In consultation with the instructor, you will implement one social networking tool in a class you are currently teaching.
Total points possible for your classroom project: 50 points
(Average=35, Good=40, Very Good=45, Excellent=50)
Your classroom project will be evaluated using the following criteria:
Purpose of Activity (10 points)
- A clear description of what your students will know and be able to do at the culmination of this activity
Materials Needed (10 points)
- A list of social networking tools, web sites, equipment, visual aids, written and other materials needed for this activity
Integration with Course Content and Objectives (10 points)
- A clear description of how this tool will help students master the competency/competencies outlined in your Purpose of Activity
- A clear description of what you and your students will do during and outside of class
- A clear description of how you will extend this activity to subsequent class sessions (e.g., recycle content, review materials, reinforce concepts)
Student Assessment Rubric (10 points)
- Include criteria used to evaluate student work
- Define gradations of quality and/or quantity of work
Course Blog Reflection on Project (10 points)
- A reflection on the strengths and weakness of the activity as implemented. Include things to avoid next time you use this activity, and what went particularly well. Was there enough time allotted for all aspects of the project? You will add your reflections to those already posted on our classroom project reflection page.
Beyond WebCT: Integrating Social Networking Tools Into Language & Culture Courses 
September 13, 2007 at 1:22 pm
Dear All,
I have been navigating the sites and reading the comments. Just wanted to let you know how interesting this is.
Best
Norma
December 9, 2008 at 1:33 pm
Classroom project reflection:
I really appreciated hearing what everyone else did with their classes last Friday, and I am really excited to try some new things with my students next semester as a result. This time around, I tried a course blog for my French Literature in Translation writing course. Although I am really excited about the things that went well (active participation, improved length and quality of writing, improved discussion in class, etc), I still want to try and improve a lot of how I use Web2.0 tools in the class next semester to make the students feel more invested and less like it’s just another assignment. I think the major issues that caused my students to view our blog as work rather than fun (which will, realistically, remain a part of any classroom use of Web2.0 for at least some students) was that they didn’t feel like they had any say in creating/ administering the tool. I think at the beginning of next semester I will take my students to the lab for a few classes and we can determine together what tool to use (within reason), how to use the tool for classroom objectives and how they will be graded. Hopefully this will make them feel less a visitor and more a creator on the site.
Another issue that I’d like to address was really exemplified with Wessam’s presentation of his ning. Both Wessam and Nathalie Ettzevoglou have been able to welcome people from outside of the classrooms to their sites on ning. I think that my students would have been much more interested in our blog if they had known that people from all over the world might stop by one day rather than thinking that only I checked out their postings. Overall I think it was a success entree into Web2.0 tools in the classroom, and it has really gotten me excited about trying new things if they will have a pedagogically beneficial effect for my class.
Barbara, thanks for a WONDERFUL semester!! Have a great break!
December 12, 2008 at 8:58 am
I feel I am blessed to be in the Web CT course this semester. During the semester, I am always learning new knowledge which I have never learned before. There are many first time experiences as I do the classroom project. It is the first time I apply a social networking tool-Facebook in pedagogical purpose, and it is the first time I know some other tools such as Ning,Voicethread etc. In the process of doing the classroom project, I met many problems and learned how to solve by learning from colleagues and Professor Lindsey, the learning experience gradually change from awkward to enjoyable. At the first time, it took me a lot of time to familiar with the functions of the tool, even such a user friendly tool like Facebook. Sometimes I have learned from the students who engage in using the tool make our project move fast. Their encouragement and participation motivate me post more learning resources for them. Everyday, I am exciting in checking the discussion board they post, and keen to answer their questions and give the comments and responses. The Chinese 1111 Group becomes a virtual family and a home for the group members. Posting their works and making videos and writing responses about culture, novels and movies become a habit and popular in this group. I found that after they solve the problem of typing Chinese, they become productive and can type Chinese to communicate and express. And they are especially like to learn Chinese culture, which causes them to have provocative discussion on Facebook. But I still found there is weakness in using Facebook. For example, the tab bars limit to certain amount of characters, so I can not post long articles. Though discussion board can put log articles, yet it can not have articles with charts.
I am also inspired by other colleagues’ projects. I hope the experiences that I have learned from all of you will help me do better classroom projects next semester. According to everyone’s experience of the classroom project, Web 2.0 is proved a useful tool due to it is more efficient and more well-organized, and which is a trend to use it for pedagoical purposes.
It is an ample class in many ways. Here, I would like to say thank you to everyone for your knowledge and experience sharing. And thanks for professor Lindsey’s kind teaching and guiding.
December 15, 2008 at 4:55 pm
I would like to start with thanking Barbara for her effort and my colleagues for help. I have learned a lot from this class. As I mentioned before that I didn’t know anything about using tech. or social networks for educational purposes, but now I feel confident.
This semester, I used ning as a social network for multiple goals. First, I used it to store my data, links, projects, and announcements, which is more of a webct. Second, which is more important, is that I used it to let both classes I am teaching to interact and know each other even though they might not meet during the whole semester. On the top of that, I tried to open it for public to give the students more chances to interact with other learners from other universities or with some native speakers of Arabic. I feel it worked out quite well. However, there are some issue that I will think about when I am applying it for my classes next semester. I will familiarize myself with the tool more than that and give myself more time. I would also take some time from the first classes to agree with them about using ning as the tool of communication between each other. What is more important is that I want to integrate more tools with ning as for twitter, which is a simple this that they might like.
In Friday’s presentations, I took some notes of my colleagues’ presentations. What I noticed is how they organized their blogs or wikis in nice way that would facilitate their students’ tasks while exploring it. I also liked how they categorized things and made a clear list of everything. I
Finally, I would like to thank you all again for this class and for this wonderful experience. Now, I tell myself, who on earth can be a teacher and have no idea about these things, just like me before the class.