Getting excited and moving forward

A semester-long blogging experience with my undergraduate students had been quite an eye-opener of what this tool can do to support teaching and learning. Yes, I got to be honest that I tend to structure things so I can observe how the experience impacts student behaviors and dispositions -- but at the end, these student rose to the occassion and met my expectations. There were lots of writing and reflections -- lots of stepping outside of the box -- and taking some risks. Many students complained of the amount of work but also more stated that they have learned so much in comparison to other experiences they had at this university. For that, I can say that the blogging experience has been successful in effecting change at both the classroom and the individual level.

So I thank everyone who made this blogging experience possible -- students and mentors from the university, peers and supervisors as well as colleagues from the NWP Tech Liaison Network. I look forward to another blogging adventure next term with my students and the community at large where they will be working in the near future.

A Final Draft of a Classroom Activity

It's almost wrap up time for our blogging experience this semester. One of the outcomes that my students are generating from this experience are examples of classroom activities for K-12 students. One of them has been gracious enough to showcase her work to give others a better idea of the expectations for this task --

Objective
The purpose of this activity is to encourage students to develop skills in writing and reading as well as more information and respect for other cultures in the world. Studies have shown that students are likely to hone their reading and writing skills while corresponding with their peers. Students look forward to communicating with their diverse peers, being careful to check and edit their work. This activity will also develop proficiency with computer skills, particularly typing and e-mail.

Prerequisite Knowledge and Skills
Prior to conducting this activity, students should be able to express themselves in writing, be able to read for content, and have some knowledge of computers (particularly typing). Your students reading abilities will be tested with this project as their foreign peers may write with broken English and unique colloquialisms.

Materials and/or Tools
Students will need computers with Internet access, computer time in the classroom, and a folder to keep their letters.

Set Up/Context:This activity is designed for middle school students (grades 6 – 8), but it could certainly be revised to account for any grade level. Cultural awareness should be made apparent to any age group, but the process can be adapted so that it is more challenging for higher-level students and easier for younger children.

While this activity can span any length, I would encourage teachers to continue their pen pal interaction throughout the year. Once a week, teachers could devote time for Internet correspondence, having their students use the classroom computer to write their emails. This activity should only take place in the classroom, so that teachers can monitor their students.

Process/Instructions
1) Teachers need to create an account with ePALS (this was the server I used to experiment with this activity). Their website is http://www.epals.com. Click on the link “Become a Member.”

Following this, you have the option of signing up with “ePALS School Mail” or “ePALS Global Network.” The Global Network is free, and I found it to be suitable for this activity. From there, select the “Teacher Channel,” which will require you to fill out some personal information, but don’t worry, ePALS offers a safe, secure privacy policy. Be aware that it may take a day or two for your account to be activated.

2) Once your account has been activated (you will be notified by your ePALS e-mail account), you can then begin searching for other classrooms around the world. On the left hand bar of the welcoming page, there is a link to “Find Classrooms.” Once you begin your search, you can narrow your selection to classroom size, age, and country by clicking on “Refine your search.” A list of candidates will appear, allowing you to contact the teacher of each class through e-mail.

Be sure to pay attention to how long your prospective pen pals have been members of ePALS. If their profile has not been updated for quite sometime, I suggest you look for someone more recent.

3) Once you have an idea of which countries your students would like to converse with, contact your candidates one by one. I suggest you start this activity at the beginning of the year, so that you can give your candidates time to respond. If you do not receive a response within a few weeks, I would suggest you move on.

4) Once you have made contact with a teacher from another country, tell your students which country they will be conversing with. Have your students research the country they are studying on the Internet (if some of your students do not have Internet access at home, allow them to use the library or class computer sometime after school).

It will help if your students have some knowledge of the country they will be communicating with. Have them answer the following questions (or similar ones):

What is your impression of this country? What do you know or what have you heard about this country?
Where is this country located?
What is the geographical terrain and typical weather of this country?
What nationality are the people in this country, and what language(s) do they speak?
How many people live in this country?
Name something that has occurred in this country’s past.
Name something that is currently happening in this country.

5) Once your students have been introduced to their country, you may begin the pen pal process. You will need to contact your teacher to determine how you would like your students to correspond (chat, video, audio, postal), and you will also need to retain e-mail addresses. Make sure you inform your teacher what you will be doing with your class, and set up a schedule for correspondence – perhaps an e-mail exchange every week or so.

Also determine when the both of you would like to end the project. Allow your students to develop a natural friendship with their diverse peers, but try to incorporate topics your students could discuss with their peers. Have your students ask their peers questions, such as “What are you learning about in school,” or cultural questions, such as “What is your favorite food?” Since there are probably a limited number of computers in your class, have your students write their e-mails on paper before typing them in class. This way, you can read what they have written, checking for errors or inappropriate language, before they type their letter.

For every day of the week, have a handful of students type their e-mails in class. Be sure to check their messages before they submit them, and be with them when they send their e-mails. Your students should maintain correspondence with their peers, even if they have not received a response.

6) Print every e-mail your students receive from their peers and place them in a folder. This way, your students will have a record of every interaction, as well as the information they have gathered from this activity.

7) Finally, at the end of the pen pal interaction, put together a “culture package” filled with American souvenirs and pictures. If you can afford to do this, ship the “culture package” to your friends in the other country.

Outcome
After this activity, your students should have more information and knowledge about their country. This cultural interaction will allow your students to develop more respect for their diverse peers, and hopefully, this will be replicated in their behavior. At the end of this assignment, your students should have a keepsake folder depicting their pen pal interaction composed of their letters as well as those written by their peers.

Evaluation and Feedback
During correspondence, grade your students based on how involved they were in this assignment. Take a look at their letters. Do they seem interested in their peers? Are they trying to learn more about the culture?

At the end of this activity, after reading through the e-mails, try to uncover what your students have learned from this assignment. Using the responses of their peers and the information your students collected at the beginning of this activity, create a test to measure what your students have retained. How well your students perform on this test will indicate what they have gained from their interaction.

Follow Up
The most appropriate follow up for this assignment would be a student reflection. Ask your students what they have learned from their peer interaction. What did they enjoy most? What did they enjoy least? What could have been done to make their interaction more enjoyable? How has their interaction changed their first impression of this country? This will enable you to see how your students have grown in their acceptance of diversity.