Even though the idea of having students practice writing to a real or imaginary friend in the same school or overseas has been around for decades now, implementing it using technology makes it more appealing, effective, convenient, and a strong representative of what we have so far learned in class 554 about integrating technology in teaching to meet all learning styles.
I remember that more than twenty years ago my classmates and I were engaged in a similar project, in which the teacher had assigned each student a pen-pal in another country ( I have realized long time ago that those were imaginary friends), asked us to write letters on weekly basis exchanging information about our country, culture, school, and events. The teacher would then revise the letters, bring them back to us to write the final draft, then send them to wherever those imaginary friends lived. Once each got a response letter, the next assignment was to revise it, point out structural, grammatical, and spelling mistakes, and share the content information with the rest of the class. I have enjoyed this project to a great extent, for it helped me to indirectly improve my knowledge in geography, practice writing, and refine my spelling and grammar skills.
Implementing a modern version of this project makes it up to date in engaging the new generation to use the computer instead of a pen and a paper, and a great opportunity for collaboration, taking responsibilities, and learning about different cultures. I also liked the proactive measures the teacher took in monitoring the students' work, and censoring and revising all that has been published. Integrating different elements pertaining to geography, history, technology, and Language Arts in this project makes it nothing but a successful, enjoyable, and beneficial learning experience.
As a teacher, I have always been a proponent for technology and its use in the classroom, but I was not fortunate enough to work in a district where the use of technology was appreciated or facilitated. I have spent a good part of my teaching income paying for all my teaching materials, and would have done the same to provide the privilege of technology for my students if it weren't for my classrooms being technology unfriendly, and poorly designed to accommodate any piece of technology devices. As
a future administrative, I will do my best to give each and every student the right to be exposed to technology, and practice learning using technology, because, whether we like it or not, our dear old pens and copy books have been almost completely replaced by keypads and printing paper.
I remember that more than twenty years ago my classmates and I were engaged in a similar project, in which the teacher had assigned each student a pen-pal in another country ( I have realized long time ago that those were imaginary friends), asked us to write letters on weekly basis exchanging information about our country, culture, school, and events. The teacher would then revise the letters, bring them back to us to write the final draft, then send them to wherever those imaginary friends lived. Once each got a response letter, the next assignment was to revise it, point out structural, grammatical, and spelling mistakes, and share the content information with the rest of the class. I have enjoyed this project to a great extent, for it helped me to indirectly improve my knowledge in geography, practice writing, and refine my spelling and grammar skills.
Implementing a modern version of this project makes it up to date in engaging the new generation to use the computer instead of a pen and a paper, and a great opportunity for collaboration, taking responsibilities, and learning about different cultures. I also liked the proactive measures the teacher took in monitoring the students' work, and censoring and revising all that has been published. Integrating different elements pertaining to geography, history, technology, and Language Arts in this project makes it nothing but a successful, enjoyable, and beneficial learning experience.
As a teacher, I have always been a proponent for technology and its use in the classroom, but I was not fortunate enough to work in a district where the use of technology was appreciated or facilitated. I have spent a good part of my teaching income paying for all my teaching materials, and would have done the same to provide the privilege of technology for my students if it weren't for my classrooms being technology unfriendly, and poorly designed to accommodate any piece of technology devices. As
a future administrative, I will do my best to give each and every student the right to be exposed to technology, and practice learning using technology, because, whether we like it or not, our dear old pens and copy books have been almost completely replaced by keypads and printing paper.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on the article, and on educational technology in general. I appreciate hearing your own story of a similar project and how it could be "updated" using current technologies.
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