Fakebook!
Check it out! http://www.classtools.net/FB/home-page
Fakebook is a site that is customized to look like Facebook. The idea is to engage students into creating a Facebook profile for a fictional/historical character and therefore has great usage in history or English classes. As a project, a student can create a profile and fill it with the appropriate information about a character. The site allows a student to be able to customize the about me, friends list, profile picture, and wall posts. Imagine Harry Potter using Facebook with multiple posts from Ron and Hermione while being harassed by Draco.
Although, it was designed specifically for characters or intelligent beings (fiction or nonfiction), it is possible to use it for inanimate objects as well. This leads us into the ability to use it for Science and Mathematics. Take a look at the humorous Fakebook I created with a few others.
http://www.classtools.net/FB/1007-MEimAF
We made a page for the element Strontium. We had it's birthday set after the Big Bang, it's family (Alkali earth metals) and that it struggles with multiple personality disorder for its different isotopes. We also made some chemistry/romance jokes on the wall. My favorite: Flame posted "You and me have wonderful chemistry. You make me Red Hot!" Get it? Because when burned Strontium emits heavily in the red spectrum.
Although it has its uses, I don't believe I would use it for anything else but an element project but I am unsure if knowing one element in depth is all that useful. Maybe my vision of its use is too limited. In class, the presenters tried to pitch that it was usable for a debate. Debating using scientific evidence is something I would use rather often in my class but never would I use Fakebook as the medium for a debate. It happens to be only editable by one person at a time which makes it tough to debate online. And in class it works too slow when you must create a new post for every new person who talks. It is just not plausible.
Overall, I do not believe I would use Fakebook in my classroom given my limited knowledge and view of its uses. If someone can pitch me an idea that would prove truly useful, my ears are open.
