Moodle and Web 2.0

Textbooks have been the backbone of teaching methods for centuries, and possibly they will remain like that for a long time. But there are valid concerns about their current effectiveness. The Digital Revolution brought a fundamental change in the way we produce and consume content. Digital media like newspapers, blogs and websites generate vast volumes of information daily, and social media keep us in a continuous conversation.

Methods and sources of learning cannot be rigid anymore. They need to be flexible, adaptable and connected with knowledge production in real time. Do textbooks check all the boxes of these new requirements?

Three different schools, in three different states, in a matter of two weeks.

I got the same question.

“How can I use Flipgrid in my class?”

“Have you tried this with Flipgrid?”

“Oooh, this would be perfect with Flipgrid!”

It seems that Flipgrid has teachers and school leaders around the country (and world) excited to use its product for learning purposes.

But, last summer I was bombarded with the same questions about Formative and Google Classroom.

Before that, it was PearDeck and Nearpod.

It’s been fun Google, but it’s time to say goodbye.

Have you noticed?

Google’s entire business model is based on you surrendering to their corporate surveillance. That’s it. All they do is repackage mass corporate surveillance into convenient, free, trendy applications that suck up all your data. Your private data helps Google dominate the online advertising market.

You are the product.

The other key issue to consider here is that Google is tracking and recording your activity in order to build a user profile, which can be used for various purposes.