Getting your

classroom
connected around
the globe: ePals
Global Community,
SchoolMail and PBL
Rita Oates, PhD
roates@corp.epals.com
www.epals.com
hat are YOUR issues with global
collaborations in schools?
Any ePals users here?
hat are YOUR issues with global
collaborations in schools?
Communications like email
not allowed in district
Hard to find class outside
US to collaborate with
Safety of student data
Students speak English
only
Computers for testing only
Standards rule
Money
Time in school
Hill City Elementary
Bringing the world to rural Kansas
through social networking
Massachusetts teacher
3/a3a teacher
Tweet about
us3 ePaIs
Hs profIe o3
3ext sI/e
ew York CIassrooms 3 ePaIs
Great teacher-created projects
ethIehem, ew York
ePals
Teacher
Ambassador
Contest
inners
Y teacher reco3e/ for
outsta3/3 project 3 ePaIs
Y-Fra3ce
coIIaborato3 project
Fre3ch a3/ Amerca3 ePaIs meet 3
ew York Cty after coIIaborat3
for a whoIe schooI year
Publish student work to a worldwide audience
'iewing audience in the millions
. Hempstead, NY student work

ack-to-SchooI PIe/e Dr;e: Go GIobaI!

ePaIs has create/ a "PIe/e to Take Your SchooI
GIobaI" campa3 asking teachers, parents and
students to commit to take at least one action this year to
connect their classroom with learners in another part of the
world.

compoiqn Overview
1he campa|gn un|tes schoo| commun|t|es organ|zat|ons and assoc|at|ons around a s|ng|e
s|mp|e m|ss|on
mpowet o oew qeoetotloo of leotoets to bollJ o meooloqfol ootbeotlc ooJetstooJloq of
Jlvetse coltotol petspectlves os tbey ptepote to pottlclpote lo oo emetqloq qlobol soclety
wwwepalscom/pledge
Goals
hat is ePals?
Stories of collaboration
Finding a global partner
How to use ePals SchoolMail
hat are my first steps?
More resources and what's new!

ear3ers Co33ect, Commu3cate a3/ CoIIaborate

argesL k12 soclal learnlng neLwork globally reachlng more
Lhan m||||on students teachers and parents |n countr|es
eadlng provlder of cloudbased po||cymanaged ema|| and
soc|a| |earn|ng so|ut|ons for schools and dlsLrlcLs
cONNc1 cOMMuNlcA1 cOllA8OkA1
25 Million Students &
Teachers Worldwide
-exL CeneraLlon Lmall and
CommunlcaLlons
Soclal earnlng
LnvlronmenL for
CollaboraLlon and
CommunlLy
argesL CommunlLy of
ConnecLed Clobal
Classrooms
Connecting ,
classrooms in 2
countries & territories
2,5 new
schools/month
Policy managed and
Teacher supervised
Trusted pipeline
to the world's
classrooms
TRUSTe certification
ePaIs r3s ext-Ge3erato3 SoIuto3s to SchooIs
free -- students and their teachers
locate, connect with and work
collaboratively with another class
free -- secure online
communication for students,
parents, teachers and
administrators, instant translation in
58 languages. "Problem word filter
and ability to control how widely
students can send/receive email.
ePaIs r3s ext-Ge3erato3 SoIuto3s to SchooIs
3 Feb. 2011! Safe, secure
online communication for students,
teachers, administrators, parents. CT
a/m3strator ca3 estabIsh schooI-
safe usae poIces. Used by New
York City Schools.
$4/student setup fee. No ads.
A virtual workspace optimized for creating,
sharing, managing and collaborating on
educational content. ntegrated web 2.
tools: SchoolBlog, wikis, forums, digital
portfolios, cloud-based storage and ePals
SchoolMail, all with industry-leading safety
and security for K-2 schools.
23
orI/ CIass Part3ers a3/ Customers
Example Customers
9K students
4 countries
.MM students
, schools
ntegrated with
state-wide portal
Opportunity of 46k
students
63, students
94 schools
Provides state-wide
portal
Opportunity of 85k
students
Content and Technology Partners
nternational
Partners
3e aptop Per ChI/ (OLPC) (on all desktops,
third world countries)
3teI CIassmate PC (designed for K-6 students,
widely used in Portugal and other countries)
* M3stry of /ucato3, Ke3ya
* AP, ThaIa3/
* /uteka, at3 Amerca, 5, teachers and
Spanish-language content
Goals
hat is ePals?
