Value of Email as a Classroom Tool

In this tutorial

In this tutorial, we show some ways that email can be a valuable teaching tool and some research on using email in the classroom

Tutorial # 8

Goals of this Tutorial

The goals of this tutorial are:• to show a variety of uses for

email, which can easily be integrated within your current curriculum objectives

• to share some research on student learning in email activities

• to show email activities found on the ePals website

• to share other email ideas

Learning Objective: To understand the value of email as a teaching tool

Value of Email In Classroom

Email can be used for:• Increasing student motivation• Increasing the amount and quality of student writing• Practicing authentic problem solving• Increasing standardized test scores in reading and writing• Providing authentic practice with new spelling and vocabulary

words in reading and writing activities with a purpose• Adding a writing component to other subjects • Adding a social dimension to learning• And much more!

Learning Objective: To understand the value of email as a teaching tool

Research on Email in Classroom

• L. Neilsen noted how incorporating real-life experiences into curriculum had motivational impact. She described a student high school pen pal program:As they composed questions for their keypals and wrote introductions of themselves, their literacy enabled them to extend their reach beyond the school and the curriculum as they knew it. Soon worksheets on vocabulary were abandoned for a chance to write to a real person they did not know and might never meet.

Learning Objective: To understand the value of email as a teaching tool

Motivational impact of email writing

Research on Email in Classroom

• Elementary teachers reported improved motivation and increased written-language production by students who share their written work.

Learning Objective: To understand the value of email as a teaching tool

Improved motivation, increased student writing

7 of 8 elementary teachers reported increased motivation in student writing activities (Karchmer).

“… clearly there was a change as students’ motivation to write increased”

Expanding students’ written-language audiences fostered an increase in written-language production.

Research on Email in Classroom

Problem solving in the Internet pen pal program constitutes students making decisions on whether to comment, what to comment and how to comment.

These encompass the thought processes of writers before and during writing.

These play an integral part in producing authentic text and subsequent written-language acquisition.

Learning Objective: To understand the value of email as a teaching tool

Problem-solving skills develop

Email Impacts Standardized Test Scores

State standardized test scores from a Grade 4 classroom in Newark Public Schools showed 30 points improvement in reading and writing.Students engaged in a twice-weekly exchange of email letters with a peer classroom in Bologna, Italy, learning English.Teacher reported students were gradually increasing the amount of reading and writing they normally would perform each week.Students were self-motivated knowing other students would be receiving their work.

Learning Objective: To understand the value of email as a teaching tool

Roseville Avenue Elementary School

4th Grade Classroom in Newark Gains 30 Points

Research on Email in Classroom

• Internet pen pal programs facilitate communication through authentic tasks

• Enthusiasm generated translates into increased amounts of student writing

• Special-needs students, second-language learners and general education students reported enjoying writing to an authentic audience

• The program facilitates problem solving and supports critical thinking in written language acquisition

• The social nature of learning is evident as a positive force in the correspondence between pen pals

Learning Objective: To understand the value of email as a teaching tool

Study of 4th Grade Classrooms in NH (Charron, 2007):

Teacher TestimonialSuman Sood, India2010 Teacher Ambassador, The Great Bean Race

Our project, the Great Bean Race, was done with schools from different parts of the world. It has again been a wonderful learning experience for my children. Not only was this learning as a scientific experiment, but they also learned that using email is a wonderful way to stay connected with people all over the world.

- Suman Sood, India http://www.epals.com/media/p/234524.aspx

Teacher Testimonial

We did a letter exchange with a school in Slovakia and a school in USA. My students like writing letters very much….They had a chance for language practice. They have self-confidence. They talk to their friends in Slovakia and America. They are proud of themselves because they write in English. By means of this, they study English, use the dictionary, and ask me, “Mrs. Gökgül, how can I write this sentence in English?” So, they are motivated. I am motivated, too, to see these hardworking students.

-- Ozlem Gökgül, Turkeyhttp://www.epals.com/media/p/234561.aspx

Ozlem Gökgül, Turkey2010 Teacher Ambassador Language Learning Award Winner

Email Activities on ePals Site

ePals Quick Classroom Activities available under Skillbuilders tab• Email Safety Tips• Email Etiquette• Best Practices for Student Email• Fiction Character Email Exchange• Hello Friends Email Exchange• Tall Tale Pass It On!• Think, Pair, Share Email Activity• What Am I? Email Activity• Family History Email Exchange

Learning Objective: To understand what kind of email activities are provided on ePals site

ePals Projects also have email exchanges at their core!

Create Your Own Email Activities

• Replace assignments -- spelling and vocabulary sentences:Definition of vocabulary words: Ask students to use the words in an email so that their pen pal will understand the words from the contextPractice spelling words: Ask students to use the words in an emailPractice new words in another language: Make an assignment, to write a paragraph that uses the new words, but in an email to a pen pal. The answer from the pen pal provides authentic practice with the new words!

• A quick exchange of daily information (today’s temperature and weather)

• A summary of day’s class activities, written by a different student each day for a classmate in the hospital

Learning Objective: To think about other email activities for the classroom

Review

This tutorial• Reviewed reasons to use email in your curriculum • Shared research on the power of email in student learning• Showed email activities found on the ePals website• Shared other ideas for using email in the classroom setting

Learning Objective: To understand the value of email as a teaching tool

Next Step: Understand Your ePals Communities• Learn about various communities in which you can participate

on ePals Global Community• Understand your role and identify activities you can do within

each of these communities