I'm quickly becoming a fan of social media in the classroom, especially for shy or introverted kids. Here's a CNN video of a high school teacher using Twitter to reach his students, especially the shy ones.

There is of course a danger that shy kids will become too reliant on these technologies to do the talking for them. But I think it's more likely that they'll gain confidence by tweeting their ideas and seeing them recognized by their peers. That confidence will spill over into their "real world" interactions, I predict. Once they've savored the pleasure of participating in a discussion and seeing their ideas validated, they'll be hungry for more.