ePals is a free network that connects students, teachers as well as parents all over the world. It is a Global Community of collaborative learners, teachers, and academic experts in 200 countries and territories. It also provides Connections to students, classes, and school districts worldwide that are safe and secure. Moreover, it is the safe and protected solution for linking classes, schools, and school districts globally.
I have created an account and scan the teacher forums, student forums, family forums and the project forums. In these forums, I saw questions waiting for answers, and projects waiting for participating and cooperating. For example, in the teacher forums, I saw an ESL teacher, in Portugal, wanted to have his/her students trying video conferences with ESL learners or native speakers, in order to enable the use of the language in a real context. It is a very good activity and I would like to participate in my teaching. Another example is, when I was scanning the student forum, I saw a student’s question that whether Harry Potter or the Twilight Saga more suitable for off-class reading. Some native students recommended the Twilight Saga because it is more American and some people voted for the Harry Potter because it is more interesting and the author has a better control of English. One more thing, I saw a parent sought an English pen pal for her daughter from other countries.
Therefore, in my future teaching, I could use ePals to connect my students and myself to the world. I’d like students to communicate and change experience with people from other countries and regions. And for me, I could participate in funny projects and ask questions to other TESOL teachers around the world.
1 comment:
The features that you describe sound like excellent ways to extend your own personal learning network as well as that of your students.
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