I'm a middle school science teacher and I'm looking for ways to creatively use the web for my students. I currently have a site http://MrGScience.com which is mainly one way communication --- me to them. What I'd rather have is a collaborative site which better engages the students, allowing them to post and comment similar to a forum.

 

If anyone has experience in this area or knows of some good sites please reply.

I used to own a site just as you have stated, one that is essentially a giant homework help forum. Unfortunately, however, both public interest and the domain name expired.

 

It's a good idea, it just needs to be pulled off right with decent advertising. Students, mind you, often aren't all that great at making quality posts.

I am also a middle school teacher and have tried to use technology to engage my students. One thing that has worked for me is to use webquests. You can find some really ones at htpp://webquest.org/search/. I've found a website that encourages students to discuss with a science blog. The site for this is http://www.middleschoolscience.org. I haven't used this site yet, but it does look like it would support some student discussion.

 

I'm curious how this (or something like this) would work out. Let me know if you try it and how it turns out.