Hello, thanks...
Google, Facebook, YouTube, Second Life, etc. are created by adults for adults with revenue in mind. Google's retrieval system is geared to advertising and profits; not to serve the public's best interests.
We don't stop and think; or most people don't. There are non-commercial free lessons or games on the web but we're programmed to pay for things so we turn to ixl.com or starfall.com instead of
http://www.e-learningforkids.org/ or the Internet Public Library (
http://www.ipl.org/div/kidspace/)
There are many reasons why we're in a stuck in an analog type mode of thinking. Part of the reason is the belief that only the wealthy, elite, educated, and powerful have access to knowledge. Part of the reason is due to copyright issues and proprietary systems. Part of the reason is due to IT professionals and business people taking over the Internet who aren't always known for making things user-friendly. Part of it is due to the teaching and library professions still stuck in words and print-based mentality.
Yes, it's about everyone having a voice and having access to knowledge. Yes, it's about collaborating and sharing knowledge and not having it restricted to the dons at Oxford or Harvard or the old (white) boy's network at Phillips Academy.
Yes, knowledge is no longer controlled. This will include teachers no longer controlling the flow of information either.
Yes, it's about our relationship to knowledge and technology. It's about empowerment. Are we satisfied with others presenting information to us and being controlled by others or do we prefer generating information or creating and finding things out for ourselves? Creative and divergent thinkers like to tip things over with control.
One problem today is that the world's information is doubly every two days and no one can keep up with it. It's too much to digest and process. How many top 100 lists can you scroll through?
Another problem is the way we think and retrieve information. Change often provokes the fight-flee response. Right now, I think many people are in flee mode or cannot handle the sheer volume of information. Sorry, but I think of Gordon Ramsay and Kitchen Nightmares here. I wish libraries and schools had a version of it for Web 2.0.
Google is looking obsolete to me when I start looking at the amount of Web 2.0 tools. It's gotta change.
Web 2.0 involves users creating the content (your own FREE virtual book, newsletter, 3D binder, games, computer program, etc.). I believe students will be creating their own sets of digital knowledge, information, or libraries, if they're not already in some capacity.
But what good is Web 2.0 if information isn't being disseminated or users cannot find it?
Hopefully, Web 2.0 will cause people to question the status quo!