Stories of collaboration
Finding a global partner
How to use ePals SchoolMail
hat are my first steps?
More resources and what's new!
We'd like you to meet our ePals from Brazil
Mrs. Russell's First Grade
Glenwood Elementary
Vestal, NY
School: MF "Tere3ha /o Me33o Jesus Porto u"
Town: Sa3ta ra3ca
State: Sao PaoIo
Country: raI
HeIIo From Sao PaoIo, raI
ur schooI 3 raI has paIm
trees. hat k3/ of trees are
outs/e your schooI?
ur square s be3 rebuIt.
See how our tow3 s a hIIy pIace!
CoIIaborato3 across the DtaI D;/e:
ew York Stu/e3ts a3/ ePaIs 3 otswa3a
A story of global
connections that
transcend socio-
economic status,
culture and place.
After school, we play in the
field next to the school.
Stu/e3ts from the Gua3x SchooI, Ch3a
Shared language and
cultural awareness
China-San Diego
ages 6-8
English language teacher in
Chinese school has many
female students
Ther CaIfor3a ePaIs
These teachers ha;e
worke/ toether for
eht years..some
projects are just a few
weeks or mo3ths!
Teacher Candace Pauchnick from
Patrick Henry HS in San Diego
Member since 2
http://www.epalscorp.com/about/news/press_feb8_6.html
Email mproves Reading and
riting Test Scores
State standardized test scores from a
Newark Public Schools 4th grade class
show significant reading and writing
improvement through twice weekly use of
email letter writing with fellow classmates
and a peer classroom in taly.
Louisiana and United Kingdom
The students had so much fun reading emails
from their new friends. They learned many ways
they were alike as well as different.
The student groups wrote about different
aspects of their schools and videoed themselves
to create a "documentary" about their school and
community. e then exchanged "culture
parcels" with the other class.
Loudoun County ('A)
Public Schools
Students study communities in grade 3.
Contact classrooms from elsewhere in 'irginia
(urban/rural/suburban) and exchange information about
their communities.
Children grasp the idea of "rural, "urban, to compare to
their own "suburban as they communicate with peers
from these areas.
Next the class has a collaboration with a classroom in an
area like theirs but in another country!
Teachers use videoconferences with classrooms.
Students use presentations and Google Earth to
showcase their communities.
Most Popular Long-term Matches
# English as a Second Language teachers
outside an English-speaking country want to
pair their students with English-speaking
students
#2 Teachers of foreign language want to pair
their students with native speakers (teacher
of Spanish wants Spanish speakers in
Mexico)
xampIe profIe:
Stu/e3ts Iear33 to speak 3Ish
250+ Turkish teachers
have submitted profiles in
the past year, and most
seek English speakers.
5erienced ePals user since 2004!
Not "one more thing -- but a new
way of advancing learning goals
Spelling or vocabulary words homework
You assign to write in sentences
nstead, include words in an email to a partner
Students get extra credit for posting a
response to a question in the Student
Forum
Encourage students to read in the Student
Forums on topics that interest them
One-email exchanges too!
Students create questions for a classroom in
a country they are studying in Geography, things
"not in the book they want to know
Students search global community and find f;e
potential partner classes
Students copy profiles into a ord file
Students submit questions and profiles to
teacher
Teacher writes to the other teachers, pasting in
the student questions...
Sample one-email from teacher
Dear (teachername),
My geography class in New York has questions
about your country. Could you please have a
few students answer these questions in an email
to me?
f possible would like to have the answers by
Dec. 9.
Here are the questions:
5aste in the students' questions>
Thanks so much for your help. Please let us know
if we can answer any questions about New York
or the USA!
Jo3 the Co3;ersato3
Did any of these stories resonate with
you?
How would your students benefit from
these types of experiences?
Do you know of possible partner schools
elsewhere?
Goals
hat is ePals?
Stories of collaboration
Finding a global partner
How to use ePals SchoolMail
hat are my first steps?
More resources and what's new!
Finding a global partner
Search by map
Search by classroom
Search by project
Look at the "New Schools scrolling on the
home page of ePals for the newest profiles
OR search in Project Forums or Teacher
Forums for very specific matches
Search by Map
. Select a continent
2. Select a
Country
3. Select a
classroom
from the
profiles,
with
newest
profiles
posted on
top
Eliminate language barriers
with translation tool!
Translation to 58 languages!
Most common languages listed first
Less common languages listed second
Both in alphabetical order
This is an expansion as of late June 29
from eight languages
Cautions.about your assumptions
hat age students are in Primary School?
hat age students are in a school called
"College? Or a "colegio?
hen does the school year start and end?
hen are vacations or holidays?
