Technology and Cooperative Learning
From Bahrain to Mexico
Classroom Cultural Email Exchanges
Spending as little as one hour of class time per week on such a project, cultural email exchanges let a class know about people in another part of the world while writing with a purpose in English. It is not necessary to have computers in your immediate classroom, and some classes would even like to interact by snail mail.
Check out this example that took place between American 5th graders and 6th grade students in Portugal. Be sure to notice that this teacher was even nice enough to post her original messages between her and her American counterpart. (Scroll down to see some of the recipes they exchanged.)
The Spirit of Christmas" Email Exchange:
http://www.malhatlantica.pt/teresadeca/school/spiritofxmas.htm
Spending as little as one hour of class time per week on such a project, cultural email exchanges let a class know about people in another part of the world while writing with a purpose in English. It is not necessary to have computers in your immediate classroom, and some classes would even like to interact by snail mail.
Check out this example that took place between American 5th graders and 6th grade students in Portugal. Be sure to notice that this teacher was even nice enough to post her original messages between her and her American counterpart. (Scroll down to see some of the recipes they exchanged.)
The Spirit of Christmas" Email Exchange:
http://www.malhatlantica.pt/teresadeca/school/spiritofxmas.htm
For other ideas about topics, check out this list of Suggested Email Topics:
http://eltbahrain.googlepages.com/emailtopics
For a “safe” site for finding partner classes and posting your own class’ profile try Epals:
http://www.epals.com/
Blogs
A blog (short for web log) is a website where entries are written in chronological order and displayed in reverse chronological order. Blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject such as food, politics, or local news; some function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability for readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs. (From Wikipedia)
Free blogs can be created at http://www.blogger.com with a “gmail” account. (“G” is for Google.)
Here some examples of blogs used in education:
An online bulletin board created by Brigitte Miller for the Mexican English teaching community:
http://eltmexicofellowbulletin.blogspot.com/
A Moroccan student used this blog to make announcements for an extracurricular student club:
http://studentleadershipclub.blogspot.com/
Here, university instructor at Arkansas Tech posts assignments and resources for his students:
http://atueli.blogspot.com/
A blog for teachers- a great source for writing and conversation topics (great TOEFL prep!):
http://unrestrictedarea.com/esl/compositiontopics.html
From Bahrain- see how “students” respond to journal questions; links to each “student’s” blog:
http://eltbahrain-techteachers.blogspot.com/
WebQuests
Webquests were invented by Bernie Dodge and Tom March at San Diego State University in 1995. According to the original paper by Dodge, a WebQuest is "an inquiry-oriented activity in which some or all of the information that learners interact with comes from resources on the internet, optionally supplemented with videoconferencing." The WebQuest is valued as a highly constructivist teaching method, during which students actively build their own understanding of a topic. "Authentic," or real-world questions or problems are often researched and students work cooperatively to find solutions. (From Wikipedia)
First, read this article by one of the founders of WebQuests:
http://webquest.sdsu.edu/about_webquests.html
Two clear examples of WebQuests- one for young learners and one for advanced students. Both include essential components: Introduction, Task, Process, Resources, Evaluation and Conclusion.
http://projects.edtech.sandi.net/brooklyn/animals/
Finally, here is one example created just for you to use in your own classes. Try it out!
http://mexicotravelwebquest.googlepages.com/
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Russell Barczyk
Senior English Language Fellow
Directorate of Training and Professional Development
Ministry of Education, Kingdom of Bahrain
rbarczyk@hotmail.com
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Russell invites your comments or questions about this presentation or any of the material presented above. Feel free to post a comment here (Click "comments" below) or to send him an email.
