Though tardy with my responses 😐 I do want to chime in on the idea of message boards as a way to extend in-class conversations beyond the classroom. My district has a subscription to Moodle (check if yours does too!) and, as a part of that service, teachers can create their own websites, complete with message boards, calendars, and other assorted bells and whistles. I would love to assign a discussion project where upper-level students conduct a debate through writing in the target language. With an ambitious sister city plan over the next few years to develop a positive relationship with a Japanese high school, my students will begin by being assigned E-Pals next year. Message boards could also function as an E-Pal communication hub. Whatever it takes to bring the language into the community is a win in my opinion.
As an additional note on technology, consider sharing the power of Google documents with your students. Students can write and edit a single group report simultaneously over the web and it is free!
