ePals

ePals

When I think about what needs still remain in modern language classrooms, one of the first things that comes to mind is how difficult it is to find native or fluent language speakers that students can interact with. Most language teachers have access to a wide range of print materials and recordings they can use with their students, but finding a way for students to really engage with fluent language speakers remains a challenge.

After exploring the ePals website, I have realized there is a solution to this problem!  Through ePals Global Community (which is FREE), it gives teachers an abundance of global connections which support multiple content areas and learning goals. It is the world's largest network of K-12 classrooms available with connections in more than 200 countries and territories. Educators can access the ePals Global Community to find collaborative projects, join discussions in the community forums, and search thousands of classroom profiles to engage with others in authentic exchanges.  EPals can be used to successfully connect to classrooms from across the world so students (and teachers) can learn from each other and gain a better understanding of other peoples’ culture, society, politics, and exploring everything from what kids in other countries do for fun, have for lunch, and learn about in school.  To me, a great element to this feature is that a teacher can search by project topic, student age range, country, language and more to find the perfect collaborating class partner.  I would definitely use this feature from the ePals site in my future classroom to collaborate with classes from around the globe.