I am excited to be using something that seems so basic, but I have not incorporated it into my classes at all: Facebook!
I will set up a Facebook page that is private and every student can request to join the page. I have not decided if it will be required for them to get a Facebook, because I have no clue how many students will not have one. That will be a question on the survey I give in the first few days of class. The goal of the Facebook page is to serve as a reminder for due dates, but more importantly, to get some discussion going. Students will be given bonus points for posting links to videos, articles, or other media about a topic we are discussing that week (like resumes or cover letters). Students will also receive points for commenting and discussing on the Facebook page.
Another thing I want to incorporate is doing a quiz question every other day or so. For example, if they have quiz 6 on Friday, Monday and Wednesday I may put up a question on the Facebook page (without the answer) to see how students are doing. It is essentially a freebee as long as they take the time to look up the correct answer and discuss it.
The class I teach is 90+ students, which is hard for them to get up and ask a question. I am hoping with the Facebook page they will either ask the question on there or feel comfortable sending me a question.
Corey Ann,
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your post, I couldn't help but think that you'd get a kick out of the following article I ran across titled "First Year Composition in Twenty Tweets" by Christine Brandel.
See: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/christine-brandel/first-year-composition-in_b_793588.html
Corey,
ReplyDeleteUsing Facebook to communicate with students is a very innovative idea, as almost everyone has FB and students would be more likely to get your class communications because they are pushed to them. I wonder what sorts of issues regarding privacy that you would come across. Would minors be in your class? What you have them establish separate Facebook accounts to maintain privacy? What if you saw questionable or illegal things on their page...are you required to report that as a teacher?
I think the use of FB as a tool for communication is an excellent idea. Like Hilary, I'm interested in how this this approach will work given privacy issues we've heard about related to FB. It's sad it comes to that as I think it's so important to motivate the students by using the very tools they enjoy using and in this case, chat/IM/FB and other tools are integral parts of students' lives.
ReplyDelete