The Idea
Web 2.0 is a dramatic change in our relationship to information--our access to and our creation of it. As such, Web 2.0 will also dramatically change education.
Most educators and parents live in a Web 1.0 world, where we area passive consumers of information. Most students live in a Web 2.0 world, where their use of the Internet is as much about creating content as it is about receiving it. Because this change is historic in scope, we have to help each other learn what Web 2.0 is and how it can be used in education. We have to gather devoted educators together to help build new "playbooks" for the use of Web 2.0 in school.
Why Free?
1. Because this is too important a topic to have teachers have to "sell" the value of paying a fee to attend. Already, many schools will have to provide substitutes for the teacher time away from class.
2. This project is about making a difference in education. Web 2.0 is scary to a lot of educators--both because it is new and because it raises very real issues around teaching models, classroom management, student visibility, institutional change, and more. Having the workshops be free removes one more barrier to attendance.
3. To model the technology itself, which is (for the most part) free.
If you are interested in sponsoring a particular workshop or the workshops in general, please send an email to steve@hargadon.com.
The Collaborative Model
The workshop are self-created--that is, the local organizers and attendees help to build the topics and agenda based on local needs, and using the talents of those who come. Again, this is modeling the Web itself, and is part of what makes these workshop so amazing and productive.
This is a great model for professional development, in which the active engagement of the attendees often replaces the need for b ringing in outside expertise. Together, "we" are the expert. The "collaborative" nature of the workshops also can help make them a model for self-sustaining professional development planning in the local area.
Wiki Organization
Each workshop is organized on a wiki. A wiki is a "web page with an edit button," and forms the basis of such projects as Wikipedia. Using a wiki allows for the contribution of many people together to create the workshops.
As Clay Shirky has so ably pointed out in Here Comes Everybody, the tools of the Web have dramatically reduced the costs of organizing. Not only is it possible to collaborate together to create a very good event, using a wiki for event planning arguably can create a better event because it allows for the input of many different folks.
If You Build It, We Will Come
If you want to hold a workshop in your area, you can add your name and location information to the wiki or contact Steve at steve@hargadon.com.
