Kristi’s Second Post

Privacy and identity are major issues that we will continue to confront in Web 2.0 and our interaction with it. Julie indicates that, for her, the benefits to this social sharing outweigh the loss of privacy and sharing of identity. I agree, although I think that there are many Internet users out there that do not find this benefit great enough to participate in the mass data sharing that is occurring.

In our research project in the use of Web 2.0 in education, many respondents discussed their concerns about privacy and this interaction between professional and personal relationships. Most users that felt this way used Facebook (if at all) for only “professional” interactions and information sharing. I find this thought process limiting in the available knowledge sharing and use of tools such as Facebook. It reminds me of Prensky’s warning to educators in 2001 that, “our students have changed radically. Today’s students are no longer the people our educational system was designed to teach.”

It has been noted repeatedly that the future jobs for the students being educated today do not even exist. Because of this and many other reasons, educators must find a way to interact with and understand Web 2.0 technologies. As noted by Selwyn (2008), Web 2.0 created an environment of a “read/write web, where users can easily generate their own content as well as consuming content produced by others.” In order to refine this collaborative process, educators closing the door on Web 2.0 technologies need to reevaluate their purpose in the classroom. By at a minimum allowing a discussion, educators as well as students will create a better understanding of the value and costs in this knowledge building.

Rather than limit interactions due to the loss of identity and privacy issues, educators should be creating a means of understanding for their students, as well as ways to use this system to their advantage. As Julie indicated, this understanding is a work in progress, and open discussions with students is another way of moving forward for both the students, as well as the educators. The scope is taken outside of a single classroom, to a worldwide collaboration. In a 2008 publication by the University of London on web use and growth, the researchers noted, “We should not just ask how the web can change education, but how education can change the web.” In a Web 2.0 environment, the opportunities are available.

Submitted by Kristi Dunks

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