So many students are so thrilled when you start talking about Germanic culture with them--as if they've been starving for it all along and are just waiting for those insights! Using some asynchronous and some classroom-based synchronous activities could be an excellent way to provide some of this information while concentrating in class on grammar, vocab, etc.
they valued the opportunities provided by the two CMC-embedded webquests to interact with their respective group members in asynchronous and synchronous modes of communication.
students appreciated and enjoyed learning about the target culture in way that they retained the information even two months after they were completed
Findings emerging from a constant comparison method analysis indicate that the CMC-embedded webquests played a significant role in advancing the online students' knowledge and understanding of German culture.
synchronous online discussions evoke a higher `sense of community' and `groups', `sense of purpose' for online learners
higher frequencies of `Praise/ Encouragement,' `Task Regulation,' and `Challenge,' in asynchronous `e-turns' demonstrates that distance learners are able to produce more cohesive and detailed responses in asynchronous online discussions
culture, an often neglected aspect of FL instruction
Has anyone used Thinkquest? It looks like a great way to introduce elementary students to social networking in a safe way. I also posted a great site that does online safety and cyberbulling in 15 minutes lessons with Garfield cartoons for kids.
Yes, I have used it primarily with middle school students and I have found it quite useful. The last time I used it was several years ago to set up a list of websites to use with a webquest, a very simple and easy thing to do.
This looks pretty promising. I also think the connections you made on this site are great - asking for resources and someone commented back with great resources on kids safety on the internet. Awesome!!