Getting students
engaged in 400-year-old drama is usually a challenge, to put to mildly. But in
Seale’s classroom, classic literature gets the Web 2.0 treatment.
During Romeo and Juliet, for example, Seale used Ning.com to create a
class-only social media group called Verona Lifestyles, where her students,
posing as characters in the play, created profiles and posted updates and
discussion forums.
“Posting in character got them more engaged,” explains Seale, “and gave them
confidence to tackle the language. They even took a stab at writing couplets and
shared them on Ning