Skip to main content

ePals: A Global Perspective on Education

I had never heard of ePals until this module. When I first explored the site, I was amazed. I had no idea that a site that allows educators to connect and students to complete global projects like this, existed. My current classroom population is very diverse. ePals would give my students an opportunity to connect with students from their native country and learn more about their culture.

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.
Labels:

Comments

  1. UnknownOctober 7, 2017 at 11:47 AM

    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.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Digital Native v. Digital Immigrant...what are you?

I had never heard of the concept of "Digital Natives" and "Digital Immigrants" until this module's readings. The second I started reading Marc Prensky's articles though, the whole idea clicked and actually made sense. Digital natives are those who have lived their whole lives surrounded by technology. Digital immigrants are those who have adopted technology and it's language later in their lives. I would consider myself a digital immigrant. I still remember growing up when my family got dial-up internet. My sister and I thought it was the coolest thing. I also remember having a MySpace profile, something that is completely irrelevant now. The first iPod that I got for Christmas--it was a brick compared to the iPod's children have today. All of these things may date me (even though I am only 23!) but I have adopted the new ways of technology and forced myself to learn them. Gee uses the word "practice" to explain how immigrants can learn th
1 comment
Read more

Using Blogs to Meet Learning Standards

Blogs present a unique opportunity to engage students in technology based learning. Van Olphen, Hofer and Harris presented interesting points in their article "Grounded Tech Instruction: Languages". Their idea of matching technology integration to existing lesson methods is exactly what I currently do in my classroom. I teach Kindergarten with about half of my class being ENL students. These students often times are brushed over because "they do not understand", but these students yearn to learn and are often very bright. I try to engage my ENL students using unique methods that not only get them thinking about English but also allowing them to speak in their own language. Blogging in my classroom would open a whole new window of possibility. One way that blogging could engage my students would be in Step Up To Writing preparation. Step Up To Writing is the writing initiative and assessment in Buffalo Public Schools. The program is very comprehensive and througho
6 comments
Read more

Can You Keep Up?

Technology is moving faster than most educators can keep up. I am included in that group of educators. My students come to school with a diverse knowledge of technology and how it works. The switch to this new kind of education was highlighted very well by the schools in New Brunswick, Canada.  The school district explains that "Education as we know it may be obsolete". My biggest concern still remains; what does this mean for educators like myself? I will be the first to admit that my students are much more tech savvy than I am. They know what to do when the computer freezes or the tablet is not working properly. They can diagnose just about every problem on an iPhone and can easily list a plethora of websites and game sites. When I was in Kindergarten, I learned how to color. I knew my letters and numbers and I began to read and write. My students can do much more than I can in some aspects, but they miss out on others. When thinking about my Kindergarten experience, my tea
7 comments
Read more