Telecollaborative Projects

In my view, the biggest challenges to use of telecollaborative projects are simply matters of practicality. My school has only 1 computer lab in the media center that teachers can book, along with a few carts of mobile lab laptops that work when they feel like it. Each day, up to 70 teachers are competing for access to these resources. Thus, booking more than a day or two of computer time for all of your classes is difficult! Then, there is the issue of time in general. most of the telecollaborative projects that I have viewed are extensive enough that integration would be problematic. My curriculum is also expanding with the revisions due out this summer. So, if I was to use a telecollaborative project, it would need to align with my curriculum almost exactly for it to be practical. I certainly don't have the time to create a project that does mesh perfectly with my curriculum on my own, either. I'm really being blocked by a dearth of available time and computers.

The rewards of proper telecollaborative project use, though, are many. Students would be able to indulge their interests in technology. They would hopefully learn skills that can be useful in their future careers. They might become more excited about learning than they are if we are using textbooks and worksheets. Their minds could be opened by interacting with diverse students from other places-and this mind-expansion could extend to the instructors as well!