Educators not Educated
Educators who lack knowledge about social software are the biggest barrier to implementing it in my workplace. While I believe the educators in my K-12 district are excellent, the majority do not understand the benefits social software can bring to the classroom. Further, they are not encouraged by administrators to incorporate these tools into their instruction. I would go so far as to say teachers and students are discouraged from using social software because access to these tools are blocked by district filters. Teachers themselves currently cannot access blog or wiki sites, even those developed for educators! Of course, the worst part of all this is that our students are not learning how to use these tools for educational purposes, nor are they being offered this style of learning, which could help many of them prosper.
