My favorite project that I learned about is the Pen Pal Exchange. Last year my students were pen pals with a soldier in Kuwait, but it became difficult to send and receive mail. The ePals program connects students with other students their age around the globe. I would use this project in collaboration with my Step Up To Writing Assignments. My students work on writing all year long but never have the opportunity to apply it something unique and different. It is always the same few district approved assignments. I like the idea that the Pen Pal Exchange program would not only meet the Step Up To Writing lesson objectives, but also meet Social Studies standards. My students have a significant amount of technology in their lives, but they are often missing the connection piece.
The second project that I really liked learning about is the Games We Play project. This project connects students with students around the world. Students teach other how to play different games. I really liked how the games must be Playground Games. I find that my students are not exposed to these types of games so they are often "bored" on the playground. By connecting with another class somewhere around the world, my students would not only be exposed to games that are common in our society but also games that students around the world play.
I am very excited to use ePals. I hope to connect my students with other students around the globe and give them a worldly perspective. I also plan to use the connection feature to connect with educators in my student's native countries to find out better ways to highlight their culture.
Sounds like this was a really good "get" for you as far as a new source. I like that you are really able to see what you can do right away and love that you know your students so well that you are so excited to share this with them. It is a diverse site for sure.
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