Sunday, November 21, 2010

EPals

Global Connections



For me the Epals Classroom Collaboration feature is most useful in the classroom. Being a Social Studies teacher it is an excellent way for teachers from different countries/states/regions to connect with one another. However, you can use this feature for any subject really as there are nine different projects all with value in multiple subjects. These different projects also give students and teachers the opportunities to collaborate on academic work. It is always helpful to work with other people on subjects and share information. These projects provide the opportunity to do so, with the added bonus of people outside the classroom. Lastly the Epals Classroom Collaboration projects allow for students to upload their work, this is something I have stated multiple times as being a positive activity for students. I feel it allows for more ownership of work and I think that students enjoy know that other people will be viewing their work.

As a Social Studies Teacher I feel that the The Way We Are: An Introduction to ePals would be an excellent resource for me to use in my classroom. I see a great ninth grade Global lesson on religion where I and a classroom from a region in India or the Middle East creating a project on religions. This would be very interesting and usual as it would give the opportunities for students from both classes the chance to explain hopefully a few different types of religions from both classrooms. I understand this would be very difficult and possibly controversial but if done right it could allow for more religious toleration amongst different religions. I see this as highly useful and a wonderful opportunity for students in both classrooms.

EPals Link

1 comment:

  1. I hope you get to experiment with collaboration. Nothing ventured, nothing gained!

    Dr. Burgos

    ReplyDelete