Darren Kuropatawa of A Difference is a perfect example of what School 2.0 will look like. Or at least it’s a start.
As part of his math curriculum, he and his students blog about the current class math lesson. Because blogs are generally open for anyone to see, his class took a turn when a 10-year-old student named Eddie stumbled on the class blogs and started commenting on what they were learning in class.
Darran took the opportunity to create another, potentially larger, learning lesson for his class. They talked about the post and then the class went back to Eddie’s blog and started commenting back.
Enter School 2.0.
Darran no longer has to feel the pressure of being the sole source of knowledge in the classroom. Instead, the learning can and is happening from peer to peer. But not just from within the classroom, but from around the world. Eddie commented on what they were learning and in turn, Darran’s class commented on what Eddie was learning. This peer-to-peer learning is what web 2.0 is about and we can use that same technology to leverage peer-to-peer learning in education.
As the teacher, Darran can then focus more on the relationships he has with all the students.
Kudos to Darran, Eddie, and the Pre-Calc 40S Winter ’07 class!
