E-mail Projects for the Classroom

Technology Training

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

Goal

To assist adult educators in effectively developing and implementing an e-mail project as an instructional tool.

Objectives

Upon completion of this training module participants will be able to:

  • Identify appropriate student outcomes and how they relate to the four domains that may be addressed through the implementation of an e-mail project.
  • Recognize the components of the four telecollaborative processes (keypaling, data collection, electronic chatting, and electronic publishing).
  • Determine which of the four telecollaborative processes is most appropriate for addressing the variety of student outcomes.
  • Develop an understanding of electronic communications logistics necessary for these projects.
  • Determine the details of an e-mail project.
  • Develop and complete an online project.

This workshop will help you identify strategies to facilitate the delivery of Email Projects for the Classroom at your agency, with ideas on presenting, implementing and evaluating the training. Appropriate for agencies of all sizes and at varying levels of professional development planning.


BACKGROUND READING

This reading gives a brief summary of the theory, research, teaching, implications and importance of creating a telecollaborative project.

Telecommuncations can be defined as the transmission of information by voice or computer signals across a telephone system (Que, 1992 page 593). As learners are viewed simply as adults needing access to mainstream information, technology becomes the vehicle for changing the way learning occurs. It becomes a tool for instruction rather than instruction itself (Turner). Through a computer hooked up to a telephone line via a modem, students in one locale can exchange information with students in another place, city, state or country (Krause). When one student is hooked up with others and collaborates on a project, it is called telecollaboration.

The benefits of telecollaboration in the classroom for teachers and students alike cannot be overstated:

  • It increases self esteem by empowering both the teacher and the student. As one Laubauch tutor said, "You do it because once you've seen what happens to your students, you can never go back." (Turner)
  • It accommodates different learning styles and the empowerment of learners of learners regardless of physical challenges or social/cultural differences (Berge)
  • It encourages and motivates students to become involved in authentic projects and to write for a real audience of their peers instead of merely composing for the teacher (Berge).
  • It increases critical thinking because students move from being passive learners to participants and collaborators in the creation of knowledge and meaning (Berge).
  • It makes learning relevant by teaching students when and where the skills he/she has learned are relevant and useful (Nickerson).
  • It has been found that learners are more interested in electronic mail and bulletin boards than instructional materials developed for them in an instructional program (Turner).

For teachers, telecollaborations can reduce the feelings of isolation by linking them with the global community, by increasing the knowledge base and by creating a student-centered learning environment which changes the focus from the teacher as the purveyor of information to the teacher as collaborative (Berge).

Students and instructors need not be masters at keyboarding or computers to participate in telecollaboration activities. The only prerequisites to enable communications in an electronic environment are for the students to know what a keyboard is, to know that by hitting a key a letter is produced and to know how to use the space bar, the shift key and the tab key.

Focus Questions

  1. What is the definition of telecommunications?
  2. What is telecollaboration?
  3. List five benefits of using email projects in the classroom.
  4. List some benefits of using email projects for instructors.
  5. How much keyboarding mastery do students need to participate?

Four Kinds of Email Projects

This reading will focus on four different processes: keypaling, data collection, electronic chatting and electronic publishing.

  • Keypaling is similar to traditional penpal activities but utilizes electronic mail (email). A partner class is contacted and letters are written and sent via email to the partner school. Letters can be focused on a certain topic (i.e. letters about someone you admire) or can be just friendly letters of introduction.
  • Data collection involves the organization of data from multiple sites which is then combined for analysis and database creation. An example might involve students researching salaries for occupations in their locale. They would then share this information with other students by posting it online in the appropriate folder. Other students in different locales would research either the same or different occupations post in the same folder. This information could be used in a variety of academic disciplines including math class (comparison and contrast), computer class (creating databases), and reading class (interpreting and creating graphs) to name a few.
  • Electronic chatting involves two individuals communicating at the computer online at the same time which is commonly referred to as "real time". The topic should be pre-selected by the learners and instructors in collaboration with a partner class. Learners develop questions on a topic and send the questions to the partner class. Topics can be anything that is normally discussed in class. Examples might include English as a Second Language (ESL) students chatting about cultural differences, Adult Basic Education (ABE) students discussing comparative shopping or High School Basic Skill (HBS) students sharing historical information about the school's city, state and country.
  • Electronic publishing is the creation of a common document such as a cookbook or a student storybook. Stories, recipes, and histories can be collected online from students at various sites and compiled in a book which is subsequently published. This could develop into a multi-ethnic school archive.

The type of project chosen depends on how much time and collaboration one is willing to invest. Keypaling requires relatively little preparation, collaboration and follow-through time. Electronic chatting, data collection, and electronic publishing require more preparation and collaboration time than traditional teaching. The following diagram illustrates a hierarchy of the activity's sophistication: key-paling, data collection, electronic chatting and electronic publishing.

As you move up the hierarchy, the amount of necessary collaboration increases. Facilitators and instructors will note an increase in the student participation level, transfer of learning and self-esteem as the activities become more collaborative.