Several weeks ago I published information concerning Collaborize Classroom. I have set up an account for my senior English class to see what the benefits are to this tool.
At first, my seniors were excited about “blogging” although that is not what they are truly doing. We went over etiquette of what a good post is. We discussed what they had seen on Facebook concerning some of the comments that their friends and acquaintances had made. We shared what is appropriate language in a post. Then the students shared their first comments to a posting that I had created. The responses were comical and I was disappointed in their responses. I thought that this was not going to be a tool that I would utilize. However, as I stress to my students, if at first you don't succeed, try try again.
The second attempt was much better. As the students could view the comments made by the other students, which they were really excited to see and comment on, the students became aware of what my expectations in posting comments were. As comments were posted, students elaborated and clarified points made by other students. Students also continued a comment of another student in their posts. My seniors were actually reading and engaging in a discussion through the use of this tool. Of course, the students would tell you that they were not discussing because no words were used aloud, but the repartee among the students was lively and enriching their knowledge of the text. This was what I was hoping from this social media tool and what had sold me on this site. Collaborize Classroom sells their product by saying that educators will get 100 % participation and grading time will be reduced. This was verified for me in two ways: one was reading about it in the Collaborize Classroom blog and the other was through practical experience. I am able to keep track of my students comprehension of the text we are reading and seeing what insights they are able to develop. It also allows the students to see what the others in the classroom are thinking. I have also had 100% participation.
From utilizing this tool for the last several weeks, I have come to several conclusions. One is I will be using this tool often. I enjoy the feedback that I am seeing from the students. The second conclusion is the students are enjoying discussing the text this way. I know verbal discussions are improving somewhat as well with the use of this tool, but the students enjoy commenting and responding to comments from their peers. Finally I have much more to learn about using this particular tool. As my students and I have found some success with the application so far, I will continue to become more familiar of the ways to best utilize this tool.
Key words: Collaborize Classroom, classroom, appropriate language
I am glad that you were able to get your seniors to use the tool. I have often heard from many professors that they have to pull teeth in order to get people to use the discussion boards. I think the key is making your expectations known. I think that tools like these are great to get students fired up to learn. It is not easy to make your students see the value of a tool, but once they bite on to the concept it is a breeze. I wish that when I was growing up we would have had tools like this. I remember in second grade when my teacher had trays of blue calculators and she had a special one that was clear she could put on the overhead. Not to mention there was a plastic film roller on the overhead that my teachers would use. Now everything is digital. Impressive. I am excited that you are using technology in the classroom.
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