Most teachers associate computer technology with email activities and indeed, the Internet serves as an ideal resource for linking students with others, beyond the classroom. The most effective exchanges require careful pre-planning. Consult the following sites then go to Putnam's On_Line Course for Using Internet for FL for guidelines (session three) and specific lesson plans for interactive uses of the Internet.
(IECC) Intercultural E-Mail Classroom Connections: One of the original sources for keypals, this site at St. Olaf's College provides information on five kinds of free classroom pen-pal resources. Click for general information on e-mail for classroom projects and on partner classrooms. Sign up to list your class on its line or use their search tools to connect your profile of international correspondents.
Rigby Heinemann's Pen/Key Pals click on Keypals and Projects to learn all about email projects and ideas. Heinemann's listings of key pals from all over the world are up-to -the- minute and vast. K-12 students can match pals by interests and age. Share the netiquette guide to keypalswith students then pre-plan specific tasks for your classes, before going on-line.
Keypals click here for an extensive list of resources and sites dealin with key pals. One of the most complete collection of sites I've seen.
Kidlink Home page: click here for information on penpals worldwide, geared to students from 10 to 15 years old.
Kids' Space Connection Pen Pal Box: this is a fine site for young students wishing to find key pals. They make it easy to read lists and to sign up, for say, someone who speaks another language.
Teachnet.Com KeyPals visit this site for lists of classes wishing to correspond with other groups. Clear directions too, on how to add your group to the list.
Bookmark your favorites from the sites on this page or from Resources for specific FL found in Putnam Spanish, German, Italian Pages linked at bottom of this page.
(IECC) Intercultural E-Mail Classroom Connections: one of the first sites of its kind, this site at St. Olaf's College provides a good overview with its information on five kinds of free classroom pen-pal resources. Browse:
1. IECC-HE: for Higher Education mail exchanges.
2. IECC-K-12: to find partners for K-12 class-to-class projects.
3. IECC Projects (for teachers only): to learn about specific cross-cultural or international e-mail projects.
4. IECC Surveys (for individual students and teachers): to post requests for help with surveys.
5. IECC Discussions: for general views and implications of e-mail class room connections.
Schools OnLine Modern Languages Home page a key site from the United Kingdom,,a "must read" for planning email projects in FL classes. Click on atelier for Storyboard activities and more in French, Spanish and German. Read the teachers' area and visit the café.
Virtual Connections: this is the table of contents for a text specifying lessons and projects for on-line language learning activities. It is helpful to note the range of activities developed and available for purchase in this book. Information on ordering is included.
L.L. Activities for the WWW: Many types of useful activities for language learning using the World Wide Web, from Rosen and Bowers. Of special note for FL teachers seeking interactive projects with a lag between exchanges (non-synchronic)is Alternatives, a list of 36 project types for groups to share. Teachers can select one type then collaborate to develop specific activities for traffic rules, serialized stories, quotations, local menus, how-to pages, questionnaires and more. Click on specific activities such as Talking heads, Cooks Corner, My Frig is Empty, for details on how to preplan short-term exchange FL projects, then brainstorm others.
International E-Mail Tandem Network: click here to learn how Universities in many countries use e-mail as a way to enable students to learn language together in tandem, hence the title. Select your language of choice for a description of how tandem operates. Discuss how the Tandem Network might be adapted to your setting.
Global Schoolnet Network Projects Registry: read through this vast registry for global projects to replicate to adapt for your classes, and to join yourself. Scroll down to learn of on-going projects, to add a project to the registry or to link to other helpful resources, especially the K12 Opportunities site.
World Cultures Information Exchange Project (WCIEP): read about the purpose of the project, how to join and about assessment of the WCIEP: email exchanges among elementary and Middle school classes. Click on participant pages for ideas on arranging projects for your classes.
Fast Food Activities Menu (for e-mail projects): a collection of ten short-term projects written by members of the Small Schools Telecomputing Network in Québec. An excellent place to read (in English) about shorter e-mail activities and projects going beyond the vaguaries of open-ended pen-pal activities. The format is helpful for teachers planning e-mail projects since each entry includes a description of the project, a suggested target group, the subject area, level of technical difficulty, software and equipment needed, and time line. Projects include Math challenges (easily adapted to a FL); a Québec Rally ( geography lesson format; great for large groups; Puzzles, Jokes and Charades to share with another school( this is excellent since teachers can monitor the jokes; I find most L2 jokes sites currently on Internet much too scatological for K-12 students: the few sites clean enough for school settings are in my newspapers section); an on-line magazine with themes suggested by on-line readers.
Nos Activités: a simple yet effective Home Page written and maintained by French-speaking elementary school students (7 to 10 years old). The format includes a summary of the school's events by month as well as a penpal corner where kids write up short descriptions about themselves!
Ma Région an excellent French-language guide about a telecommunication geography project, "My Region". Practicioners wishing to adapt this guide for FL classes will appreciate the detailed description of activities throughout and will find the format helpful for writing up variations on this project. In this activity, student groups share information with groups from afar about their town, their school and the economy of their region. A fine point-of-departure for planning FL telecommunication projects.
Ron's Online ESOL Classroom: click on Ron Corio's Internet Projects: A Slide presentation and Computers in the Writing Classroom for excellent ideas for FL classes. Having trouble linking to this for now, but worth a try!
MLA Style for Online and Printed Citations: click on Parent Directory at Debbie's Library Help page then on citbook for information on citing books; citcdrom for citing CD Roms; citwww for making a bibliography using Web sites and so on.
Library help: Researching Internet for Topics: click on advicengine to go to site that gives general advice from Debby on how to use the Interent for K-12 research. Check out advicedepth for specialized resources to develop variety and depth of research and on enganalbib for a a bibliography of Evaluations of Search Engines.
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