This is a very interesting article to read. Thanks for sharing your view on this. I personally like your example since I am a chemistry teacher! lol =)

I do agree with you. Copying answers alone cannot lead to the understanding of the concepts. They may look at how others have gotten the answer and make sense out of it for their understanding. But copying alone will not lead them to a higher achievement. I highly promote collaborative learning in the classroom. I don’t see why they can’t do this outside of the classroom.

I remember seeing the headlines about that controversy but had not read much about it. My first reaction was similar to yours as I thought it would be ridiculous to expel that student. As you, I also found the article interesting as it educated me about different sides of the coin.

I particularly appreciated the following quotes from that article:

“And some believe it’s the grown-ups who need to change their attitude.”

It reminded me of that PowerPoint slides Julia showed us that depicted how people freaked out when simple things like the pencil and later the pen were introduced in the school systems back in the day. The Internet is the new frontier and as TLite has been correctly emphasizing, it is high time for us teachers and school systems to adapt to today’s realities.

But I also think that the students must also educate themselves as proposed by another quote in the article:

“But young people must be taught to educate themselves responsibly online, utilizing the resources there without falling victim to their unreliability.”

Is one thing to say that the adults must adapt to the new technology. But I also think that if the students want the rights use this powerful technology, they must also accept the responsibilities that come with it.

Thanks for your two cents. Those were mine…
Abheeru

PS pretty happy the kid did not get expelled.

Interesting dilemma that facebook presents educators. If the students will use the ‘tool’ to learn why stop them? However, some students, say in my lab, abuse the use of facebook and are chatting to friends at home or at another computer somewhere else in the school. Definitely not on task.

How can you assess group collaboration on facebook, or a wiki, or without any technology at all. Will using technology instead of chart paper encourage students to engage earlier, longer, faster, with more depth, etc. Should the actual assessment METHOD influence their understanding and attitudes toward learning? Should marks drive the learning? Should assessment drive the learning? How can educators excite students to learn? Will using technology do this?