*Links to the Webzine2 articles are listed in this post. Further links are at the bottom.

With apologies to REM (Click the photo to view the Zurich 2008 video on Youtube.com). Recommended listening while reading this issue.

The theme of this first issue of the International Education Webzine (Webzine2) for 2009 is "Fifteen years of the Web in international education: where are we now?"

Writers were asked to begin with this question, but by no means to feel limited by it. I hope and suspect that they did not. Despite what I thought was a rather mundane question, the responses have not been that way. While their answers show that they do not agree on everything, all sound a note of excitement (or worry) about "where we are" with educational technology.

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Almost to a person, as you will see, our authors agree that we are in a period of significant, even revolutionary, change (this may not surprise you, of course). What made me sit up and take notice, however, was the fact that they all appear to agree that something we've been waiting for, for an awfully long time, and perhaps even despaired of ever seeing, has now arrived: the proverbial "tipping point" for the end of the industrial-age model of education, at least in international schools, at least for now.

You see now why REM's apocalyptic lyrics came to mind: "The end of the world." But as momentous an occasion as this may be if our teacher-observers' assessments of the state of "the academy" are correct, it might be even more important, and I think our writers would agree, to ask ourselves what we will do with this new information. And before that, how do we feel? REM's apparently dark lyrics reveal themselves to be less pessimistic than we at first thought with the addition of "as we know it, and I feel fine." Perhaps this song gives voice to the relief we feel when we finish the angst of adolescence and emerge comfortable with ourselves and the world once again.

So, REM is singing about endings and beginnings, not a final disaster. I am rereading our authors' essays now in an attempt to discern how they feel about this change. Is education emerging from a long adolescence? Or is something darker on the horizon? And, either way, what do our writers think should be done about it?

Most, like Fred Daly, sound an optimistic note. The adjective he uses for technology that enables students to move the locus of their learning beyond the confines of the classroom as "liberating." I suspect he is saying that he feels "fine" about the way things are going. If he is right that this change is here to stay, then students will expect a high degree of connectivity, mobility and flexible timing in their learning as they have come to expect these things in their lives outside of school.

Whether accurate or not, we all know time will tell, but I am struck by what seems to be a universal sense of excitement (mostly good, but with some reservations) at being "alive to see it," the change, that is. At the very least, to read our teacher-writers, we have arrived at a time when we need to re-think or re-vision education.

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For several, the "connectivity" "anywhere, anytime" is the exciting (or worrying) thing. Fred Daly, as already mentioned, sees his students moving beyond the confines of traditional schools, in more ways than one. ["Cracks in the School Wall"] Laura Forish points out that Web2 has come in for a lot of criticism, and that we should look at its potential to bridge individuals and groups, not divide them. ["Educating Twenty-first Century Students"]

The knowledgeable and experienced Seth Ruef says that he would miss teaching with Youtube video and white boards. ["On-line Video and Education"] Francois Stalder agrees and also suggests that the access to information provided by the Web might raise the bar for language acquisition in schools. ["Enhancing Language-Teaching Using the Web"

Not everyone is ready to give the Web top marks, however. Though almost apologetic for a slightly disparaging word, Chika Wilms dares to say, with wordsmith-humor, that perhaps, maybe, understatement intended, something human is still of value in education ["You Gotta Have Heart: An An IT Amateur A-muses …"]; Mick Purcell shows us that always-on technology can be a bit distracting. ["Paying Attention to Attention"]

Robb Sloan tells how different his students' school is from the one he (and most of the rest of us) attended ["Was I Born Too Soon?"]; Chris Chater goes deep into history to compare previous shifts in world-view to the changes we are now experiencing. ["Learning from the Past"].

John Stiles chose not to address technology and its changes, but rather another type of change in the realm of educational testing. ["Time Tested Methods or Just Bad Habits?"] John's answer is food for thought as technology in itself does not solve such curricular decisions, but can be used to assist carrying them out -- for better or worse.

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I think that when you read on in a minute you will see what I mean when I say that the authors have produced a variety of responses that is more fun and more thought-provoking than we could have hoped. I hope you will agree that separately and together the effort they put forth has resulted in a significant contribution, not only toward an answer to the question posed by the theme, but also to the obvious consequent question: where should we go next?

Given the very high demands on teachers' time, the accomplishment of our writers is even more remarkable. I hope that you, their colleagues, will reward them with a lively discussion by commenting thoughtfully on their essays and following up the discussion in the group forums. This interaction requires that you register a username and password, of course, in order to protect ourselves from the unpredictable, and also to give our group members a modicum of privacy while leaving access to most aspects of the site open. [We will not sell or give away users' information.]

Please log in to comment, to contact the authors, to add your own blog, and to get to know your fellow international education professionals. If nothing else, I hope that this site brings us a step closer toward better collegiality and friendship, better collaboration, and better education for our students.

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The March issue is a month away: the theme will be "What is an International School?" and we intend to dedicate that issue to our friend, colleague and mentor, the late Dr. George Marsh. Those interested in contributing to that complex issue are encouraged to contact us with submissions, ideas, or questions.

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Remember that this a community effort. Why not join in rather than spreading out on sites by companies that have nothing to do with international education?Spread the Word: something good is happening here on iteachnet.org. Get a username, log in and then Invite colleagues [you must first log-in] to join, too.

We have lots of really cool services planned (gotta keep up with our students!), but it's enough for now to start with just reading and commenting on the articles and posting news about yourselves and your schools. Let's start there -- or here, rather, and grow a community together.

School-representatives are strongly encouraged to register and post their news with links back to their schools' sites, and also to announce available jobs.

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One last time: Don't forget to post your school's news here on iteachnet.org! (Ask us for an invitation!) us know what you would like, and we can discuss your Web needs. Contact iteachnet.org here.

Sincerely,

David M. Bucknell

Founding Editor, ITeachNet.org