Web 2.0 in Teacher Education: Two Imperatives for Action

Web 2.0 represents a more participative and potentially paradigm-changing environment for building and sharing knowledge. Some educators have begun to apply these tools in classrooms but, as their use in society expands, there will be expectations for their wider application in schools. Teacher education faces the dual challenges of applying Web 2.0 tools to enhance teacher preparation and preparing teachers for whom the application of Web 2.0 tools in the classroom will be authentic practice. One path forward is to use Web 2.0 tools to develop learning communities for teacher preparation around e-portfolios in ways that encourage increased professional engagement by teachers while providing experiences that will support use of Web 2.0 tools in the classroom as authentic practice.