Online Role Play

After our role play activity in class I have a lot of thoughts on using this in the classroom. I think there is a lot of potential, especially for students who may not speak up in a face-to-face debate, students like me. It is quite a bit easier (in some ways) to take on a role that you may not necessarily agree with and push an agenda associated with that role because everyone knows everyone is just playing a role and therefore hopefully no one would take anything that was said too seriously and wouldn't be out to judge what students are saying. In our debate in class I know I said things that I wouldn't have ever said in my true self role. I was much more verbal. It was also exciting to take on a role that was vastly different from my own perspective. I've been asked to do this for a number of classes and I always enjoy the experience. As a teacher I used to teach a debate unit and wish I would have considered using the online format to carry out that unit. It opens up a lot more possibilities for students who are naturally more passive in class. I also feel like it could be used to debate issues that come up within novels as well. So many possibilities.