Students in the classroom constantly challenge teachers to keep pace with developments in technology. Teachers focus on conveyance of information and subsequent creation of knowledge. Students enjoy the freedom and scope of the technological tools available to them in the process. Future teachers in the college learn to use technology at its highest potential to make learning interesting, relevant, and fun for students.
Web 2.0 and Digital Expression The K–12 classroom, as well as the higher education experience, is being transformed by technology, especially the World Wide Web. Technology not only makes instruction easier, but also prepares students for a future that is certain to be grounded in technologies. The World Wide Web is undergoing a makeover. The Web has long been a global library of information, its sites standing as islands cemented in a static, logical order. The new-look Web is an interactive social network filled with blogs, podcasts, and wikis.
“Web 2.0 is about user participation,” says Cole Camplese, director of Education Technology Services at Penn State. “Students today are into digital expression: 50 percent of them have MySpace accounts, most of which were created when the students were between the ages of 15 and 18.” Instructing the children of this digital age requires a new approach. “The evolving and emerging Web 2.0 technologies warrant strategies for incorporating them into Penn State’s IT landscape,” says Camplese. “Students will move their course work into these environments with or without us.”
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