Sunday, November 6, 2011

BP4_Collaborize Classroom




Collaborize Classroom is a Web 2.0 tool designed to engage students in meaningful discussion.  In Callaborize Classroom, teachers set up the initial account and accompanying site.  During the account set-up process, teachers are able to identify categories or individual class/course sections.  Once the account is set-up, teachers share the site URL with the students.  Students go to the site URL and register as a user of the site.  When students register, the teacher receives e-mail in his or her Collaborize Classroom inbox.  The e-mail is notification to confirm the student registration.

In Collaborize Classroom, teachers and students can Start a Discussion, which involves Asking a Question or Posting a Topic.  For teachers, the Question or Topic can be original or selected from a database by Subject or Grade Level.  For teachers, the community also offers a Professional Development component.  Teachers can comment on or join discussions regarding instruction and sign-up to participate in Webcasts.



When a student is logged into the site, he or she is able to see the Class Discussion, click on the link to the discussion and respond.  If the teacher or student who posted the discussion attached media to the post, the student will also be able to see an image, view a video or read a PDF.  Teachers and students are able to view a report of the responses.



I look forward to trying Collaborize Classroom with my students. It seems like a relatively easy medium for discussion, sharing ideas and assessing knowledge.  Although I reviewed the tool carefully, as yet, I have not used it with my students.  However, if you are looking for a way to organize classroom discussions and provide opportunities for students to utilize social networking in the classroom, I suggest trying Collaborize Classroom.

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