Interpersonal
Exchange
Interpersonal
ExchangeBelow are many examples of curriculum-based projects designed using Interpersonal Exchange activity structures.
The Web sites mentioned in Judi Harris's Virtual
Architecture are marked with a book icon:![[ ]](../Graphics/bookicon.gif)
.
1.
Keypals
2.
Global Classrooms
3.
Electronic Appearances
4.
Telementoring
5.
Question-and-Answer Activities
6.
Impersonations
Other
Works Cited
Structure 1: Keypals
Australian
Connection
Grade: 5
Ongoing? No
Do you know what "vegemite" is? Neither did a group of Canadian
fifth graders, that is, until they started corresponding with a group
of enlightening peers in Tasmania, Australia. This simple Web
page lists all sorts of amusing facts gleaned from a month of
trans-oceanic e-mail exchanges.
Charlotte’s
WebFun
Grades: 2-3
Ongoing? No
A simple but useful language arts keypals project based upon the book Charlotte’s
Web. Students at each school read the book, kept a journal, and
collaborated electronically with a peer at another school while they
were doing so. They then posted collaboratively written
book reviews at the Web site. Especially useful for the language
arts teacher are the instructions
for helping students create a response journal for the project.
How People Live in
Europe and the Middle East
Grades: 6-9
Ongoing? No
Click on this site see one way to "advertise" a keypal project.
On this Web page, an eighth grade English teacher in Israel invites
European schools to start an e-mail exchange with his students.
The purpose? To compare life in two cultures, as well as to help
students practice their English skills. The teacher's plan is
focused, yet seems flexible enough to accommodate the needs and
interests of potential keypal partner schools.
Math Pen Pals:
Communication Through Numbers Project
Grades: 4-8
Ongoing? No
This site shows a variety of ways keypals can be used in a specific
content area. You'll see how math keypals have help students
learn more about weather data analysis, graphs, comparison pricing, and
more. If you work with special needs students, you may be
interested to know that that learning disabled students played a key
role in organizing this project.
Michelle Bodner's Australian Keypals
Page 19 of Virtual
Architecture
Grade: 3
Ongoing? No
A teacher chronicles her third graders' e-mail exchanges with keypals
in Australia. She describes this project as "a window on the world"
that demanded that her students become "articulate communicators."
Keypal Locator Services
Dave's ESL Cafe
Grades: K-12
Ongoing? Yes
Students can make friends and discuss topics that they find interesting
(e.g., pets, cinema, hobbies). In this example, the keypal
relationship is built mostly through online threaded discussions.
Intercultural E-Mail Classroom
Connections
Grades: K-12
Ongoing? Yes
This site is a goldmine if you're looking for a keypal project, but
don't know where to start. Register for this
free service, then view any of the site's mailing lists to find eager
keypals around the world. Looking for a class to exchange survey
data with? Check out the IECC-SURVEYS mailing list. In
search of folks over age 50 to communicate with your students?
Try the IECC-INTERGEN list. On this site, you'll also find links to
many high-quality keypal projects already in progress.
ePals
Grades: K-12
Ongoing? Yes
ePals calls itself "the world's largest classroom keypal network," and
from the looks of things, it probably is. This attractive site
makes it easy for teachers and students to search for keypals
by region, language, grade level, and topic. A particularly
powerful aspect of this site is its availability in three
languages--English, Spanish, and French--making it truly accessible to
a wide audience. (The site features information on non-European
languages as well...a search for "Hindi" produced 4 potential keypal
matches!) In addition, you will find chat rooms and a well-annotated
list of resources to
help you as you plan your keypals project.
Back to Top of PageStructure 2: Global Classroom
ENO—A Global Web School for Environmental AwarenessGrades: K-12
Ongoing? Yes
Sponsored by the European Commission and National Board of Education, ENO creates a global school environment with over 100 schools from over 50 countries participating in a year long program that is actually part of their curriculum. The purpose of ENO is to raise environmental awareness. There are two lessons per week and you must apply during the previous school year in order to participate. Registration information is available at the site.
Interlink
Grades: 9-12
Ongoing? No
Here, you will see how schools in the United Kingdom and New Zealand
communicated with each other to explore the history, economy, and
culture of each other's countries. Be sure to check out the Projects Page
and the What
are they Like? section to see some truly interactive learning.
