Through searching on the internet I was able to find a website that helped to connect classrooms from all over the world to each other. This website helps to facilitate discussions between students from all over the world. The website sets up teaching units which gives a topic for the students to write about. Then the students are able to correspond with each other about how things are different it their different parts of the world. For example you could decide that you would like to know more about cultural traditions in France. So you could post on this websites discussion board that you were looking for a French classroom to correspond with. Then when a class from France answered you your students could email back and forth answering each others questions about cultural traditions. This could be a great way to find out how people live in different parts of the world. I also like the fact that it just uses email. This could be a easy thing to enrich current curriculum, and would not add any extra expenses to your budget.
Website: http://www.epals.com/
This is really cool. It sounds like a big digital community billborad. Using this and Google Earth we can really connect our students with students around the world. It is nce that all you need is just email. I like it when things are simple and this sounds really really simple.
ReplyDeleteThis seems to be a really popular website that our class found and it does sound really cool. I'm curious about the language barriers and internet accessibility between the regions. It is something I intend to look into in future classrooms I may be teaching. I wonder if you can use web cams to connect with the other classes.
ReplyDeletePeter, I too came across the ePal network. I also liked their reading mentor program. Students get matched up with an adult from another part of the world and they read 5 books over the course of the year. Then they talk to each other about their readings. The students form strong relations with their mentors and learn from adults who have a passion for reading. The network does seem like a awesome took to incorporate into a classroom.
ReplyDeleteI can't figure out how I didn't manage to find the epals website since it seems like so many of my classmates found it! I like how you can use a discussion board to find classrooms that are specific to your students' interests. You make a good point that it does not add any expense to a budget (something that the "old way" of communicating with worldwide penpals could not claim!)
ReplyDeleteThis is really interesting. I think its amazing that now, at any time, you can communicate over the interent with anyone about anything. I love the educational sites because they lack a lot of the scary things about chat rooms. I love that you mentioned how they can be used for finding out about different cultures. Think about it, we could learn about the people of France without ever leaving our computer.
ReplyDeleteI too looked at Epal and I really enjoyed how one can pair up with a classroom and do lessons together and write letters back and forth. I think that it is great that students can learn about other languages and cultures without leaving their own school. Pairing this site with Google Earth or Skype would make the experience even more in depth for the students. They could actually put a voice and face to their pen pal.
ReplyDeleteIt's cool to see that others are using discussion boards outside of college. I think it'd be easier to check on students' progress if their conversations were easily accessible.Have you looked at epal.com?
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