Fake and fun learning

Sunita Biswas

Technology in the classroom and no teacher left behind! And, what’s more, it’s not a this-too-shall-pass fad. Technology is here to stay and students love technology. It offers exciting prospects with endless possibilities!

One example of just how endless the possibilities can be is Fakebook. It’s an extremely captivating teaching tool, which is, even at this moment, being used by many teachers here and abroad. I discovered it only recently, and I was bowled over, and, much like the Ancient Mariner, I’m driven to share it with all who are not familiar with this amazing tool that educates while it entertains!

As the name suggests, Fakebook has been cloned on Facebook. It is a lot like Facebook except that it is fake! A very creative History teacher from France, Russel Tarr, realized the potential of a tool that would come as close as it could to a hugely popular social networking website. Tarr has created a website, classtools.net, which is choc-a-bloc with innovative teaching tools, Fakebook being one. This is the link to the website: http://www.classtools.net/

And this is what the Fakebook page looks like. http://www.classtools.net/FB/home-page

It’s very, very easy to use, and like the classtools.net website promises, you don’t need to log in, you don’t need a password (before you even begin), and you don’t have to pay! However, you do need to be online.

And now to recount my Fakebook experience.

I chose to try Fakebook with students of class 8 and the topic was ‘The French Revolution’. We decided to focus on the execution of King Louis XVI who was, as is well-known, guillotined. However, before that, he faced a trial and was convicted and sentenced to death. The class had already studied the various causes of the Revolution and the events leading up to the king’s unfortunate attempt to flee.

We decided to launch Fakebook with one page for Louis XVI and another for someone on the other side, that is, a revolutionary, so as to give both sides of the story. For this, we discussed who would support Louis XVI, and who would be against him. The supporters we listed as his “friends”. On the other side, we chose Robespierre, one of Louis XVI’s severest critics, and a leading figure among the revolutionaries at that time, and made a list of his “friends” too!

At this point the class was divided into two groups and each group was assigned to find out factual details about the character’s life like family, birth, etc., and also read up more about accounts of the trial and subsequent execution…eyewitness accounts, viewpoints, etc.

Armed with facts and original writings and comments (mostly scoured from the Internet) we started the process of constructing the profiles. Ideally perhaps, with requisite facilities, the students could work at individual stations on individual computers, but in our classroom we have access to a single computer connected to an overhead projector. So it was a whole class activity with everyone commenting and sharing and finding ways to agree on what to “post”! It was much more fun this way than working at individual machines in a computer lab!

But more than that, it was a lot of organizing of thought, analysis, matching comments to character, stepping into the shoes of another person and reliving something that happened in another age…and of course free rein to creativity and imagination (the last within credible limits to be sure!). It was a thrilling experience and I do believe my band of faithfuls in this exercise will never forget this bit of learning. They certified it as “cool” which said it all!

Now I can’t wait to create profiles for every character from history that I mention in my classes!

And while the tool is undeniably suited to studying someone either dead or fictitious, its scope is not limited to just history and literature classes. In the hands of some very creative teachers, it is amazing how it has worked its magic in many more subjects. I read somewhere that it has even been used in chemistry classes with molecules in conversation! The link below has a few examples.
https://technologyandtheclassroom.wordpress.com/2012/11/19/fakebook/

This leaves us with the question – what level of learners should work with this tool? While Facebook has a minimum age stipulation of 13 years, which means any class upwards of eight, there is no child today above the age of ten (and much below that, for all I know!) who is not “tech-savvy” and not aware of Facebook, and the restriction on the use only whets their appetite to try it. Therefore, I believe teachers can use Fakebook in classes 6 and 7 to create simple profiles, posts, and conversations. This would take the mystery out of Facebook for the younger students and at the same time encourage organization of thought. It would also perhaps make them realize, when they do attain the age to begin using social media, that there can be much more to tell the world than what you’re wearing and what you had for lunch!

And to complete a great learning activity, Fakebook also has, built into it, an extremely useful assessment rubric that is very comprehensive and easy to use.

Technology is not “just one more thing”. Technology for the sake of technology by simply adding sounds and pictures to lectures is definitely not what anybody wants. It’s a vital experience that brings discovery, involvement, and even fun to the classroom, when teachers use it as a propellant and not a crutch. And as the old Arab saying goes, “It’s easier to steer a camel in the direction it is already heading.” Fakebook is a leap in that direction!

The author has, at various times over the past two decades, taught all classes from Nursery to 12. At present she teaches history and music at the middle and senior school levels at Modern High School, Kolkata. She can be reached at sunitabiswas@gmail.com.