words on each page in order to figure out what this site was really all about. As I read over my own words I cannot help but realize how pathetic this sounds; "This page actually wants me to read?" What am I thinking? The irony is, you are getting these thoughts in the exact manner that I did not want to...by actually reading the words on the page.

After going back to the home page and restarting, not once, but three times, I began to actually analyze the content of this web site. The assignment for this week was not to skim or peruse this site, but we were asked to analyze. In order to get anything useful out of this site, I needed to analyze. Cool. I am becoming so accustomed to the instant gratification acquired through the use of technology that I am not taking the time to discover, internalize, and process what I was asked to do. The bottom line, I did exactly what my students do; I skimmed for answers and ignored the details. Shame on me.

Aside from the aesthetics, the content of the page was both exciting and overwhelming. I find it exciting because I know that a lot of my students and classrooms in my district possess the tools, knowledge, and resources to become a school of the next generation, a 2.0 school. I also get overwhelmed with the notion of time, energy, effort, and resources necessary to prepare everyone in the district (students, teachers, administration, and parents) with the skills needed to achieve this transformation.

In closing, although I did not initially like the layout and appearance of this site, I can imagine that its message and resources have been and will be invaluable to schools that are planning the upgrade from school 1.0 to 2.0. I am in complete agreement with the slogan of this site, "There is no one path to the school of tomorrow." Every person in every district has a unique set of circumstances that will factor into their transformation. But as the ancient Chinese proverb states, the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. I think School 2.o provides stepping stones that will make the journey a bit easier. And in the end, thinking of those little boxes in the logo as stepping stones, make the site that much more appealing to me.