Interpersonal Exchanges Genre
Activities in which individuals talk electronically with other individuals, individuals talk with groups or groups talk with other groups.
Electronic appearances
Alberta Author
Connection Feature Authors (Currently not Available)
Grades: K-12
Ongoing? No
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!
Earth to Mars Chats
Grades: 4-12
Ongoing? No
Here's an example of how synchronous (real time) chat
can be used in electronic appearances. This site features the transcripts
of five chats dealing with the Mars Pathfinder mission and other planetary
events. You will find that the students' questions are very specific, and
the scientists' answers are succinct.
Eyewitness
Grades: 4-12
Ongoing? Yes
"Eyewitness" 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.
The Kidwriters Writing Studio
(Currently not Available)
Grades: K-12
Ongoing? No
Students (and occasionally, professional authors) use real-time and
asynchronous communication to discuss their writing.
NASA K-12 Virtual
Conferences
Grades: 3-12
Ongoing? No
This site hosted virtual conferences with NASA scientists. Video, text,
graphics, and sound are used to accommodate a range of Internet connection
speeds.
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.
The Secret Thoughts
of Samuel Wimbush
Grades: 6 -12
Ongoing? Not sure
Here you'll find a series of whimsical short stories
written by British author Tom Clipper. Visitors are encouraged to e-mail
the author with questions, thus classifying this site as an "electronic
appearance."
The Shuttle/Mir Online
Research Experience
Grades: 4 -12
Ongoing? No
NASA experts' biographies and field journals help "encourage students'
interest in science and technology." Most of the discussions, activities,
and resources focus on the Mir Space Station and U.S.-Russia relations.
Space Scientists Online
Grades: 4-12
Ongoing? Yes
Students will be thrilled to chat online with real scientists from NASA and
top-rate universities about everything from exobiology to space rocks. The site
also has 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
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
Grades: 4-12
Ongoing? Yes
Through profiles and weekly web chats, students get a glimpse of the integral
role of women in
Writer's Corner
On-Line Chat with Zlata Filipovic
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.
Telementoring
Access
Excellence: MentorNet
Grades: All
Ongoing? Yes
This website is designed for teachers who either want
to provide or receive assistance with some area of teaching. All you have
to do is specify what type of mentoring expertise you need/are willing to
provide, and you're in! While the site does not play an active
"moderator role," the sizable database of mentors makes it a likely
place to start looking for a telementor.
CoVis:
Learning Through Collaborative Visualization Project
Grades: 9-12
Ongoing? No
Researchers from academia and industry have united to form a science community
aimed at helping k-12 educators and students. Though the project itself is no
longer active, this website contains a wealth of information, projects, and
networking opportunities for teachers.
Electronic Emissary Project
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. Click here to search the database of
available telementors or here to read about the E-Journalism Project,
in which
Four Directions Electronic
Mentoring Project
Grades: K-12
Ongoing? Yes
Modeled after the Electronic Emissary
Project, the Four Directions Project matches Native American mentors with a
range of expertise/interest with Native American students and their
teachers. This is a powerful way for students to develop relationships
with role models, and explore the curriculum in an intrinsically-motivating
way.
International
Telementor Program (formerly the HP Telementor Program)
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
Grade: 4
Ongoing? No
This site chronicles the correspondence between two
Telementoring Young Women in Science, Engineering & Computing
Grades: 4-12
Ongoing? No
This was a three year project that builds 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."
Global classrooms
ENO—A Global Web School for Environmental
Awareness
Grades: 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.
I*EARN Learning
Circles
Grades: 3-12
Ongoing? Yes
Learning Circles are "highly interactive, project-based partnerships among
a small number of schools located throughout the world" that take place in
sessions that are fourteen weeks long. Some of the themes that Learning
Circles explore are: Computer Chronicles, Society's Problems, and Energy
and the Environment. This site includes a comprehensive teacher's guide,
templates, and timelines to help ease the managerial demands of global
classrooms.
Interlink
Grades: 9-12
Ongoing? No
Here, you will see how schools in the
KidCast for
Peace
(No longer working)
Grades: K-12
Ongoing? Yes
Here’s an exciting opportunity for your students to reach out to the world! The
KidCast program gives kids a chance to make a difference on Earth Day. Children
draw pictures of the world as a better, happier place. During a CU-SeeMe
worldwide videocast, they hold the pictures up for other participants to see.
(They also have the option of creating a website linked to KidCast.) Another way
for participants to contribute is through a MIDI Music Jam - they send the URL
ahead of time and the link is added to the KidCast site. Resources include a
page for submitting stories or poetry and detailed instructions for teachers.
