The Project
SUMMER 2013
HISTORY
In the Spring of 2011, the seeds of W 2.1 were planted. It started with an idea based upon the One City, One Book idea where everyone in the city is encouraged to read the same book. Based upon this idea, the project was initially known as Wakefield Reads. I wanted to focus on the role of technology in all aspects of life. I gathered a group of teachers to meet and discuss this idea. We searched for an appropriate book, and we decided on Little Brother by Cory Doctorow. We lucked out. Doctorow made his book available for free in digital form (get it now). We also renamed the project, Wakefield 2.1, a combination of the school name, web 2.0, and the 21st century. We contacted the PTSA, the Business Alliance, educational consultant David Warlick, the Raleigh News and Observer, the Wake Weekly, and the county public library. We hosted a "luncheon" for a panel of students and PTSA members where we discussed the plan and received input from students. The PTSA sent out a press release and posted information on their website as well as sharing it with members. David Warlick showed interest, but he had no suggestions. The education section of the News and Observer stated that they were too busy, whereas the Wake Weekly published the press release, interviewed me, and iwrote an article. The public libarian with whom we spoke showed little interest and would not order any further copies of the book.
The initial project was ambitious, too ambitious. My hope was that this would become a community project involving students, parents, and community leading to panel discussions and speakers. Well, that didn't happen. Instead, many of our Advanced Placement teachers required student participation. We encouraged other teachers to participate, to provide small incentives for students to participate. We had roughly 10% of students participate, nearly all AP students. A handful of students and parents participated.
Year 2
Year 2 was less organized due to some issues that occurred in our school's media center. For that reason, the summer project was developed in May. The 2012 project focused less on reading and more on creation. There were reading assignments, including an E.M. Forster short story, "The Machine Stops," written in 1909 that eerily presents an "online" community and communication. The project also included a TED Talk by Sherry Turkle, and a podcast interview with Nick Bilton, a columist and blogger for the New York Times and author of I Live in the Future and Here's How It Works. Participants were encouraged to create a presentation of any digital/online type. Those who did not feel comfortable or did not want to create had the option to write a paper. There were more papers than digital and online projects. The participation level was about the same despite a very generous donation from the PTSA that allowed us to provide incentives.
Current
The site continues as a resource for Web 2.0 tools. Hopefully, the original idea can be rebooted in the near future.
In the Spring of 2011, the seeds of W 2.1 were planted. It started with an idea based upon the One City, One Book idea where everyone in the city is encouraged to read the same book. Based upon this idea, the project was initially known as Wakefield Reads. I wanted to focus on the role of technology in all aspects of life. I gathered a group of teachers to meet and discuss this idea. We searched for an appropriate book, and we decided on Little Brother by Cory Doctorow. We lucked out. Doctorow made his book available for free in digital form (get it now). We also renamed the project, Wakefield 2.1, a combination of the school name, web 2.0, and the 21st century. We contacted the PTSA, the Business Alliance, educational consultant David Warlick, the Raleigh News and Observer, the Wake Weekly, and the county public library. We hosted a "luncheon" for a panel of students and PTSA members where we discussed the plan and received input from students. The PTSA sent out a press release and posted information on their website as well as sharing it with members. David Warlick showed interest, but he had no suggestions. The education section of the News and Observer stated that they were too busy, whereas the Wake Weekly published the press release, interviewed me, and iwrote an article. The public libarian with whom we spoke showed little interest and would not order any further copies of the book.
The initial project was ambitious, too ambitious. My hope was that this would become a community project involving students, parents, and community leading to panel discussions and speakers. Well, that didn't happen. Instead, many of our Advanced Placement teachers required student participation. We encouraged other teachers to participate, to provide small incentives for students to participate. We had roughly 10% of students participate, nearly all AP students. A handful of students and parents participated.
Year 2
Year 2 was less organized due to some issues that occurred in our school's media center. For that reason, the summer project was developed in May. The 2012 project focused less on reading and more on creation. There were reading assignments, including an E.M. Forster short story, "The Machine Stops," written in 1909 that eerily presents an "online" community and communication. The project also included a TED Talk by Sherry Turkle, and a podcast interview with Nick Bilton, a columist and blogger for the New York Times and author of I Live in the Future and Here's How It Works. Participants were encouraged to create a presentation of any digital/online type. Those who did not feel comfortable or did not want to create had the option to write a paper. There were more papers than digital and online projects. The participation level was about the same despite a very generous donation from the PTSA that allowed us to provide incentives.
Current
The site continues as a resource for Web 2.0 tools. Hopefully, the original idea can be rebooted in the near future.