ePals Global Community

Post #7

What is it?

-          K-12 learning network

-          Protected project based network

-          Connect locally, nationally, internationally

-          Students learn in a real-world setting that builds digital literacy skills, improves critical thinking and introduces students to multiple points of view.

It has:

·        A privacy policy to protect younger users

·        Classrooms in 200 countries and territories

·        Uses a variety of Web 2.0 tools

·        Helps teachers learn to use technology effectively in their classrooms, providing professional development, curriculum, contests and other resources.

·        Email-based collaborative projects with digital content from National Geographic

·        Forums for students, teachers and families to participate in discussions with peers worldwide

·        Classroom Match which helps educators connect with other classrooms by searching ePals profiles based on project topic, student age range, country, language and more

Availability:

ePals Global Community ~ FREE   http://www.epals.com/

ePals School Mail ~ need to contact them for fees and/or request a product demo http://www.corp.epals.com/products/schoolmail.php

ePals Learning Space~ need to contact them for fees and/or request a product demo http://www.corp.epals.com/products/epals-learning-space.php

in2books~ need to contact them for fees and/or request a product demo http://www.corp.epals.com/products/in2books.php

Mission Statement:  The mission of the ePals Foundation and In2Books is to increase the availability of quality educational opportunity and resources to economically and socially disadvantaged populations in order to bridge the educational and technological divide.  http://www.volunteermatch.org/search/org88744.jsp

ePals Platform~ need to contact them for fees and/or request a product demo http://www.corp.epals.com/products/platform-offerings/overview.php

ePals has a large variety of programming at your fingertips.  Their home website http://www.corp.epals.com/  is basic, but can get confusing as you begin to navigate through all of the links, testimonials etc...  This is a huge resource for teachers, students and families.  A downfall from visiting the site is the need to request a product demo to get a feel for most of what they offer.