One of the new resources I recently implemented in my classrooms was a classroom discussion board hosted by
www.nicenet.org
The discussion board had been reviewed by Berekeley.edu. Some of the benefits of a discussion board include: a longer wait time in which students have to think about questions posed to them, the ability of students to instantly interact with other students, clearer student responses that students themselves can edit and update over time, the fact that all students can contribute to this form of class discussion, and the avenues of communication it opens up between students, teachers, parents, and administrators. Some of the reasons I chose nicenet.org over other discussion board sites was: it was free, it is completely without advertisements, and it affords the teacher a great deal of control over the board's users, as well as what is posted. Some of the downsides though, is that it lacks a profanity filter, and has a somewhat plain appearance. At the same time, it still is a threded system which organizes posts by new messages and replies, which I thought was a plus. Because posts do not require prior teacher approval (though teachers can remove posts they do not like) student posts are immediate, which maximizes student interaction. Also on account of this fact, and on account of the ability of students to send personal messages to each other, the implementation of this board must be carefully executed by the teacher; students must understand what is inappropriate, and any consequences to unwanted behaviors. Nevertheless, it is a great classroom tool. Also, unlike blogs, it is a closed forum, which only one's class can access which provides for greater safety for the students. Q.v.
http://www-writing.berkeley.edu/tesl-ej/ej26/m1.html
posted by B R S @ 4:34 PM
1 Comments:
Hi Brian,
I'll have to take a look at NiceNet. I'm glad it's working well with your students.
Another closed system for working with K-12 students is located at TappedIn.org. That site offers you an office and discussions with other professionals also.
Dr. Burgos
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