Money
Around the World
(Currently not Available)
Grades: 2-12
Ongoing? No
You can almost hear the multi-lingual voices of friendly students in this
project's Web site. Here, students from all over were invited to use an e-mail
list to discuss minimum wage, item costs, and other money-related topics.
Because participants were encouraged to communicate in their native tongues,
this project supported social studies, math, and language learning while helping
participants to reach out to others.
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
Grades: 3-12
Ongoing? Yes ("on hold")
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
Grades: All
Ongoing? Yes
This project is "designed to help students
simultaneously reflect and speculate, considering their place in history's
continuum."
Voices of Youth (No
longer working)
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.
Impersonations
Clovis
Crawfish - Alive, Not Fried (no longer listed)
Grades: 3-5
Ongoing? Yes
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.
From
Congress to the President (no longer listed)
Grades: 4-12
Ongoing? No
This is a project in which K-12 and college students
used the Internet to participate in a government simulation.
Hamlet: A
Visual and Virtual Reality “to be” Experienced (no
longer listed)
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.
Harry Potter Novel
Exchange (no longer listed)
Grades: 3-7
Ongoing? No
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 Jefferson
Grades: 3-12
Ongoing? Yes
Students e-mail questions to the staff at
Letters to
Santa
Grades: K-12
Ongoing? Yes
You will be overwhelmed with good cheer when you visit
this site. In this project, younger students e-mail letters to Santa,
which older students (proxy Santas) reply. Both
parties gain writing skills and receive "warm fuzzies"
in the process!
Shakespearean Conversations
Grades: 9-12
Ongoing? N/A
Performance can take many shapes. Simply getting Shakespeare's words into
students' mouths is a good start to a Shakespeare unit and is one of the best
ways to get students to like Shakespeare.
Telecommunications
Impersonation Project (Columbus)
(no longer listed)
Grades: 4
Ongoing? No
Here's an example of how literature, technology, and
curiosity combine to make a powerful learning experience. Read how fourth
graders e-mailed questions to impersonators of characters from books such as Pedro's
Journal, A Voyage with Christopher Columbus, The Sign of the Beaver,
Indian Captive, The Story of Mary Jemison, and What's the Big Idea,
Ben Franklin. Such activities could be replicated with just about any
grade level with any genre of literature.
Victorian
Lives and Letters
Grades: 9-12
Ongoing? Yes
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.
KeypalsAustralian
Connection Charlotte’s
WebFun
(no longer listed)
Hobart - Malang Electronic Mail Project How People Live in Europe
and the Middle East
(no longer listed) Math Pen Pals:
Communication Through Numbers Project
(no longer listed) Michelle
Bodner's Australian Keypals
(no longer listed) Keypals Club International
(no longer listed) KidsCom
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Keypal Locator ServicesAfrica
Online: Keypals
(no longer listed) Dave's ESL Cafe Intercultural E-Mail
Classroom Connections
(no longer listed) ePals Mighty Media KeyPals Club
(no longer listed) Virtual Handshake
(no longer listed) |
Q-and-A Services
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)
AskERIC Q
& A
Grades: All
Ongoing? Yes
Educators and parents will love submitting general education-related questions
(e.g., What type of praise is best? What are
effective models of cooperative learning? What are the pros and cons of
distance learning?). Within two business days, the AskERIC
staff will reply with an answer, or at least a lead in the right direction.
Ask-A-Geologist
Grades: All
Ongoing? Yes
Ask-A-Geologist questions are answered by USGS employees, retirees, and
contractors who have volunteered to participate in the project.
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!
"Ask- the-Scientist"
CU-SeeMe Videoconference Schedule
(no longer listed)
Ask Dr. Math
Grades: 4-12
Ongoing/ Yes
Ask Dr. Math is a question and answer service for math students and their
teachers. A searchable archive
is available by level and topic, as well as summaries
of Frequently Asked Questions
(the Dr. Math FAQ).
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: 7-12
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.
LibrarySpot.com's Ask
an Expert Feature
Grades: All (but probably most useful for secondary-level students)
Ongoing? Yes
LibrarySpot's review of ask-an-expert sites, with several high-quality examples
featured. Good pointers on how to select the most appropriate ask-an-expert
service for learners' questions.
The Mad Scientist Network
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.
Pitsco's
Ask-an-Expert
(no longer listed)
Grades: All
Ongoing? Yes
In this fun site, kids will enjoy steering their own learning by selecting and
submitting questions to experts in a range a fields (law, religion, and art to
name a few!).
Scientific American Ask-an-Expert
Grades: 7-12
Send in questions to experts on the panel.
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