Looking for site to find penpals..

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Dr. Rita Oates on December 27, 2010 at 6:07am

ePals 101 webinar -- how to find penpals for students in your school, projects to join, tips and tricks on getting a successful match and getting started. Also how to get free email accounts, ePals SchoolMail, for your students, with teacher monitoring, language translation, and multiple levels of filters and access control.

Sign up for a webinar at: http://epals.101.sgizmo.com and I'll forward the info on how to join the webinar.

Next one is Wed., Dec. 29 at 2:15 p.m. EST (1:15 pm CST). Try to sign in about 5-10 minutes early so you can run a systems and sound check on your computer.

The PPT slides will be available afterward at www.scribd.com under "Rita Oates" documents.

OR check out the tutorials on finding a match and getting started at http://bit.ly/learnePals

Once you find pen pals, if they are going to use electronic communication, you may be concerned with student safety, particularly for students younger than age 13. Look for a communication product with TRUSTe certification (such as ePals SchoolMail).

One tip is that ePals profiles should be updated at least once a year or whenever you are thinking of starting a new project.

In many schools, the media specialist or tech specialist may search for matches for several teachers at once. In addition, posting on the Teacher Forums and Project Forums can help target the specific interest, such as art teachers who can use Skype in a time zone not too far away (possibly in Latin America for your Oklahoma students).

Please let me know if I can help you. I'm doing the webinar 12/29 and others are scheduled Jan. 10 and afterward.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Whitney Allen on December 27, 2010 at 7:26am

Thanks Dr. Oates...I have an Ipad workshop on the 29th.  If my schedule permits, I'll try again on the 10th.  No suggestions beyond ePals?  Whitney Allen

• ▶ Reply