Opening Doors to the World

In the article Opening Doors to the World written by Karen French she speak of how to integrate technology in a classroom so you can create a global learning plateau. Students can use the internet to communicate internationally with other students in a target language so that they can both learn from one another.  This turns your normal classroom into a global classroom with no barriers. You can communicate first hand with native speakers and you learn one another's culture as well. She makes sure she follows the U.S. Foreign Language Learning Standards when she creates her assignments which are Communication, Cultures, Connections, Comparisons, and Communities. She has the students get e-pal friends from countries of their target language and once partnered up they complete assignments together using a chat system,. They could type or they can actually talk so you hear the native way of speaking. Some examples of what kind of work they do is that for starters they have activities that are based on Interpersonal Exchange where they can get to know one another. This is followed by information collection and analysis in foreign language learning. This is where they research one another culture and try to get a better understanding of one another's way of life in a day to day sense.

Food for Thought Questions

1. How much does it cost for the E-pal services?

IT'S FREE,  Now your school can't cut this part of the curriculum.

2. What if you have students that find the projects too easy as they might be ahead of the rest of the class when it comes to this language?

Talk to the other teach in the class that you are collaborating with and se he has a similar situation and team the two of them up.