Assignment 2
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Students in a New Zealand class exchanged emails with students in Malaysia over several weeks to learn about each other's cultures. They wrote bios and asked questions about daily life and school in Malaysia. This allowed the students to practice communication skills and learn that physical distance does not prevent forming friendships online. While a language barrier and scheduling issues caused some problems, the students were excited to receive emails and gained an understanding of life in another country. The teacher plans to expand this international email exchange to involve Spanish-speaking students next.
Assignment 2
- 1. Assignment 2 Email exchange with Malaysia Irene Dowdle EDIC706
- 2. What we did Contacted teacher in Malaysia Discussed options and process Introduced students to project Students wrote bio to send to Malaysia for initial contact Students email over next few weeks
- 3. Why we did it We live in an information rich society and for our students to become lifelong learners they need to develop the necessary skills for the 21 st century. Students already use a lot of the internet tools available so we as teachers need to use the skills they have and build on them. Education needs to go beyond the four classroom walls
- 4. How we did it Students compiled a bio with information about themselves. This was send to Malaysian teacher to distribute among her students. They then replied and all students continued independently once contact was established. Students were told to ask questions that would give them a better understanding of Malaysian culture. Later we revised this to Malaysian schools. Email addresses were set up for all students on Schoolzone.
- 5. Positive outcomes Students learned: How to send and reply to emails and attach photos or documents. That physical distance is immaterial when behind a computer That friendships can be established with students in far away countries Emails can be used to gain other information for example specialists in a field. That emails can be a very quick and simple way to communicate There was a real excitement each day as students went to check their emails!
- 6. Some problems Malaysian students did not always answer my students questions. Lack of English sometimes a barrier. Difficult to fit into an already busy schedule. Lack of access to computers when we needed them. Lack of time to do project in.
- 7. What else Students took some photos around the school. This was put into a slideshow by Animoto and shared with Malaysia. Click here to view slideshow The same was done with some photos taken during NZ Clean up week. Click here to view slideshow
- 8. What next A similar exchange with Spanish speaking students so my students can practise what they are learning at school in a real life context. Use a wiki to share with other students. Create a podcast to send to Malaysia. Explore the use of a blog for collaborative learning. View my class blog here
- 9. Some comments from the students ‘ I found it so interesting that my partner and I were very alike and just to think that someone you don’t even know and are not even near you are just like you!’ ‘ I found it very interesting to learn how others live. I want to send emails to other countries as well.’ ‘ My emails got to Malaysia in about two minutes and I got replies in about two minutes.’
- 10. Assessment Students had to create a Venn diagram with a partner to show the differences between Malaysian and NZ schools. Criteria were set for this by the students Malaysia In Malaysia they have to study for exams at primary school and in New Zealand we only have tests sometimes. Malaysia is much like New Zealand they have a peaceful country but they do not have the seasons like New Zealand they only have months of different temperatures.