Web 2.0: The Cultural Tipping Point for Educators

Trent Batson's excellent article about Cloud computing offering new faculty Innovation opportunities, is one of the best written yet and pinpoints clearly the problems and the promise of IT trends before teachers today. This is a must-read for any educator who wants to understand the impact of emerging technologies on pedagogical best practices and the corresponding dilemmas faced by IT administrators.

Research has confirmed Batson's claim that, "We are as prisoners who have spent our lives in prison and cannot bear not having four walls around us, or those bars on the windows of our curiosity." Therefore, the mindset – not the machine – is more of a challenge to tech integration today.

Here's the summary breakdown of Batson's report:

• Web 2.0 is a global renaissance of flowering knowledge as never before
• Old-think prevents our seeing the opportunities before us as educators
• History proves how faculty took the lead in tech integration in the past
• Continuous change (i.e. Web 1.0 to Web 2.0) is both tantalizing and frustrating
• Unlike changes in automobile innovations that took 91 years, Web 1.0 to 2.0 took only five years!
• Therefore, IT depts are too busy making admin changes, to help faculty with pedagogical needs

Conclusion: "It is therefore time for faculty and academic leaders to assume permanent, campus-wide, and official leadership to transform higher education to fit the cultural learning trends and opportunities of today." (posted 12/3/09)