Peace Diaries: Volume II
Grades: K-12
Ongoing? Yes
The Peace Diaries’ motto is a quotation by Ghandi: “We must be
the change we wish to see.” Sponsored by the Kellogg Foundation,
the site promotes collaboration between teachers and students on
projects to learn about each other and help improve the quality of life
one small change at a time. The web site contains discussion
boards for teachers and students on topics such as family, culture,
food, our environments, and other issues raised at the World Summit for
Sustainable Development. There is a link to a collaborative
project with various organizations to increase the world’s resources
such as fold. Along with the written collaboration, there are
Peace Diaries Radio Shows that can be listened to via a link on the
site. Before you can access the Peace Diaries, Volume II in its
entirety you must register. Peace Diaries, Volume I may be
accessed by clicking on the picture of the dove.
The
Read to Write Project
Page 21 of Virtual
Architecture
Grades: 3-12
Ongoing? No
Imagine virtual book clubs in which students worldwide share analyses,
discuss literature, and publish their own work over the Internet.
That's what you'll find at the The Read to Write Project. If you
visit this site, be sure to check out the student-created
matrices that allow for comparative studies...a perfect example of
something that couldn't be done so well (and so collaboratively)
without the help of Internet technologies.
Utopian Visions
Page 22 of Virtual
Architecture
Grades: All
Ongoing? Yes
This project is "designed to help students simultaneously reflect and
speculate, considering their place in history's continuum." To
achieve this, the site offers a digital time capsule, critiques of
utopia-related books, and links to on-line resources; however, the
meatiest part of this project is found in the Dialogues,
which includes submissions from Estonia to North Carolina and topics
ranging from "Pacifism vs. Military" to "Do We Need Internet?".
Voices of Youth
Page 22 of Virtual
Architecture
Grades: 4-12
Ongoing? Yes
Unicef's Voices of Youth is a place where students worldwide can
discuss (in three languages) social and economic issues such as child
labor, the girl child, and urban children. This attractive site
also includes quizzes and interactive "games" to set the tone for deep
discussion and learning...one particularly powerful example is an
interaction on stereotypes.
Structure 3: Electronic Appearances
Alberta Author Connection
Feature Authors
Grades: K-12
Ongoing? Yes
This project invites young students to respond to literature by, take
online mini-workshops from, and publish work under the guidance of
Canadian children's and young adult authors. Teachers must
register students to participate in activities such as "Finding your
"Writing Voice" and "Write Character Descriptions," though any visitor
to the Web site can access a wide range of writing tips and student
work. A special treat for teachers: each author's session
includes a list of curricular outcomes.
Ask the
Space Scientist
Grades: K-12
Ongoing? Yes
This site has answered over 24,000 questions from students around the
world since August 1995. Visit this site to find answers to questions
like: Did
ancient peoples really predict solar eclipses? and How are
satellites prevented from crashing into each other? Or better yet,
ask your own question!
Eyewitness to History
Grades: 4-12
Ongoing? Yes
"Eyewitness to History" accounts of fifty historical events will
provide students with a deeper understanding of history. Enticing
vignettes, with titles such as Battlefield Tragedy, The San Francisco
Earthquake, and On Safari, will make wide-eyed students feel like
they're really conversing with people from the past. (Please note that
these are prewritten "electronic appearances" rather than interactions
online with people impersonating historical characters.)
The
Kidwriters Writing Studio
Page 24 of Virtual
Architecture
Grades: K-12
Ongoing? Yes
Students (and occasionally, professional authors) use real-time and
asynchronous communication to discuss their writing.
NASA Quest Chats
Grades: 4-12
Ongoing? No
Students were thrilled to chat online with real scientists from NASA
and top-rate universities about everything from exobiology to space
rocks. The site contains archives of previous chats.
Timewitnesses
Grades: 3-12
Ongoing? Yes
Help your students understand the harsh realities of war. The
Timewitnesses site tells the individual stories of people who lived
during the 1940s (most are European). At the end of each person’s story
(many are translated into French and German), they have included an
email address for children to ask questions they may have about Wartime
life. A recent addition to the site is a list of recipes from the times
of severe food shortage. Resources include a searchable archive of
stories.
