Epals

=Epals=

#2 - Epals
http://schoolblog.epals.com/?id=hmpg_blog_logo

Introduction; uses & benefits:
WebBlogs, also known as blogs, are a web-based tool in which the writer expounds on a subject that might have been assigned, something of personal interest, to express an interest, or to illuminate (Beale, 2007). Beale feels the fact that readers are moved to and have the ability to comment on or question blogs contributes to their interactive nature and inspires more frequent updates as a result. Beale further theorizes that peer reflections and observations are a part of the cycle observed with blogs. This cycle begins as the blogger plans and creates their entry. The peer reflection with which their blog is received adds to the blogger’s experiences and they observe and document what happened. This promotes self-reflection that influences the blogger’s next posting.

Roberts (2007) is a blogger and stream leader of the Engineering Enterprise Excellence (EEE) MSc programme who has encouraged blogging “as a tool that assists development of reflective practice.” Roberts felt that by publishing contemplations in a public forum we invite the comments of those who read our writings. The thoughts and questions of others cause us to examine more closely our thoughts on a matter and also to be exposed to other points of view. In this way, writing skills are practiced, social circles are broadened, and social skills are practiced.

SchoolBlog.com (2008) has created and provided ePals for 12 years as a school-safe tool. One aspect of the term school-safe refers to the choice of how broad the audience will be when the blogs are published. This Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) can be opened to grant access to only the student and teacher. The rest of a class or all members of that teacher’s classes can be added to the circle. Parents can also be invited into a parents’ only area or to read and comment on the postings of the students.

According to SchoolBlog.com (2008) another aspect of the school-safety is in the settings that allow the blocking of cursing, threats, teasing, and bullying as well as SPAM. Virus protection is also built in.

SchoolBlog.com (2008) stated that ePals has a matching service allowing classrooms around the world to communicate. Partner classrooms can be chosen at random, by location or because the other classroom is participating in a similar project. Mail is monitored to provide language translation, spell checker, and help areas.

ePals is a free site, offered in eight languages by SchoolBlog.com (2008). The ePals free site is not a trial offer for a limited time period or a version with access limited to a few of the tools. Available in the free area are design templates, the ability to personalize the group’s homepage, surveys, a calendar, web-based management, storage, parent permission slips, manuals, tutorials, instant language translation, multilingual filters, and searchable archives. Web-based manuals, tutorials and administrative support are also provided.

Blogs like ePal, are uniquely suited to playing a role as a reflective tool. Reflections can be provided to the student from the teacher only, from their peers, from parents, and from peers in other countries. Reflective comments from teachers, peers and parents cause the students to enter into a period of self-reflection from which a deeper understanding of the materials and information will form.

Weaknesses & challenges:
One of the challenges inherent in starting ePals is learning to use the pieces efficiently and creatively. There is going to be a learning curve associated with something like this and peak efficiency will not be when first starting.

I wonder about the safety aspect of ePals. Although it's parent-site, SchoolBlog.com, stated repeatedly that the site is safe, I wonder how fool-proof that claim is. It seems to me that the safety aspect decreases as a greater number of people are granted access to one site and that safety factor falls off even more sharply when the people with access are spread across the globe.

Example of application in online classroom:
For reflections from the teacher to assist the students in building their skills, the reflections should be ongoing. After having the student submit their initial plan for an assignment, the teacher can make suggestions about the format, theme, organization, and resources. The same can occur after the first draft and the final project. The reflections from peers, parents, and teachers should include their thoughts and feelings about what was presented as well as information on how the student can do it better the next time. This can all be accomplished using the ePals site.

Teachers can direct students to use the ePals site to post a simple reflective blog comment about the topic under discussion in the class. Having access to the interpretations and summarizations of the class may be a real eye-opener.

The teacher can post a controversial statement or question and ask the students to respond via blog in the ePals site.

Learning objective:
The ultimate objective would be for the students to demonstrate greater depth of knowledge, higher level understanding, linking them to prior knowledge or experiences for increased retention of the concepts and communicating that information clearly to the readers. According to Tarrant (2007) we can also expect to see a “focus on collaborative discourse, the individual development of meaning through construction and sharing of texts and other social artifacts, critical self-reflection, and connected online dialogue.”

Language arts skills are very likely to rise to a higher level because of the time and efforts to communicate invested. Additionally, the student’s skill level in the subject matter addressed should rise.