Monday, April 25, 2011

Collaboration is Everything




















I was truly impressed by the features offered by the ePals site. As I was browsing I found most interesting the “connect to classrooms” link that contains forums for teachers to collaborate. I found it amazing how easy it seemed to send messages to teachers all over the world, using the translation feature. It seems like so many people are eager to connect globally. I also noticed many teachers hoping to connect their classrooms using Skype. I think this is such a wonderful idea; we need to take advantage of this amazing technology.

One way I would definitely use this site is to connect to a classroom in another part of the world. When I was in school, we had pen pals arranged and it was an awesome experience, and I think interacting with other students internationally would be even better. In the future, I would choose a “hot topic” for my class to focus on – something like saving the environment that effects the whole world. I would hope to use ePals to find another classroom that my students could physically write letters to. I would arrange a Skype meeting as a conclusion to the project.

The possibilities are endless with site. I am even more excited to have my own classroom of students to share this unique opportunity with.


1 comment:

Maryanne said...

I think that the Skype feature would be an excellent way for classrooms to connect. Of course, a lot of prep would be required in order to make the Skype sessions useful, but that would be where a lot of learning would occur.