Collge in France = pre-university students
Be specific about what you want!
hat do you study?
Use keywords from your curriculum
Geography: Mexico, Brazil, Russia
Do you want to use an ePals project?
hich one?
hen does your school year start and end?
March-June is end of year in owa, but start of school
year in Chile
nteresting way for your students to practice
writing to non-English speakers
Make them more aware of how they say things so
they aren't confusing!
How do you get a profile?
You fill out some basic contact info
You write your profile
e have real people who read and
approve them.or ask for revisions!
Teachers can't contact other classrooms
without having a profile submitted and
approved.
ePals Global Community
Classroom Match Create Your Classroom Profile
A Successful Profile
ncludes Extra nfo:
. Something interesting about your school or
area.close to the ocean, a volcano, in the
capital city, enrolls only female students, etc.
2. Collaboration tools you might use (email, postal
mail, blogs, video conferences, Skype)
3. Length of desired collaboration ("For 3 weeks
in October)
4. Frequency of desired collaboration (weekly,
monthly, at holidays)
5. Topic of desired collaboration (You can update
this when you have a new project in mind!)
ePals Forums (also free)
Stu/e3t Forums
e mediate the forums, so you don't have to read and approve
postings.
Your students can collaborate with other students safely, over
the weekend.
Your students can search and read student postings to see what
others have said, a great way to practice authentic reading and
writing!
Project Forums make it easier to find matches for ePals
projects
Teacher Forums for topics you generate
Pare3t Forums to help parents learn from other parents
Adults can post in adult forums; students in Student
Forum
Student
Forums
Student
Forum:
Social
ssues
Student viewpoints from Turkey, USA
Goals
hat is ePals?
Stories of collaboration
Finding a global partner
How to use ePals SchoolMail
hat are my first steps?
More resources and what's new!
SchoolMail:buIt for schooI use
Features teachers asked for
Teacher moderation:
incoming/outgoing option
Multiple levels of filtering
Teachers can get copies for alternative
assessment
Translation to 58 languages
SchoolMail usernames
Student: LindaS@maine.epals.com
Teacher: LSanchez@maine.epals.com
No extra charge for custom subdomain as
maine.epals.com in district with , st.
Use existing names or we create them
Roles and responsibilities assigned
Batch upload from SS (49K students in 2
hours)
Safe a3/ Protecte/ Stu/e3t maI:
Safely integrate student email in appropriate,
educational ways.
Ask stu/e3ts to use aca/emc Ia3uae,
speII3, pu3ctuato3 - a3/ practce skIIs
;aIuabIe 3 the bus3ess worI/.
Preview students' incoming and outgoing email
messages.
Use email messages for alternative assessment.
Ensure that messages are appropriate to age,
setting and context.
e;eI 1 All messages must be approved by the
monitor, whether they contain profanity
or not.
e;eI 2 Messages containing profanity must be
approved by the monitor, but unflagged
messages will reach their recipients
automatically. The mo3tor wII aIso
rece;e a copy of e;ery u3fIae/
messae.
e;eI 3 Messages containing profanity must be
approved by the monitor, but unflagged
messages will reach their recipients
automatically. The monitor will not see
unflagged messages.
e;eI 4 All profanity filters are off.
FIter e;eIs
Note: Click "flagged student messages.
Dashboard for Teacher-monitored Email
Problem ords Highlighted in Red
Most powerful K2 email
system in the market
today:
SchooIMaI365
RoIe a3/ Group-base/ PoIces
Hierarchical, K2 role and group-
based policies
Only communication solution with
these powerful tools
Admins determine who can receive
email based on school district policies,
student age, etc.
Smart SchooI Drectores a3/
Co3tact sts
Email address books are auto-
populated based on school policies
and each person's role and
communication rights
Parents can easily email their
children's teachers
100% e-rate eIbIe pro/uct (3ot
free)
Each District has Unique Login Page
Best-of-breed security safety technologies
RoIe-ase/ Permsso3s
Each user is assigned a role in their
LearningSpace community (student, teacher,
parent, administrator).
Policies determine whether a role can create
groups, view connections, and invite groups to
collaborate.
Co3troIIe/ Co33ecto3s
A policy can be set to manage student interaction
with other members of your LearningSpace
community.
High school students may not be able to view
profiles or request connections with K-5 students,
unless they are in the same group.
