Comments on Steve Hargadon: Connecting Classrooms to Classrooms Worldwide

Hello again, I've just finished reading the &q...

2009-06-03T18:13:42.691-07:00

Hello again, I've just finished reading the "Policies for Classroom 2.0 Commercial Solicitations" page at http://www.classroom20.com/forum/topic/show?id=649749:Topic:10556
and realized my previous post was a violation! I didn't use my full name, and may have come across as the kind of solicitation none of us enjoy reading. So I've updated my profile, and will try to adhere to the rules from now on, please accept my apologies.

Hi Steve, First, thanks so much for your great c...

2009-06-01T22:26:23.381-07:00

Hi Steve,

First, thanks so much for your great contributions to ESL, I've been a silent participant on your website for a long time!

I'm breaking my silence just to let you know about my ESL project at www.pikifriends.net

I'm an ESL teacher at a jr/sr high school in Tokyo, and I've been building an SNS for secondary schools for the last several years. We are testing it now with students and working on many improvements.

I'm glad to see Elluminate and the aforementioned sites by Lucy Gray and Jen, and there are certainly lots of great tools already out there. Thanks for bringing them to our attention!

I'm building one from scratch that has lots of unique features, and as a teacher myself I believe it will offer some unprecedented features for the ESL curriculum.

It will also be 100% free. I don't believe we need to pay, as educators, to give our students and teachers powerful online tools. If we're careful, and listen to and learn from people like you, we can discover all kinds of great free stuff out there. Yes, there are fantastic services that charge money, as well as free services with shady privacy policies, so we have to choose wisely.

Anyway I will keep you posted if that's OK!

Jeff

Hi, Jen. I'm not trying to reinvent the wheel, ac...

2009-05-31T23:40:17.423-07:00

Hi, Jen. I'm not trying to reinvent the wheel, actually.
Elluminate has run a very successful program themselves in this arena called "Fire and Ice,"

What I'm doing by holding this meeting is trying to find out what's being done right now and by whom, and the best way for Elluminate to fit into those models and/or help to expand them. Because part of the program I'm working on is to make Elluminate's existing free services more visible, and to make some new services free through LearnCentral, finding out and being able to promote sites like yours and Lucy's is the first step that I want to take.

Then I want to figure out a good, proactive role for Elluminate, given that there are literally millions of educators who use an Elluminate service in one way or another. I foresee a future in which it becomes standard classroom practice to both connect with other classrooms and to bring in remote guest speakers, and I am hoping those who come to the meeting can help explore the different ways to get there.

Cheers!

Hi Steve Hmmm, I am wondering why you are reinven...

2009-05-31T14:56:39.781-07:00

Hi Steve

Hmmm, I am wondering why you are reinventing the wheel on this one.

Lucy Gray has set up a wonderful location at http://globaleducation.ning.com/profiles/members/ with almost 2,000 members and I also have a small elementary based one at http://onlineproj4tchrs.ning.com/ (not as big of numbers but very busy.)

I am unsure if Lucy can be at the meeting on Monday (unfortunately, I cannot) but I am wondering that instead of starting a new arena -- why not tag onto something(s) already flourishing???

Jen