Social+Software

=Social Software=

Please click the link to view our group report on social software.

__Incorporating social software into the French classroom__ I think it would be easy to incorporate social software into my curriculum as long as the tasks were chosen correctly and the students were given enough scaffolding to complete those tasks. It would allow for a lot of collaboration between students, and communication with native speakers of French. Those would be my two primary purposes of using such software in my classroom.

=__Wikis__= I have already begun using wikis in my classroom for many different purposes.

1- **Collaboration**: Students can work with each other and talk about what's going on in class. They can post questions about homework to the discussion board. They can comment on each other's work. All of this is done in French so I can later go on and view what kinds of mistakes they are making.

2- **Posting Assignments**: I post assignments online for students who are not in school. I also post answers to their homework. I work with AP students who are very independent so I let them check their homework as they finish it, so they can ask questions as soon as they come up.

3- **Discussions**: I sometimes like to host discussions online. Students do this in French and I have noticed that they seem much more confident typing on the computer than writing on paper. They aren't as afraid to make mistakes. Again, I can check these discussions whenever I want and give feedback as needed.


 * Big Kahuna**: I would probably use the wiki in my Big Kahuna project to have students post discussions about what they will bring in their suitcases for their trip to France. I will give them specific prompts to answer and they will respond in French. I may also ask them to create journal entries and enter them as a blog about their travels and adventures.

=__Facebook__= I might use facebook to create an event page that students can contribute to, regarding a trip to France. The site can be used as a venue to host discussions about the trip, post photos, create journal entries, etc. I would like to get some veteran travelers to post advice/ tips for future travelers.

I am wary of using Facebook in the classroom. The first problem to overcome is the fact that the site is banned at my school. I would also be nervous about letting other non students contribute to the page. Anyone who did would have to be approuved and even then, I would not be completely comfortable with it. It's a nice idea, but perhaps not realistic.

=__Twitter__= I think it might be fun for my students to keep a Twitter account that they update with news about their travels. They can update friends and family about what's been going on throughout each step of the trip. They may also be able to read a native speaker's posting and take cues from it. It could even become a reading activity where we read Twitter postings with words taken out and students have to figure out what word might complete a phrase or sentence.