A
Visit with Dr. Francis Crick
Page 25 of Virtual
Architecture
Grades: 9-12
Ongoing? No
This site features a transcript of an interview with the co-discoverer
of the structure of the DNA molecule. While this electronic
appearance does not allow students to e-mail the Dr. Crick, they will
get a chance to learn his thoughts on the discovery, in his own words.
Women of NASA
Page 25 of Virtual
Architecture
Grades: 4-12
Ongoing? Yes
Through profiles and weekly web chats, students get a glimpse of the
integral role of women in America's space program. Students will
get a chance to "meet" women of a range of ethnic and cultural
backgrounds, in both English and Spanish.
Writer's
Corner On-Line Chat with Zlata Filipovic
Pages 24-25 of Virtual
Architecture
Grades: 4-12
Ongoing? No
This page contains a transcript of a synchronous (real time) chat
between English-speaking students and Zlata Filipovic, a fourteen-year
old Bosnian girl who, in her book Zlata's Diary, wrote of the war in
her country. The participants' bubbling warmth and compassion
transformed this formal electronic appearance into a celebration of
friendship.
Structure 4: Telementoring
Electronic
Emissary Project
Page 26-27 of Virtual
Architecture
Grades: K-12
Ongoing? Yes
Start here to find subject matter experts in a huge range of curriculum
areas. The Electronic Emissary staff facilitates
expert-student e-mail interactions to help your class get the most out
of this experience. Search the database of available
telementors or see
how other classes integrated telementoring into their
curriculum-based work.
International Telementor Program
(formerly the HP Telementor Program)
Page 26 of Virtual
Architecture
Grades: 5-College
Ongoing? Yes
In this program, professionals from companies such as Hewlett-Packard
and Agilent Technologies "help students, through teacher-supervised
projects, in the critical areas of math, science, professional
communication skills and career/education planning." Be sure to
check out the spotlights
to find real telementoring success stories!
Letters
on Spanish Texas
Page 27 of Virtual
Architecture
Grade: 4
Ongoing? No
This site chronicles the correspondence between two Texas history buffs
and a group of curious fourth grade Social Studies students. The
discourse that develops between the two groups is rich with detail,
personality, and intellectual stimulation.
Telementoring
Young Women in Science, Engineering & Computing
Grades: 4-12
Ongoing? No
This was a three year project that built on-line communities of support
among female high school students, professional women in technical
fields, parents, and teachers. Specifically, this project
"encouraged young women to pursue courses and careers in science,
engineering, and computing by providing sustained support from and
communication with female professionals."
Structure 5: Question-and-Answer Activities
Ask
an Expert Sites Index
Grades: All
Ongoing? Yes
This exceptionally helpful index classifies the many ask-an-expert
sites into curriculum-related categories. (Courtesy of the CIESE
Project at Stevens Institute of Technology)
Ask
Our Weather Experts
Grades: K-8
Ongoing? Yes
(This site is part of Scholastic.com. If the link above does not
take you to the site, please go to http://www.scholastic.com/
and search for “Ask Our Weather Experts.”)
This site provides a global discussion about weather with experts,
other teachers, and other students. The site is organized in a
discussion board format with four main topics: Hurricanes, Winter
Storms, Tornadoes, and, Other Weather Questions. If you click on
the Weather Watch logo you will be linked to student activities
connected to meteorology and to informational sites about various
weather-related topics.
Famous
Albertans - Its People and History
Grades: K-8
Ongoing? No
Need a creative way to motivate your students’ interest in their local
history? This Canadian page provides an example of student
research and artwork about famous Albertans from the past. As part of
the project, student visitors to the Web site asked the student
researchers questions, which were later posted and answered on the
site. The project’s host class also created and shared a timeline
of local history and a bibliography from their research work.
This project shows how teachers and students can meld history, art, and
language arts curricula.
How Stuff Works
Grades: 2-College
Ongoing? Yes
Students and teachers alike can spend hours reading answers to
questions like: How
Smoke Detectors Work and How Pop Rocks
Candy Works. You may use an online form to ask your own
questions to the site's authors.
The
Hubble Team Answers Your Questions
Grades: 3-12
Ongoing? No
In 1996, NASA, PBS, and NSF collaborated to create a site from which
students could e-mail questions to Hubble scientists...check out the archives to get
a feel for this innovative project.
