Digital Divide

I was listening to a very interesting podcast this afternoon by Alan November as he interviewed Professor Angela McFarlane http://nlcommunities.com/communities/alannovember/archive/2007/05/08/134650.aspx
She believes that some of the students who are the most digitally literate and in the past would have been our high achievers and successes of the school system are no longer prepared to accept a curriculum which they see as inauthentic, of no interest to them and one which will not further their own needs in the future, and they are walking away and flunking out of school. I know of such instances myself however would be interested to hear if others have also found this to be the case.

Reality Check

Recently I experienced a reality check as I was chatting to a friend I consider to be reasonably computer literate. She asked what I was studying and I said "Web2.0" and before I could go on she interrupted and asked what that was. I realised that most of my exploration and musings had been done with fellow Web2 users who are aware of the latest developments of the internet. However there are obviously a lot of people who have no idea of the amazing changes which are currently taking place on the internet. This friend spoke of an earlier desire for a means by which someone could assist her in searching the internet for the most relevant site when she had a query, and I suggested that social bookmarking might be of use to her.

It seems to me that those who are not in a position where their work or education enables them to become aware of these developments will remain ignorant of the changes, as traditional media do not promote web2 and in fact tend to be scaremongers, warning of the perils of interacting with unknown souls on the internet. Do you see the general public becoming web2 literate in the near future or will there be a gradual change as younger generations mature?

Computer Management Issues

I have been so involved in reading and listening to inspiring teachers who are using Web2 tools in their classroom that I had not stopped to think about the management issues involved. As a casual teacher I have limited opportunities for using computers with classes, however on a block last year I found that students tended to switch to the latest flash game or other online distraction the second I attended to another student. I would be interested to know of others' experiences in this regard, especially those who are able to frequently utilise technology in their classroom.