Tech-Enhanced+Learning+Episode

=Tech-Enhanced Learning Episode = =Cultural Classroom Exchange =

**Learning Target:**
====**Session one:** The class will create an account with ePALS and search for a classroom match. Students will obtain the names and emails of their matched students. If available, the class with go to the partner school website to learn more about the students and their culture. Between session one and session two, students will identify where the country is on a world map,and if possible, locate the town or nearest city.==== ====**Session two:** Students will create individual websites using [|Wikispaces] or [|Googlespaces]. The websites will contain personal information such as student age, gender, and a photo (if possible). The website will also contain information about what it is like to live in America. Students can list their favorite foods and things they like to do. They will report five facts about the state and city in which they live.==== ====**Session three:** Students will compose an email letter that introduces themselves to their matched “pen pal,” and asks several questions. Questions will include: What grade are you in, how are are you, what is it like to go to school where you live, how many grades are in your school and what are you learning. Students will also answer questions they get from their pen pal. Students can brainstorm other appropriate questions of interest guided by the teacher. Revisions to the website are made during this session. Students will tell their pen pals to visit the newly created website.==== ====**Session four:** Students will reflect on the first set of responses from their pen pals. In class, students will pair share what some of the similarities and differences are between the two cultures. Next, students will compile a new set of questions aimed at gather informing about the environment in which their pen pals' live. These questions will include do you live in a rural or urban area, are you close to mountains or the ocean, where does your water come from, how is waste disposed of, how close is the nearest store to shop for food, and how long does it take you to go to school and how do you get there? In between sessions four and five, students will learn how to access [|widgets] and gather information of their pen pal's country using a [|widget] of their choice.==== ====**Session five:** Students will reflect on the answers they receive from their pen pals. Students will create an electronic graph or [|spreadsheet] for their group, to compare and contrast the differences between the student’s culture and that of their pen pal.==== ====**Session six:** Students will create a final tech project, either by making a group[| Powerpoint] presentation or by creating an [|iMovie], to share what they have learned about the culture of their pen pals, in comparison to their own lives. Other presentation formats using technology, will be accepted. Elders or people from the same culture, living in a nearby community, will be invited to see the presentations and speak before the class. Music, and food of the region will be part of the presentations if at all possible.==== ====**Reflection:** Following sharing, the teacher will ask students to reflect on the experience and answer four main questions. 1) How did technology enable you to learn something new, 2) What technology tools do you know how to use now that you did not use before, 3) What if anything would you do differently, if you had the experience to do all over again, and, 4) Would you recommend this project to other students, and if so, why?==== ====**The learning model** is represented through all parts of the learning episodes. Students are experiencing learning by hands-on work with technology tools. Students are communicating by developing letters and responses to questions posed by their cultural pen pals. They are also collaborating and sharing with other students. Students are reflecting on information given to them by their cultural pen pals. Students are revising in their correspondence to their pen pals, in creation of the final project, and in their reflection based on what they would do differently next time. They also are revising their websites, and personal beliefs of a culture different from their own.====
 * 1) ====Students will create individual websites using  [|Google sites] or [|Wikispaces.]====
 * 2) ====Students will join [|ePALS] and find a classroom match of a school in a different country.====
 * 3) ====Students will compose letters asking for information about the lives of their cultural-buddies living in a different country.====
 * 4) Students will use a widget of their choice to capture daily data of their pen pals' country.
 * 5) ====Students will create a final project using [|Powerpoint], [|iMovie] or other presentation format, that shares what the student has learned about the people and culture of exchange classroom.====