In my last post I compared two tools for global cooperation in the classroom, ePals and iEARN. I decided that I preferred ePals over iEARN and could see myself utilizing ePals in my ESL classroom. Thinking about the different ways in which to incorporate a global cooperation project in my class, I decided that the most interesting project currently available on the ePals site is something called "The Way We Are." It is a project based on the different cultural backgrounds of students. This would be perfect in an ESL classroom!
I would also incorporate another online tool in the same project, to further enhance students' cultural experiences. Flickr is an online tool which allows you to upload and share your photos. I think this tool would really come in handy in a global cooperation project. Sharing photos with a classroom from another part of the world would allow students to get to know each other better, and actually see who they are communicating with. I would create an account for my classroom and maintain control over the site, and would help students pick photos of themselves and other culturally relevant pictures to share with another class as part of the culture project.
Even if I did not have time to complete a project from the ePals site, I could still take advantage of ePals and Flickr in my classroom. Since ePals allows students to e-mail each other and/or blog, I could have them do that instead of a full project, to allow them to practice their reading and writing skills. And they could still use Flickr to share photos of themselves with other classes around the world, and maybe those classes could share their pictures with my class as well!
