Ed467 Notes on NewsGroups, Chats, and MOOs
These are the result of a class assignment
to list some examples and talk about the Pros and Cons of using these
forms of communications in teaching
NewsGroups
Recommended:
Pros
Contain numerous ideas for projects
and lessons ... users left useful links to excellent resources
Education K12 - good resources for
social studies teachers
Allows students to access information
that probably would not have been available to them otherwise.
allows teachers to share ideas and
come up with a good variety of teaching units.
lets you weed out the material that
you are not interested in
promote real time interaction between
students.
I see how helpful others are to one
another
I was very impressed with what I found
- in both math and science - conference dates, resources, and web sites
Easy to use
Cons
Messages of dubious origin often appeared
in seemingly harmless newsgroups
Information relayed to the group is
not always accurate and it is difficult to verify the sources.
There is no screening or filtering
and many newsgroups were unfit because of foul language and unfit topics.
No matter what, these Newsgroups[undesirable] are readily available
and teachers are required to monitor children's viewing persistently (1
teacher-30 students, not a realistic scenerio)
Chats
Recommended:
Pros
You can sit there and converse with
someone via the keyboard.
You can talk to eople all around the
world. I found it very interesting.
This was fun .. gives people a chance
to meet new people and chat with them about different subjects.
information is in real time and this
can be very exciting.
- have the chance to speak to professionals
in their area of interest.
Because there is an option for nicknames,
shy students may not feel so inhibited in expressing their views or asking
questions.
Chats give students the opportunity
to discuss with a wide range of people and hopefully give them a new perspective.
Cross cultural barriers could be broken
Cons
You end up listened to other peoples
useless conversations
Many seemed to deal with entertainment
issues ... rather than educational ones
Most students would not use for their
educational benefit and are more difficult to monitor.
I see the potential for students to
get distracted.
Could become addictive
I don't think that this would be recommended
for a classroom setting.
Some people can say some pretty crude
things.
I don't think the classroom is the
place for them. Students could give too much information to the wrong person.
Cautions
Students should never give their real
name ... they cannot be sure of exactly who they are corresponding with.
Teachers would have to closely monitor
their students, which is not easy with large classes.
MOOs
Recommended:
Pros
The MOO format permitted collaborative
work and included classes held in a virtual classroom - a useful resource
This is something the students may
have fun in.
May be used for students to develop
their writing and reading comprehension
MOOs are great because they stimulate
creativity and imagination
Cons
A teacher would have to be very skilled
in the use of these tools
I found it extremely difficult to understand
what a MOO was and how to use them.
I had quite a hard time trying to figure
out what to do
Computers should be used as a resource
the majority of time ... emphasis should not be on teaching computers
It would be very time consuming and
very frustrating
Cautions
I feel that it is more secure If you
create your own room and only the students within that class are in it
Please report any corrections to:
Ruth MacKinnon at rjmackin@stfx.ca
St. Francis Xavier University
Home Page http://juliet.stfx.ca/~rjmackin/welcome.html
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