imminent UK participant) discussing election issues in a private online
social network as part of the "Great Debate of 2008" project. The project is
only one day old, but students are quickly assuming ownership of the network
by starting campaign discussions, uploading photos and multimedia, and by
sending questions and comments to each other -- and me. Furthermore,
students are posting information on campaign issues to our Great Debate
wiki. (Students from a Tennessee classroom just posted a slew of information
on drug policies and the death penalty.) It's early, but I am pleased with
how students are demonstrating leadership and responsibility for content
creation. I see both the online social network and the wiki as great tools
for creating student-centered and community-minded learning environments.
From an administrative standpoint, I find a ning network is easy to set and
(knock on wood) easy to administer. (It's also free and that price is hard
to beat.) I do have concerns about students inviting outsiders, but have
controls at my disposal and a class list supplied by participating teachers.
I am also concerned about inappropriate behavior, and instituted a student
"code of conduct" and include supervising teachers as part of the network
(though on the sidelines, if you will ). I am also notified of any activity
that transpires on the network, though as activity increases this will
quickly become a nuisance. I am running into a few technical issues, re
signing up for the network and wiki, but (again, knock on wood) these have
been minor and resolved quickly.
I'll post again in a few weeks and tell you if that is still the case.
I am hoping to invite some non-partisan guest speakers into the social
network (recommendations more than welcome) or perhaps some recorded
commentaries. The students and I have already embedded videos into the wiki
pages and social network.
Great Debate of 2008 wiki: http://greatdebate2008.wikispaces.com/
Great Debate of 2008 private online social network:
http://greatdebate2008.ning.com/ (private)
Tom
On Tue, Sep 23, 2008 at 3:01 PM, Adsit, Frank <AdsitF@bolles.org> wrote:
> I'm interested to know more about how your schools may be making
> positive use of facebook and other social networking sites within the
> classroom?
>
>
>
> Is anyone using these types of pages to created ongoing dialogue for
> class discussion, club input, or student council dialogue?
>
>
>
> What advantages/difficulties have you encountered in doing this with the
> parent community and other school groups?
>
>
--
Tom Daccord -- educational technology trainer and author
tom@edtechteacher.org
Best Ideas for Teaching with Technology: A Practical Guide for Teachers, by
Teachers (M.E. Sharpe, 2008)
http://tinyurl.com/6cpx87
The Best of History Web Sites (Neal-Schuman, 2007)
http://tinyurl.com/6hna27
edtechteacher
http://edtechteacher.org/
edtechteacher blog
http://thwt.typepad.com/edtechteacher/
Teaching History with Technology
http://thwt.org/
Best of History Web Sites
http://besthistorysites.net/
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