Virtual World

During term 1 and 2 this year I was part of a group of Australasian teachers who experimented in a virtual world. We learnt to move, build, embed and collaborate. We made some learning resources and then we reflected on the pros and cons of it all.

Over the last week I have been meeting daily with a group of 11 year 7-10 students in this same world. They have had free range to enter when they like, to communicate with each other and to build.

The skills they have learnt in only 5 days has been outstanding. They are highly engaged and while learning themselves they are also teaching each other. I haven't explained anything to them other than to set some guidelines and reminding them of their responsibilities in the world.

While they are having fun ... some questions spring to mind

Is this a good platform for students to learn in?

How could it best be used?

How do you manage students in this way?

Facebook in Education

Does FB have a place in everyday education in NZ? It seems to me that we mostly hear of the woes, the bad stories, the fears.

What about this - FB is in the face of a huge percentage of our students from late primary age onwards. If we want to send them messages, alert them to upcoming events, show them interesting news items, youtube videos etc etc isn't it a good idea to use a platform that they use, often many times a day? Why aren't we taking this opportunity and making it a place where school can go and mix it along with their friends and social life. Why do we need to consider it so out of bounds? If we do this aren't we simply then admitting that this is a 'no go' place for adults and that by this assumption we are assuming/accepting that kids are acting inappropriately?

Now don't get me wrong I am not advocating that we share our own personal accounts with our students, not at all, rather I am suggesting that we use school/community pages which students and their families can follow.

In my experience students are extremely open in the way they share their lives, their ups and downs and their friendships on this global stage. By showing that we expect that its an ok place to be mixing it up with them, then we are putting ourselves in a position where we can regularly, as teachers discuss the netiquette and safe practice that they should be using. Teaching netiquette should be part of every day classroom curriculum. Here is a great video demonstrating in a very real way how we could potentially be teaching how to look after our digital footprint.

what do you think?