As I have been using videoconferencing with my students and school since 2007, I'm eager to take it to the next level, by having a classroom online, where we can find others, join webinars, and produce our own presentations.  I teach Special Education, so the students I have really enjoy this feeling of being in a technologically advanced class, and the remediation of their self-esteem problems is much easier.  They also benefit from a lot of the multi-modal presentations, and the visual learning information system that is built into the Collaborate classroom.  The ability to chat with the teacher, each other, and a guest speaker is also an added benefit for them, as it allows them to practice much-needed writing skills, and to develop what I term "social netiquette."  This usage would begin from the very beginning of class, with the online classroom being used for instruction, collaboration, and review of information prior to tests.  It would also be a way to build community, and to interact with parents, who might be able to view their child's contributions, if some of the webinars were attended from home.

This classroom, my previous work in both video-conferencing and web 2.0 interactive content, and the presentations I have done for fellow instructors using all of these different technological integrations, are well documented on my classroom website: http://mrmellott1003.weebly.com 

Thanks for the opportunity to share in this resource.

Respectfully, Richard Mellott