Saturday, August 4, 2007

Getting the most out of web20 in the classroom - You teach my students I'll teach yours.

I've spent the last year learning up on technology in education and in particular web2.0. My toolbar overflows ... and yet I'm stumped whenever I try to sit down and think what to do in the classroom come September, unable to focus, unable to make a decision. How do I create a meaningful experience, for a heterogenous class of about 30 students, in one 45 minute weekly lesson? How do I multiply that by 6 grades? Past experience has taught me that I can't please everyone, no matter what "project" I choose/build/create for my classes, collaborative, international or not, it won't suit every student. I could have students research a topic of their choice. However when I tried this in the past I found it very difficult to be the lone mentor, mediator, guide and teacher for so many students on such a wide topic base.
The beginnings of an idea, "teach my students and I'll teach yours".
  • Teachers create and publish online 1 collaborative distance learning "project" - this could be achieved by opening different groups on ning, imbee, haiku, edu20 etc.
  • Individual students would register for the project of their choice
  • We become the online teachers/mentors of the students who registered for our project and mediator/assistant for students in our classes who are working on other projects.

Our students would benefit from: choosing a subject that interests them, working with a teacher who is a specialist in the subject they have chosen, meeting and working with other students who share similar interests.

Of course, I know this would take a lot of planning but is it at all feasible?






6 comments:

Lisa Parisi said...

I'm glad I'm not the only one feeling this way. I'm hoping it all comes together throughout the year.

Ken Pruitt said...

This is what you get for talking to me :)
You have been tagged for the 8 random facts meme.
Sorry
Ken

Brian said...

Very interesting post. www.Yomod.com -- a safe social media site for kids -- is working on a solution that would provide teachers with Internet-based media solutions in a secure environment. These solutions could be leveraged for distance learning. Please feel free to contact me if you want to discuss.

Cheers!
Brian, Yomod co-founder

Larry Ferlazzo said...

Susan,

I came to your blog, as instructed, to see the rules for the meme, but can't seem to find them. I've seen it "going around" but can't remember all the details. Can you help me out?

Thanks for the kind words about my blog.

Israel must be an interesting (for lack of a better word)place to be teaching these days....


Larry
http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/

Durff said...

Great! When do we start?

Unknown said...

I would be game too - it would be a wonderful idea and seems feasible.