Matthew C. Winner

Key Pals and E-Pals

June 8, 2006

Making e-Pals Work in Your Classroom

By 4^th grade, many students are familiar with and capable of using email to communicate with others. The classroom teacher can use this to his or her advantage by using email in an effective learning experience.

Here are just five ideas for the instructional use of email in a 4^th grade classroom. Keep in mind, this is a jump-off point for classroom integration and there are literally hundreds of great ways to use email to connect students with other students from neighboring schools, states, or even countries!

1. Culture Exchanges – What better way to learn about cultures than first hand from people that live there. Pick a place in the United States (or in the globe) that the class agrees on. Decide on the information you want to learn, such as the local weather, sports, hobbies, popular music, favorite restaurants, etc. to ask your e-Pals about. Make a list of the class’s response to the same inquiries, then send an email to your e-Pals. Compare how your schools differ. You may discover you have more things in common than you expected.

2. Local History – Every town has a story to tell. Have students correspond with e-Pals in another part of the country to gather information about the local history of a town or city. E-Pals can compile a list of questions and email them to the partner classroom. They can then use the responses to their questions to create a travel brochure or mystery story about the town or city that incorporates the information gathered. The final product can be sent to the e-Pals via snail mail to be shared with the members of the class or school.

3. e-Biographies – Students could pair up with key pals in other schools to do an e-biography. The facilitating teachers could provide a list of questions including information on hobbies and interests, favorites, dreams and aspirations, and general background notes. Each student could then create a list of the questions they wish to ask their e-Pals. The questions can be emailed to the students and then each partner can respond via email with answers. Students can then write biographies of their e-Pals and email final drafts to their partners. The partners can then edit the drafts for accuracy, assumptions, and misinterpretations. Once the drafts are edited, the students can share the biographies aloud with their classmates.

4. Expert Advice – When your students have tough questions about the world around them, why not go straight to the source? Teachers can decide on a topic of interest shared among the students or connecting with a particular curriculum focus. Then students can compile a list of questions that delve into the specifics of the given topic, questions that the textbooks don’t answer. The questions can then be emailed to a professional in the field. Teachers would have to review the questions in order to help students write high quality, specific questions that extend the learning experience. The students could then use the information gained to create a newscast script to share their new facts in a “This just in” broadcast to the class.

5. Taking Sides – Create a genuine exchange of ideas and opinions by holding a virtual debate. Teachers from partner schools decide on an issue to present to their students from both perspectives. The topic can be anything from an environmental issue to serving snacks in the lunch line. After students have a chance to explore both sides of the issue, the partnering schools can hold a virtual debate in a chat room set up by the teachers. Students can then take turns presenting their opinions to their e-Pals and responding with a rebuttal or agreeing with the facts presented. The students may even end up agreeing on a topic or realize differences in opinion based on the e-Pal’s location, prior experiences, or culture.

Finding the right school to partner with is the key to a successful e-Pal experience. Though there are a number of sites that support Key Pals and e-Pals, here are two that I highly recommend exploring:

ePals – Looking for an ePal or a project for your class to collaborate with students around the globe to accomplish? This is the site for you! Find an ePal anywhere in the world by searching by age level, topic focus, or country. The site also lists a number of global projects by age level for any classroom to participate in. There are literally thousands of participants collaborating on everything from sharing good books to discussing how to save the local wetlands. The site hosts something for everyone!

(http://www.epals.com/)

Date visited: 06/08/06

Pitsco’s Ask an Expert – Search by category of experts in hundreds of fields to connect with scientists, nutritionists, mathematicians, bee keepers, or literally almost any other topic you could imagine. The professionals have volunteered their expertise for the benefit of students, teachers, kids, and adults around the world. It is recommended that the user visits the expert’s website to see if he/she can find the answer to his/her questions before emailing the expert.

(http://www.askanexpert.com/)

Date visited: 06/08/06

Before allowing students to use these websites or to participate in an e-Pal partnership, the following safety tips should be emphasized, reviewed, and posted somewhere in the class for all students to see:

When exchanging messages via email:

1. Never give your full name; use your first name and last initial.

2. Never give out personal information such as your last name, home address, parent's work address, or telephone number.

3. Never share a password for an Internet game or chat room with the online key pal.

4. Never agree to meet anyone in person whom you’ve met online without adult supervision.

5. Notify the teacher and/or parent if you receive an obscene message.

6. Never send identifying pictures to your key pal. Class pictures are fine to send as long as individuals are not named (for example, John is the third person in the second row).

7. Never attach pictures or other files to an e-mail message unless the people receiving the message have given you permission.

8. Teachers: make sure parents know about and approve of your students’ participation in school-sponsored email exchanges.

By adhering to these simple rules, students can participate in email exchanges with a sense of security in knowing their identity is protected. In order for any online activity to be fun, it must first be safe.