Web 2.0 Assessment: Outside the "Comfort Zone?"

The assertion that Web 2.0 skills should be taught to students will (likely, inevitably, unfortunately) lead to the question of how we assess student learning of those skills. No wonder, then, that many teachers -- even those who use Web 2.0 tools themselves -- are hesitant to implement such instruction in the classroom: assessing Web 2.0 performance is outside of their comfort zone, and likely outside of the "outdated" system curriculum itself. With standardized test results being politically weighty, and high grades valued over learning itself, we're not exactly in a climate conducive to new, school-based Web 2.0 culture and learning.

There are lots of problems with standardized testing and the "importance" of grades in our education system as it stands, but avoiding teaching something that our students will need for future success just because we've never taught and assessed it before seems wrong to me.

Let's teach Web 2.0, and maybe even make some mistakes as we go: at worst, our students will see us as human, but they'll see us as lifelong learners, too. Let's figure out assessment as we go, maybe even with input from students. It's their futures that are at stake, after all...