Thursday, April 16, 2009

Web 2.0 in the Classroom

Do you allow Facebook or blogging in the classroom or not. I've been tossing this idea around for a while now. I think there are some very good reasons to and some hesitant reasons not to. Some good things would include freeing up time at the end of class when you usually ask those review or discussion questions. If you posted them in a blog, on a wiki, or in a facebook group where you, the teacher, were the moderator and approved comments before they were posted, you could have the discussions on one of these boards. Or better yet, if your school had a private blogging site where this would be allowed. Think about the discussion you could have, and the kids could be required to post a response as well as reply to a classmate or two.

This type of activity would also prepare them a little bit for any online classes they will take either in high school or in college where they might not get the assistance they need. It will aslo allow for kids who are interested in this area to use their skills to help others who don't know exactly how to post. They could also help the teacher in getting it all set up. The teacher learns, the students have more interaction and learning, and students who might not otherwise, are stepping in to help. Plus you free up classroom time for more instruction.

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