I like the idea of social networking for education. When I created a
webpage for another class, I connected it to Amazon's widget and has an
RSS feed on the page. I think that could possibly be a good way to set
up a social networking site for education-- reading in particular.
Students could exchange books, thoughts, ideas, connections,
reflections, summaries, evaluation, etc. Students could connect this
widget and the RSS feed to a wiki page. Another way that a teacher could
create a social networking site for students could be through using
Edmodo. Students already get to blog on that page, but Google Reader can
also be added for an aggregator. To either site, students could add
suggested readings, topics/subjects, etc. Now that I understand more
about RSS feeds, Google Reader and aggregators, I feel like I can help
students to enhance their learning through making powerful connections.
I think reading is always a great content area to get students discussing whether virtually or in person. Students will definitely need structure and guidelines for doing so because if a discussion or reflection task is left too open ended many students will produce poor quality work or will not complete the work at all because they will not know what to do. I know many of my special education students struggle with open ended writing tasks.
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