Introduction to the ePals GlobalCommunity

Editor's Notes

• #2: In this tutorial, we will share an overview of the ePals Global Community and outline why you will find it a valuable teaching tool for you and your classroom. The ePals Global Community is free for teachers and parents to join.
• #3: The goals of this tutorial are (1) introduce the ePals Global Community; (2)outline core concepts; (3) describe who is part of ePals; (4) explain what educators can do on ePals; and (5) explain why ePals is important to student learning.
• #4: Since 1996, ePals, the leading provider of school-safe collaborative learning products for K-12 students, teachers and parents, has been dedicated to helping learners from around the world connect and interact with each other online in a safe, educational environment. ePals connects teachers, students, parents and educators from around the world, enabling them to communicate and collaborate on academic and cultural projects and establish international friendships. ePals was founded around the core principles of creating global citizens and digital citizens. Through ePals collaborative and authentic learning experiences, students are learning in a real-world setting that builds digital literacy, global awareness, and critical-thinking skills and introduces students to multiple points-of-view.
• #5: The ePals approach provides an effective way to instruct and reach today's technology savvy students and teachers. ePals provides digital content designed for collaboration and self-paced, self-directed learning as well as a safe platform to share work globally. Authentic ePals projects are centered around meaningful content and experiences that require teamwork, digital literacy skills, higher-level thinking and communication. By engaging in authentic learning experiences about relevant issues, students, teachers and mentors learn and work together, strengthening core learning while motivating learners and building self-confidence and skills necessary for future careers. At the same time, ePals helps teachers learn to use technology effectively in their classrooms, providing professional development, curriculum, contests and other resources. ePals is a platform designed to promote meaningful teaching and learning, showing teachers and students how to use technology strategically to promote the fundamental learning principles essential for academic achievement. This involves creating a safe and secure content-rich environment that challenges students and educators to research smartly, collaborate with other learners of all ages, think critically, problem-solve, and communicate their learning using various web 2.0 tools. It is this way that technology serves deep learning and is not simply an add-on in the classroom. To learn more about NETS-S and the related NETS-T (teachers) and NETS-A (administrators), go to http://www.iste.org.
• #6: ePals teachers involve students in their own learning. Here, Here, English teacher Elena Babina in Russia measures circumference of heads of her students in a body measurement project. In middle school, students vary widely in height, as you can see from her three students. In this project, data collection makes English-language learning an authentic activity. Students collect data, and share it with their ePals, comparing and contrasting results.
• #7: Our global community reaches more than 600,000 educators and millions of students in more than 200 countries and territories. ePals technology enables these learners, who speak more than 136 different languages, to connect, share, collaborate and learn. Embedded language translation tools, which cover 58 languages as of August 2010, help increase communication. Unlike traditional social networks where a person usually connects solely with people he or she knows in the “real world,” the ePals network connects students both “down the block” and literally around the globe with people they may not know, but with whom they share a common interest. For example, a high school class in San Diego studying Chinese may use ePals to connect with a class in China that is studying English. The interactions help students in both countries learn the language and experience some of the culture through this real-world interaction.
• #8: ePals' mission is to support lifelong learning through collaborative experiences that empower and inspire. The ePals Global Community is about discovery, engagement, collaboration. On the ePals site, educators will find School-safe email for monitored communication between students and their ePals Classroom Match, a tool for finding collaborative partners based on project topic, student age range, country, language and more Email-based collaborative projects with digital content from National Geographic Member-created collaborative projects, with project descriptions, printable handouts, and samples of student work Forums for students, teachers and families to participate in discussions with peers worldwide Media galleries for uploading and sharing student work And more!
• #9: My classroom has been completely transformed since becoming an ePals user. My students have a much broader view of the world; my classroom has become a place that other educators can come to learn how to add global collaborations to their curriculum. Now my approach to teaching is to see how I can connect with classrooms around the world to further enrich my educational goals. I approach each new unit with a multitude of questions and the answers to each begin through ePals. How can we look at questions through other perspectives? Are there any other educators out there studying the same topics as we are? And what are their goals? Our 2nd grade curriculum is centered around community and endeavors to answer the question “What brings together?” ePals is the perfect tool to help my students learn about people and their communities by going directly to the source. Jeff Horwitz, a second grade teacher from St. Louis, Missouri, has been an active ePals teacher since 2008. This year, Mr. Horwitz was named an ePals Teacher Ambassador, for his collaborative project, Winter Olympics. To learn more about his project, please see: http://www.epals.com/media/p/234622.aspx
• #10: I signed up to ePals and thank god I did so because I found some of the greatest educators in the world to join me from the global community in our work. What we have learned has impacted me so much as an educator and so much in my classroom. Words cannot describe. The learning is exciting. The children are motivated. They have learned technology skills and their English has improved beyond recognition. But above all they have become better citizens in a global community and care about other children. They have learned not to be biased about other children, not to be judgmental, but to accept children for who they are because they are children themselves. Marsha Goren, an English language teacher from Petach Tikva, Israel, has been an active ePals teacher since 2002. This year, Ms. Goren was named an ePals Teacher Spotlight Honoree, and an ePals Teacher Ambassador, for her collaborative peace project, Global Dreamers’ Peace Project. To learn more about her project, please see: http://www.epals.com/media/p/230946.aspx.
• #11: I want to take this opportunity to thank ePals for the unique contribution that they provide for schools around the world. Without your teacher database and the free e-mail system that you offer, projects like our Global Coalition project would not function. Your internet platform allows students and teachers to help make our planet a more peaceful and understanding global community. For this I am forever grateful. Bill Reilly, a middle school teacher from Delmar New York, has been an active ePals teacher since 2000. This year, Mr. Reilly was named an ePals Teacher Spotlight Honoree, and an ePals Teacher Ambassador, for his collaborative project, the Global Coalition for Peace Education and Cultural Awareness . To learn more about his project, please see: http://www.epals.com/media/p/234769.aspx.
• #12: This Tutorial provided an overview into the ePals Global Community, our core concept of developing students into global and digital citizens. You also learned that ePals Global Community, the largest K-12 community, includes more than 600,000 educators and millions of students. You received a broad overview of the collaborative and engaging activities available to educators, and the skills that your students can learn, through ePals authentic activities. Next, we will share with you some specifics about the ePals website and about creating ePals accounts for you and your students.