Leading

with
Do you have the knowledge, skills and
Web2.0
competencies to be an effective educational
An Administrator’s Guide
technology leader for the Web 2.0 generation? to Collaborative Tools
in K–12 Education
Now, it’s time you did.
Leading with Web 2.0 is a leadership initiative from the Con-
sortium for School Networking (CoSN), the premier profes-
sional association on educational technology for district and
school leaders. This initiative will help you use Web 2.0,
such as online social networking and collaboration applica-
tions, to transform teaching and learning in your district.
Right now, you have at your fingertips a suite of tools
that will help you manage many of your top educational
priorities:
n Meeting the needs of different kinds of learners
n Keeping students interested and engaged in learning
n Improving the relevance of schoolwork
n Developing communications, collaboration and critical
thinking skills—and many other valuable skills
n Extending learning beyond the school day
n Building a sense of community and a culture of learning
This suite of tools is within reach with Web 2.0—a
term coined to describe online applications that support
participation, collaboration and interactions among commu-
nities of users and allow people to create and share content.
Leading with Web 2.0, an initiative supported by the
John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and
others, will enlarge your perspective about the possibili-
ties of Web 2.0 in education.

Do you have a vision of education to match

the reality of learning in a Web 2.0 world?
Now, you can.
Get started today.
Visit www.cosn.org/web20/administratorsguide/.
 [Preview of the content at
http://www.cosn.org/web20/administratorsguide/ ]
From support to action: the administrator’s role
Leading with Web 2.0 responds to findings from a nationwide survey of
nearly 1,200 district superintendents, curriculum directors and technol-
ogy directors conducted by CoSN with generous support from the John
D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
The survey report, Leadership for Web 2.0 in Education: Promise & Real-
ity, highlights Web 2.0 policies, practices and perspectives of a represen-
tative sample of administrators from the nation’s 13,924 public school
districts.

Where are you with Web 2.0 in education?

According to the CoSN survey, K–12 administrators across the nation
strongly believe that Web 2.0 applications are a positive force in students’
lives and on their education—and that Web 2.0 is critical for transform-
ing teaching and learning over the next decade. At the same time, most
administrators acknowledge that they are not yet moving forward to take
advantage of the opportunities. Specifically, the survey reveals:
 ositive perceptions. Administrators recognize the importance and
P
potential value of Web 2.0 in students’ lives and their education. Yet
the majority of school districts limit or ban student use of Web 2.0
applications—so these tools generally remain the province of individual
pioneering classrooms and out-of-school experiences.
 imited knowledge. Students, and a few innovative teachers, are the
L
real trailblazers in exploring the possibilities of Web 2.0. Administrators
who are responsible for decision making on Web 2.0 in schools generally
are more passive and cautious about school use.
 void in leadership. The survey results are a wake-up call to admin-
A
istrators: Bridge the gap between the promise and the reality, traditional
schooling and digital media learning, or risk irrelevance with students
who are growing up in the digital age.
Administrators acknowledge that Web 2.0 is outpacing schools’
capacity to innovate—and they agree that there is a critical need to
respond to Web 2.0 with transformation change.
Learn more about the CoSN survey online at http://www.cosn.
org/web20Report/

page 2 An Administrator’s Guide to Collaborative Tools for K–12 Education

© 2010 Consortium for School Networking
Imagine what Web 2.0 can do for your district.
The Leading with Web 2.0 initiative will help you imagine—and act on—the
possibilities of Web 2.0 in education:

Participatory culture and collective intelligence. Administrators’

positive perceptions of Web 2.0 show they grasp that Web 2.0 will become
important to them, but they do not fully realize the astonishing shifts in the
way people are interacting, collaborating and learning online. Did you know
that Web 2.0:
n Fosters participatory learning, harnesses the collective intelligence of
individuals and changes the way people learn?
n Reinvents traditional relationships between students and teachers, nov-
ices and experts, classrooms and the outside world, and cuts through
geographic and cultural boundaries?
n Encourages contributions of groups of people working together, rather
than of individuals going it alone?
n Incorporates performance, simulation, multitasking, negotiation, play,
and other behaviors and skills that change the way people think and
learn—and that are not necessarily common, understood or valued in
schools?
These are huge cultural, learning and cognitive changes that will have
profound effects on education. Learn more online … >
Transformational change. Innovating in a Web 2.0 world demands more
than incremental tinkering around the edges. Schools need to progress with
“disruptive,” transformational change that is compatible with the changed
world. Learn more online … >
Visionary educational leadership. Administrators have the opportunity
and obligation to step up to the plate and provide much-needed leadership
on Web 2.0. There are specific ways to channel the positive perceptions into
meaningful actions that could reinvigorate your district and schools. Learn
more online … >

This graphic visually depicts the CoSN

Leading with Web 2.0 Administrator’s
Guide. It was created using the Web 2.0
application Wordle, a tool for generating
“word clouds” from text that you pro-
vide. The clouds give greater prominence
to words that appear more frequently in
the source text. You can print the Wordle
images out, or save them to the Wordle
gallery to share. Try it yourself at www.
wordle.net.

An Administrator’s Guide to Collaborative Tools for K–12 Education page 3

© 2010 Consortium for School Networking
 Preparing you to lead with Web 2.0
The Leading with Web 2.0 initiative will help you:

n Understand the educational potential of Web 2.0

n Explore Web 2.0 tools to improve your personal productivity
n Create a vision for Web 2.0 in your district or school
n Develop an action agenda for using Web 2.0 to transform teaching
and learning and foster a collaborative, participatory culture of
learning
n Play a more active and effective role as an educational leader in your
community

On the Leading with Web 2.0 Web site, you’ll find:

n A rich repository of resources developed especially for district and
school administrators
n Targeted information for superintendents, curriculum directors
and technology officers
n Fact sheets and information you can use to build support for Web
2.0 in your community

Your entree to Web 2.0 in education

Leading with Web 2.0 is available at www.cosn.org/web20/administrators
guide/. Visit today to learn how you can lead by example—and find new
ways to collaborate and accomplish your work.

Lead sponsor Sponsors:

AT&T
Cisco
Edutopia
Gartner
GlobalScholar
Lenovo
Lightspeed Systems
nGenera
Pearson
SAS
Schoolwires
SmartTechnologies

Consortium for School Networking

1025 Vermont Avenue NW
Suite 1010
Washington, DC 20005
page 4 www.cosn.org
© 2010 Consortium for School Networking