Thanks to modern technology being readily accessible for the masses, connecting with global education communities around the world is easier than ever. The possibilities are endless for establishing connections, all one has to do is have the desire and start exploring. I initially tried Google © and started searching under ‘global education communities’, but that didn’t really get me on the right track. I discovered a great resource for teachers, Curriki (www.curriki.org), but I wanted something that went beyond sharing curriculum. In order to find ways for students to connect with one another, I modified my search to a more focused entry entitled ‘connect students to global community’. I hit the jackpot and discovered two amazing resources, Skype in the classroom and ePals.
With ePals, there are classrooms in 200 countries and territories collaborating together in the largest K-12 learning network. Here is the information about ePals Inc. as quoted from their website, “The ePals® approach provides an effective way to instruct and reach today's technology savvy students and teachers. ePals provides digital content designed for collaboration and self-paced, self-directed learning as well as a safe platform to share work globally. Authentic ePals projects are centered around meaningful content and experiences that require teamwork, digital literacy skills, higher-level thinking and communication. By engaging in authentic learning experiences about relevant issues, students, teachers and mentors learn and work together, strengthening core learning while motivating learners and building self-confidence and skills necessary for future careers. At the same time, ePals helps teachers learn to use technology effectively in their classrooms, providing professional development, curriculum, contests and other resources” (2011).
Skype is already being utilized by teachers around the world and now there is an official link that is just for teachers and their classes. “Skype in the classroom is a free community to help teachers everywhere use Skype to help their students learn. It’s a place for teachers to connect with each other, find partner classes and share inspiration. This is a global initiative that was created in response to the growing number of teachers using Skype in their classrooms” (Skype Limited 2011).
I was lead to education Skype thanks to another blog, so I will pass on my newly acquired knowledge in the links below if anyone wants to learn more! There is also an article I uncovered about children sending stuffed animals and a journal to connect with the global community. Each Travelling Animal is inside a hand-sewn backpack, along with a journal for recording the travels and the postal and e-mail addresses for the classes so that everyone can keep in touch. The travelling animals start out being mailed to friends, family, and acquaintances. Those who acquire the animals then send them to their own friends, family, and acquaintances, and the process continues until the return date for the animal and its accompanying journal. I thought it was a great idea and I could see this being implemented in my own classroom in the future.
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Here is the link to the blog that led me to Skype in the classroom, I realized I left that out.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.msteacher2.org/profiles/blog/show?id=2593214%3ABlogPost%3A49635&commentId=2593214%3AComment%3A50087&xg_source=activity
Oohh, I like the link to the curriculum sharing site! I think that is a great idea!!
ReplyDeleteMan! haha, Everyone found epals! Also, Skype is really great! I use that all the time, and it's so nice, it's a great way for my niece and I to stay connected while she is so young and I'm gone! Thanks for the websites!
ReplyDeleteThe curriculum site is definitely one that I will add to my favorite, so Thanks. Everyone, myself included, seems to have gravitated towards Eplas. It is a great site. I hope to eventually incorporate it into my own classroom as an extended project. I think that I'll enjoy it as much as the students will!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing the epals idea! I love the thought of children connecting with other children around the globe. In addition I think skype is a really neat tool and I use skype all the time to see my niece when I am away at school. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteEpals is a pretty cool site. After everyone was talking about it, I figured I had to look. It's amazing how close the world wide web is bringing everybody nowadays!!!
ReplyDeleteI also came across ePals when I was researching for how to incorporate the global community in the classroom. There's some great tools on there to help students talk to one another from across the word, but I like how the main focus is student learning. I didn't know that Skype was being used so heavily as a classroom tech tool. In some ways the ePals philosophy seems to carry over to the Skype teacher link.
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