Best-of-breed security safety technologies
Co3te3t Mo/erato3
ritten content (blog and forum posts,
comments) can be reviewed before
publishing or removed afterward by a
designated moderator.
3approprate a3uae FIters
Multiple spellings of inappropriate
words written in a blog, comment or
message are automatically flagged and
removed. Questionable content in
emails sent to designated moderator.
Goals
hat is ePals?
Stories of collaboration
Finding a global partner
How to use ePals SchoolMail
hat are my first steps?
More resources and what's new!
District issues to consider
Do you need to go through a district
committee or director or your principal?
TRUSTe certification for all ePals!
At the bottom of each page of ePals, you
can see:
Privacy Policy
Advertising Policy
Terms of Use
Copyright and Trademark Policy
School-wide setup
e prefer to provision all teachers in your
school with free ePals accounts, even
though only a few may want to start right
away.
You provide a list of all teachers, and we
can create teacher user names.
e can upload student names with a
"batch upload tool and that can create
student account names (unless you have
names you want to use)
Project-Based Learning
Free to use, adapt
Developed jointly with National
Geographic
Also feature great teacher-created projects
nternational School
n Pudong
UN Day
Grade 4, Mrs. Smith
Start with a Specific Project
Clear Plan for Email Exchanges in the Project
Brief Lesson Plans
Jo3 the Co3;ersato3
Do you have questions about getting
started with ePals?
Goals
hat is ePals?
Stories of collaboration
Finding a global partner
How to use ePals SchoolMail
hat are my first steps?
More resources and what's new!
How Tos, Manuals
Under HeIp from home page
93
ack-to-SchooI PIe/e Dr;e: Go GIobaI!
ePaIs has create/ a "PIe/e to Take Your SchooI
GIobaI" campa3 asking teachers, parents and
students to commit to take at least one action this year to
connect their classroom with learners in another part of the
world.
93
compoiqn Overview
1he campa|gn un|tes schoo| commun|t|es organ|zat|ons and assoc|at|ons around a s|ng|e
s|mp|e m|ss|on
mpowet o oew qeoetotloo of leotoets to bollJ o meooloqfol ootbeotlc ooJetstooJloq of
Jlvetse coltotol petspectlves os tbey ptepote to pottlclpote lo oo emetqloq qlobol soclety
wwwepalscom/pledge
New: ePals Email Extras
http://www.epals.com
Sign up online
Choices of Email Extras
Student tab: Smithsonian on ePals
Customer Fulfillment and
Account Management
ePals has a team of Activation Specialists that
will assist you every step of the way:
Help upload accounts for your teachers and students
Provide online training materials for you and your teachers
Schedule "Getting Started webinars
Offer "After-School webinar sessions for you and your teachers
Provide tech administrators assistance with site support issues
To schedule a ebinar session:
support@corp.epals.com
ePals Customer Team
Rta ates, Ph.D., Vce Pres/e3t, /ucato3 Markets
roates@corp.epals.com
Vctora Mcacher3, Vce Pres/e3t, Customer FuIfIIme3t a3/
Ma3aeme3t
vmceachern@corp.epals.com
Ste;e Ho/3, Drector, Customer Act;ato3
shodgin@corp.epals.com
Jacky ttIe, Accou3t Act;ato3
jlittle@corp.epals.com
JuIe Mart3, SaIes A/m3strator
jmartin@corp.epals.com
ePaIs Customer FuIfIIme3t Team (Ge3eraI DeI;ery MaIbox)
sales@corp.epals.com
ePaIs Support Team (u3Imte/ emaI support)
smsupport@corp.epals.com
ePals LearningSpace
TM
Safely have muItpIe web 2.0 tooIs, a digital locker,
email, blog, wiki, online portfolio, and much more. t's the
next generation of web 2. for schools! (safer than
Facebook, Ning or Google)
https://Iear33space.epaIs.com
'iew video tour and interviews with users
Sign up for a webinar
Sign up for a 3-day pilot
Open architecture: plug in other applications within the
safe/secure settings.
A school or district purchase.
Teacher Lounge for sharing best practices
One district has purchased LS to effect a cost sa;3s
of $5, a year. tems formerly printed and shipped
to schools will now be available in their LearningSpace.
Sample LearningSpace: Teacher view
http://learningspace.epals.com
Further info
ePaIs 101 o;er;ew web3ar s aIways
free: http://bt.Iy/ePaIs101
Join us!
Twitter:
@ePals
@RitaOates
Rita Oates, PhD
ROates@corp.epals.com
www.epals.com