Education and the Internet

The internet has become so wide spread within certain communities that it is time to consider at as tool within high schools. I am talking in the sense of a virutal classroom or laptops for all the students, but more in after class participation and discussion. A great number of students already are part of large social circles be means of chatting/MSN messenger. Perhaps, similar communities could be developed on certain subjects and topics that students are interested in or even just learning about. The point would be to provoke thought and force students not just to memorize facts and formulas but to consider the material they learning beyond getting grades and passing.

The addition of mandatory forum posting might be away to ENGAGE students in course material. Being engaged in material is very important because those that are intrigued interested and those that have questions about a subject are those that push forward in that material and really learn it. Furthermore, forums are a place where questions can be asked about material that goes beyond the classroom, allowing students to pursue their own realted interests and allowing teachers to better understand students.