As always, Michelle Martin’s Web2.0Wednesday idea has a perfect timing to what I’ve been mulling over. So, here are a few digital ideas for the classroom we could use to have a grand beginning: Kevin Shadix suggests hooking learners with simple stories. To do that, for example, you could use Slideshare just like he did.
Rupa talks about the use of comics as an attention grabber. You could use ToonDoo, for example, to produce and customize your own comics, or even have your learners produce a comic strip to introduce themselves. Cool! Need to test that.
If they are a Face2Face group, I’d ask to take a photo of their partners and using a mobile, they could send it to a Flickr account (Flickr gives you an email to send photos to) with the title having the name of the person, and some thing curious the photographer found about their peers.
This could also be done using Picwing . Beforehand, just set up an email at picwing that students can send photos to, like classxxx at picwing.com. Then, students can send their photos to this email with their names and a curious fact in the Subject line. Another possibility is to ask them to email a photo of their favorite room, place, city, etc. This would be really fun!
One more idea with photos: students could choose one of the geeks drawn by Extra Life and blog it saying why they chose that specific geek. The photos are copyrighted, but we could get in touch with the artist to see if he could let us use it for educational purposes. I’d love to see this into practice.
Wow, ideas are popping up!
Another one that I tried with a group of moderators in the beginning of the year and it worked well was recording our introductions in Voicethread. We, then, could invite learners to add their intros and ask questions to the instructor.
Here’s what we did:
Well, some ideas that might help me and others! There are tons to add. What’s your idea? We could certainly make a pool of nice web2.0 icebreakers!
Just got this nice idea from Nik Peachy. He suggested the site Yearbookyourself to make up a version of you in old times. Totally fun! Here’s one of the results:
Great idea with having students email photos to a class album. It could make the classroom much more interactive.
Hi Carla,
Thank you for so many great tips and suggestions! My classes will begin in 2 weeks, so it is very handy to know how to apply a nice icebreaker.
I have been slowly realizing, along the past weeks, that my kids, actually, are almost not allowed to play with web2.0 tools, after all.
Now I also understood that I must go and check up in every tool site where it is written “not allowed for under 13 years” or something of the sort.
I wonder if I have to read all the “required conditions” of each site, previous to register, in order to find that clause… do you know where I must look to find it quickly?
Carla, I’m so disappointed about it, my young students will be sad when they know it.
I have started a new blog in Portuguese, just for them, but I have to change it now, as there is no room for plenty of web tools I thought would be great for the classes.
I hope you and your family can ride the storms in safety.
Saudades do País Irmão,
Ines
Carla,
Thank you again for all your support, your permission to translation and prompt help!
As I translate as an “amateur” feel free to correct me whenever you think it’s needed.
I will follow your links and will tell you how things are going for me. I totally agree that it is essential to connect with parents and to know deeply how to apply the security rules.
At this moment I’m posting about what we are going to do in the classroom for the first trimester.
Hopefully the Students Blogging Competition will help my students to grasp what being a kid on line is all about, as the adult Comment Challenge has been to me a school of “life-on-line”.
I’ll see you soon, Beijos
Ines