Facebook & Twitter in the classroom!

Here's an update on the as-Web2.0-as-possible summer school class I'm running:

Ning -- we're using a course Ning: it is great. Students have done group work collaboration on it, and some students are using it to get last minute essay writing tips from me over the weekend!

Facebook -- the Facebook assignments are starting to roll in, although they're not due for another few days. Students had to create a Facebook profile page for a character in the novel The Great Gatsby. I look forward to reading the profiles.

Twitter -- we had an informal, in-class debate about character morality the other day. While I facilitated turn-taking in the face-to-face classroom, several students were back-channeling their opinions on the screen at the front. It was great to have the opinions flying in two ways, and the back-channeling provides a transcript of the arguments!

More updates soon, perhaps after the Facebook assignments have been marked. :-)

Where are the updates?

Ok, Ok... it's been a while. I blame year-end crazyness, a family trip, and getting ready for summer school.

That last one took a while, as I wanted to try some web 2.0 things in summer school that I've never used with a class before. Setting up the Ning (and updating the course web site) took some time, but it was totally worth it. Thomson Summer School Ning membership is growing daily, and I see students using this space for project collaboration already: it's only day 2! My in-Ning blog gets updated often, and I'm seeking comment feedback on the nature of the course itself, as well as offering reminders & updates.

Twitter accounts are growing as well: 1/4 of the class is now following me (thomsonro), and I hope to get into some back-channeling next week.

If the marking doesn't pile up too much, I'll update this blog with my summer school web 2.0 experiences often. Feel free to comment back if you've used Ning or Twitter in classroom contexts before.