The
Mad Sci Network
Page 30 of Virtual
Architecture
Grades: All
Ongoing? Yes
This "collective cranium of scientists" answer just about any type of
science question...Here are a few to whet your appetite: Why
is my refrigerator door harder to open the second time? How much
does the average seahorse weigh? Was the Big Bang actually
silent? How is it that blood looks green underwater? The
scientist use casual, age-appropriate, and friendly language to answer
students' queries.
Structure 6: Impersonations
Ask
Thomas Jefferson
Pages 31-32 of Virtual
Architecture
Grades: 3-12
Ongoing? Yes
Students e-mail questions to the staff at Monticello, who in turn
answer in the voice of America's third president, Thomas Jefferson.
Clovis
Crawfish - Alive, Not Fried
Grades: 3-5
Ongoing? No
This site is a paper describing an impersonation project that matched
3rd grade students with 4th grade students who responded to email
questions as a storybook character named Clovis the Crawfish. The paper
includes tips for successful implementation and the benefits gained
through this telecollaborative impersonation project.
Folk
Tale Letter Writing
Grades: 2 - 4
Ongoing? No
Look at the Big Bad Wolf in a whole new light, and encourage your
Language Arts students to express their creativity at the same time!
This site outlines an impersonation project in which younger students
(2nd to 4th grade) read a fairy tale and write a response directed to
one of the main characters. The older students, using an approach like
a literature circle, discuss the issues and character types found in
the fairy tales, then they respond as a group to the particular issues
that the younger students have raised in their responses. Teacher
resources include ideas for eliciting rich and fruitful responses to
stories by students.
Hamlet:
A Visual and Virtual Reality “to be” Experienced
Grades: 10-12
Ongoing? No
Want a new way to approach study of that famous Dane? This 12th
grade class electronically published their work from a Shakespeare
unit, providing a great lesson plan for your class to do the
same. Students reviewed Hamlet-related films, role-played
characters from the play and answered questions sent to them
electronically by other students involved in similar study. They
also posted artwork that they created representing various scenes in
the play. An outstanding new way for high school English teachers to
help their students approach Shakespeare using modern technology.
Harry
Potter Novel Exchange
Grades: 3-7
Ongoing? Not Sure
This site is a detailed description of how to design, implement, and
evaluate an impersonation project focusing on the characters from the
"Harry Potter" novels. (It also includes a link to another site
utilizing folk tales for impersonation as an alternative project.) The
"Harry Potter" impersonation project is designed for paired classes of
different levels (the older students serve as impersonators and younger
students ask questions) or for same-level class teams who both pose and
answer questions after reading the novel. The site includes helpful
tips for successful keypal exchanges.
Letters
to Santa
Grades: K-12
Ongoing? Yes
You will be overwhelmed with good cheer when you visit this bilingual
(French and English) site. In this project, younger students
e-mail letters to Santa, to which older students (proxy Santas)
reply. Both parties gain writing skills and receive "warm
fuzzies" in the process.
Victorian Lives
and Letters
Grades: 9-12
Ongoing? No
Rich conversation develops between students and a Charles Dickens
impersonator. This is a great resource for any teacher helping
students to explore the Victorian era.
Other Interpersonal Exchange Resources Cited
The
Well Connected Educator
Page 19 of Virtual
Architecture
Grades: K-12
Ongoing? Yes
Locate forums, surveys, articles, and resources to help the
professional development of teachers.
Margaret Riel
Page 21 of Virtual
Architecture
Grades: K-12
Ongoing? N/A
This site contains a bio on Margaret Riel, a pioneer in interactive
technology in schools, especially in the areas of language arts and
social science.
I*EARN
Page 21 of Virtual
Architecture
Grades: K-12
Ongoing? Yes
This is a hub of collaborative learning activities for youth around the
world.
KIDLINK
Page 24 of Virtual
Architecture
Grades: K-12
Ongoing? Yes
A wealth of mailing lists, chats, resources, and student publication
opportunities abound here for youth.
NASA Quest: Internet in the Classroom
Page 25 of Virtual
Architecture
Grades: K-12
Ongoing? Yes
Welcome to a gateway to online space-related resources and activities.
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Telecollaboration Index