What happens when the teacher steps away--briefly or for an entire term--from the front of the classroom, literally and metaphorically? Instructors at colleges and universities around the world have been trying to subvert the traditional hierarchies of the classroom by using web 2.0 tools to encourage students to collaborate actively not only on projects, but on the construction of conversations and entire courses.

Barbara Ganley of Middlebury College has been using blogs since 2001 to shift the power dynamics in her classroom. In her latest post Ganley shares examples of her students' blog posts and discusses her students' initial anxiety about being in a student-centered classroom:

It is very very difficult to walk into a classroom like mine when everything else in students' academic experience follows a different, and teacher-centric, model. It takes a lot of work (and determination) to help them understand that it's okay that I will not lecture at length on the writers we read or the elements we analyze or the techniques they explore, nor will I provide them with the kind of feedback (i.e.my pen all over their papers) to which they have grown not only accustomed but on which they have become dependent. I will not tell them what they have to write about, or how. I will not respond to their posts on blog. I will not be solely responsible for their course grades. But I will question, push, explain, encourage and give them feedback one-on-one. As I often remark, students are in a bit of a freefall for the first weeks, thinking I have no idea how to be a teacher, and I have to stand by, reassuring them that this is fine, this is good, in fact.

Liz Losh of virtualpolitik tells of a recent visit to the University of California, Irvine by Voice of the Shuttle creator Alan Liu. Losh writes,

Since I'm currently teaching a course in which students use blogging and are engaged with other social computing practices, I was particularly interested in Liu's list of lessons learned.

First, he noted that students became much more engaged in the course material, after they created their own bio pages, which Liu described as a hybrid between the genres of the professional bio/vita and that of the profile on a social network site.

Second, he said that having students edit each others' work wasn't always practicable, because of what he called a "disparity in their writing levels," to which -- as a longtime writing program administrator in the U.C. system -- I can certainly attest.

Third, he argued that the nature of research assignments had to account for the sudden advent of Wikipedia and other low-investment resources for citation. Given that this course was offered in 2006, which was a key year for the massive super-saturation of undergraduate discourse by the online encyclopedia, it is not surprising that Liu was spurred to write a Student Wikipedia Use Policy.

Of her own students' projects, Losh explains,

Blogging constitutes a large portion of the students' grades. Following the advice of innovative writing instructor Geoffrey Middlebrook, I told them to choose a topic in which they are truly interested and for which they can build an audience, because they have something original to say. I also instructed them to select a very narrow niche topic and be mindful of "the long tail," a message that class guest YouTube celebrity James Kotecki also emphasized. For blogging about subjects related to the academic content of the course, there was also a class blog.

This was a media-savvy group, so many of them chose topics like hip-hop music or videogames. But I was struck by the fact that even more of them picked issues about the design challenges of their chosen lifestyle or what I might call "life hacking." It has been fun to read their writing and also to see the ingenuity with which they compensate for obstacles in the material circumstances of daily life.

Click through to her post to see the links to students' blog entries.

Unfortunately, the current era of high-stakes testing in the U.S. sometimes means K-12 teachers can't attempt the same kinds of projects. Many teachers feel they don't have the time or other resources for integrating new technologies into their teaching. In addition, attempts to create student-centered elementary and secondary classrooms can be met by resistance from school administrators focused on test scores. Nancy Bosch elaborates:

Last year I heard Christopher Paolini interviewed on 60 Minutes. Christopher wrote an 800 page fantasy called Eragon, recently released on film at the theaters. He was 15 years old when he wrote the book and he said, in the interview “The gift my parents gave me, by homeschooling, was the gift of time.” I think that’s what missing in the whole “blog/wiki in the classroom” discussion. With NCLB and state assessments students no longer have “time” in the classroom. In our district the last thing students have time to do is something as spontaneous as sitting down to write what is on their mind. (hyperbole, I’m sure) The beauty of what I do, teach in a pullout gifted program, is that we have the time to think and explore areas of interest and new technologies. I also teach kiddos who have supportive parents and computers at home. There is no doubt that many, if not all, students would enjoy blogging and benefit from writing for a “real” audience. OK, finished rambling about that.
The same holds true for doing wikis. We did our first one in lieu of a reflection essay and 17 6th graders worked for 5 hours to complete it. Teachers in my building, a Title 1 school, would never find the time. They are required to teach reading for 2 1/2 and math for 1 1/2 hours a day. A sad state of affairs.

What are your thoughts about the role of blogs, wikis, and other web 2.0 technologies in the classroom? And are there contexts or disciplines in which it's harmful if the teacher steps too far from the center of the classroom?

Leslie Madsen-Brooks helps university faculty improve their teaching. She blogs at The Clutter Museum, Museum Blogging, and The Multicultural Toy Box.