Online Global Community

andCollaborative Tools

* SchoolMail * SchoolBlog

for Project-Based Learning

Dr. Rita Oates, VP Education roates@corp.epals.com www.epals.com

EDDIES winner

• ComputED Gazette EDDIE Award

• Best Multi-Level (High, Middle & Elem) Internet Communications Website

• Announced Oct. 8, 2008

• Free for K12 students

and teachers worldwide

• Connecting 135,320+ registered schools in 200 countries

• 13 million students & teachers

• 2,000 new schools/month

• Teacher supervised• Oldest social learning

network

ePals Global Community Classroom Match

ePals Global CommunityClassroom Match –

Submit Your Classroom Profile

Jennifer S. - United StatesFrom: Ms. Sylves | Posted On: October 08, 2008|

• ENGLISH 11 - ADVANCED PLACEMENT LANGUAGE AND COMPOSITION PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOL - RURAL SUBURB OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, USA COOPERATIVE LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES WANTED: -ANALYZE CURRENT OP-ED ARTICLES (free/online newspapers) IN YOUR ENGLISH/CURRENT EVENTS CLASS? -WANT TO COLLABORATE IN A FORUM DISCUSSION ABOUT CONTEMPORARY NON-FICTION? Please feel free to email me; I am interested in working with you and your students.

• Location Washington, Pennsylvania, United States • Language English, Spanish • Number of participants 100+ • Age range 14-18

ePals Global CommunityClassroom Search

• Classroom Search Search for another classroom interested in the same ePals topic

• Today’s New ClassroomsSearch all profiles of recently joined members currently seeking partners

• Search by Location Click on any area of the world map to find profiles in any country or territory

• Advanced SearchSearch according to parameters you set

• Project SearchJoin other ePals members in content based projects.

Search Immigration

2

Classroom Search

Search Immigration

2

Search Immigration

2

Eliminate Language Barriers!

SchoolMailwww.epals.com

Unique Features of SchoolMail 1. Language Translation: ePals SchoolMail is the

first email with built-in Language Translation.

2. Safe and Secure: Options for monitoring student work. SchoolMail was made specifically for school use with qualities that teachers asked for!

3. World’s Largest Online Learning Community: Use ePals SchoolMail to communicate with students, parents, peer educators, and members of the global community. Set limits that make educational sense for you.

Classroom Email Integration

• Authentic assessment

• Collect, share and analyze data

• Use vocabulary words within email

• Round robin story writing

• Write an alternative ending to a story

• Respond to a daily news headline or topic

• Augment the textbook with eyewitness info

SchoolMailLanguage Translation

Students from the Guangxi School, China

Collaborating with Their California ePals………

Reflections

The walls came down in my classroom, symbolically, in 2002, as I joined my high school sociology students to other students in the Czech Republic through the exchanging of e-mail letters. Since then, through the use of ePALS.com, I have had my students connected to Ukraine, Italy, France, Austria, Colombia, Romania, Uzbekistan, Germany, Philippines, Taiwan, Belgium, and China.

~ Candace Pauchnick ePals teacher in California 

Student Monitored Mail Email monitoring lets you:

• Safely bring email technology into the classroom.

• Preview students’ incoming and outgoing email messages.

• Ensure that messages are appropriate to age, setting and context.

• Safely integrate student email in appropriate, educational ways.

Level 1 All messages must be approved by the monitor, whether they contain profanity or not.

Level 2 Messages containing profanity must be approved by the monitor, but unflagged messages will reach their recipients automatically. The monitor will also receive a copy of every unflagged message.

Level 3 Messages containing profanity must be approved by the monitor, but unflagged messages will reach their recipients automatically. The monitor will not see unflagged messages.

Level 4 All profanity filters are off.

Filter Levels

SchoolBlogwww.epals.com

ePals SchoolBlog features:• Safe and Protected• Personalized Domain • Multi-Media Postings • Policy Managed • Calendar • Surveys • Design Templates • Classroom-only, Parents-

Only and Public Access • Web Based Management

and Storage

Blogging for educational uses

• Across your class only or all sections of a course, if you wish

• Share with a partner class (post photos visible only by partner students)

• Public only for parents, NOT for the larger world (if you wish)

• Easy substitute for a webpage, with survey questions, calendar, and more

ePals Global CommunityFree Collaborative Projects

Project Search

Select Project

Project Calendar

ePals Projects for Classroom Collaboration

• Topics are standards-based and of global interest

• See project index for all projects

• Use Classroom Match to find other classrooms in 200 countries and territories to collaborate with on project-based learning

ePals Training Blog

http://sites.epals.com/ePalsTraining/– ePals SchoolMail Training Module– ePals SchoolBlog Training Module

– Integration Resources– Reaching the NETS with ePals– ePals Videos– Promote the Vote Lesson

Here is What You Need To Get Started With ePals in

Your Classrooms

Step 1: Come up with a great idea you know would benefit from global learning• Do your students study different cultures or

geographic locations?• Would they benefit from collecting data and

sharing it with another class?• Are there any issues such as the environment or

animal protection your students would be passionate about?

• Do you have any museums, zoos, or other resources nearby that could partner with you?

• Would they be interested in discussing a book or selecting the Caldecott winner with other classes?

Step 2: Create a Plan to Make it Happen• Create a project calendar - set up deadlines,

beginnings and endings, and milestones• Look at state standards to make sure your project

is supported• Create Measurable Goals - what will the students

produce?• Keep it manageable - What can you really handle?

How much time can you dedicate to the project? • Determine how you will communicate with your

partner schools

Step 3: Find Partners

• Submit your ePals Classroom Profile

• Profile Approval

• Reach out to Others through Classroom Match

Jump in and Watch the Magic Unfold

• Your students will walk away with a personal connection to the learning

• For inter-cultural exchanges, they will have tangible items from those regions

• They discover different perspectives

• They learn diplomacy

• They expand their 21st Century Skills

Recent Partnerships National Geographic

Intel Classmate PC (on all Intel machines worldwide)

One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) (on all desktops)

IBM eMentoring Platform (14K mentors / mentees)

Kan-Ed (email for 450K students + teachers in Kansas)

StudyWiz (content system for Maine 1:1 project) *

Ministry of Education, Kenya *

* Announced July 15, 2008