Week 2
Not to sound skeptical, but twitter in the classroom sounds really great if you have a group of students that are active in their own learning. If they are a little distracted or just plain don’t feel like learning, then permission to get on Facebook and Twitter would be, in my opinion, irresponsible of the teacher. Not to mention the damage that Facebook can have on a student in the form of bullying or photographs. Using these two technologies is a cop out for schools to say that, yes, we use ICT in school. We aren’t innovating but we are getting there.
On the other hand, the Virtual learning space is the epitome of what I see schools being able to do in the future. The physical design of the space was student derived, the activities position students to think critically and to research, analyse and discern possible outcomes. I was particularly interested in the one-on-one “Speed dating” sessions. They tick all of my boxes in a lesson plan. Engagement, fun, accountability, monitoring and student centered learning.
Like Steve said, “the Virtual learning environment is a tool… One of many”, and it would be impractical to bend the nail because the hammer is different. We need to find different hammers!!! I believe it is this use of dynamic, innovative and engaging ideas that the future of ICT in the classroom lies. Bending already popular social media like Twitter and Facebook to meet curriculum standards is a step backwards, and I believe education would benefit immensely from the banning of such sites in the classroom.
chrishra23 
I agree! The idea of allowing Twitter and Facebook in the classroom seems irresponsible. The students use this ICT in a social way already and although school is a very social place I don’t think it would significantly contribute to the learning taking place in a classroom. There are plenty of other ICT tools that can be incorporated into the classroom which will truly benefit the students.
The use of a virtual classroom is indeed inspiring, The ability to connect with other students from around the world, to get their ideas and perspectives is fantastic, along with giving that “visual” aide to learning. I can directly connect with this because I am a very visual learner, show me how to do and I will, tell me how and I might struggle. So I can see a real benefit from this.
There also needs to be an element of “media literacy” which should be part of how ICT is used.
There has to be boundaries for students to understand what ICT’s are allowable and what aren’t and why.