Class Discussion at 10:00 pm???

Why not?  During the Vice Presidential and 3rd Presidential debates over 40 of my students watched while almost 20 students took part in a live blogging session hosted by me using Coveritlive.  I embedded the Coveritlive  session in my Moodle course to provide a bit more security and to monitor who showed up to watch.  

The quality of the dialogue was impressive for 8th graders discussing serious national issues. Having nearly half of all my students  show up at night to voluntarily discuss political debates illustrates the power of technology to foster learning.  It also reaffirms my faith and optimism in this generation that barely remembers 9/11, and doesn't remember a time before the Clinton's, the internet, or cell phones.  

Next up--live blogging election night with 8th graders!