Web 2.0 in the English Classroom
from NCTE INBOX 2-9-10
On Wednesday, February 17, 2010, 4-5 p.m. EST, NCTE will host William Kist's Web seminar, "The Socially Networked English Classroom: Web 2.0 in the English Classroom." This Web seminar will include many real-world examples like using Facebook to host literature circles and writing groups, using wikis to house reading/writing portfolios, and using blogs as learning logs. Here are some additional resources from NCTE and ReadWriteThink.org. Can't make it to the live event? Buy the On Demand version; On Demand Web seminars provide the recorded version of the virtual event and include all audio, video, chat discussion, and actions within the presentation.
The English Journal article "The Facebook Generation: Homework as Social Networking" (S) shares how a high school English teacher uses students' zeal for online discussion by creating engaging electronic homework assignments.
The ReadWriteThink.org lesson plan A Collaboration of Sites and Sounds: Using Wikis to Catalog Protest Songs (S) makes a connection to popular culture by asking students to work in pairs to research and analyze contemporary and historic protest songs. After learning about wikis, each pair posts their analysis of the protest songs to a class wiki, adding graphics, photos, and hyperlinks as desired. A similar idea is shared in the Classroom Notes Plus article "Exploring Copyright through Collaborative Wiki Writing" (S).
"The First Letter in Individual: An Alternative to Collective Online Discussion" (C) from Teaching English in the Two-Year College discusses the online IPJ (Interactive Portfolio Journal). This type of journal is open to the individual student and the teacher but not to the whole class. It allows online discussion to draw from both public and private voices, and productively uses the traditional focus on collective critical exchange in tandem with private reflection.
The new ReadWriteThink.org Strategy Guides (G) define and provide examples of effective literacy teaching and learning strategies and offer a wealth of related resources to help sharpen your instruction. The Teaching with Blogs (M-S) Strategy Guide describes the processes involved in composing blogs in the classroom, the process of writing regular posts, or entries, that are published online. The Teaching with Podcasts (M-S) Strategy Guide describes the processes involved in composing and producing audio files that are published online as podcasts.
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