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Email has become a major
medium of communication. A planned and monitored email project between
two schools is an excellent way of increasing pupils' skills in this
increasingly important area.
To begin, locate a partner school and establish good communication with
the teachers there. Together you will have to decide on what your joint
project will be, as well as clear aims for your pupils using email. It’s
a good idea to meet face-to face if you can.
Some of the decisions you have to make will include:
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timing |
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how to group
learners |
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introducing the work |
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topics |
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ensuring that
communication is appropriate |
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the mechanisms
needed to deal with problems |
Ground rules
These should be generated and agreed by the class through
discussion, when experience and understanding of the pleasures and
pitfalls of email are shared and the reasons for rules are agreed.
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Why do we need rules
for email? |
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Do you have any
rules about email use at home? |
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What might go wrong
if we don’t have rules? |
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What should happen
if people break our rules? |
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What should our
rules be? |
The children should
understand:
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The language in
emails should be appropriate for a general audience. Email is
not a private medium and can be used for both ‘one to one’ and
‘one to many’ messages. |
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Names or pen names
must be included, and email should be addressed to a specific
recipient, either an individual or a whole class. |
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Email may be checked
at random or at set times. |
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Whether email (and
any attachments) should be printed out or stored electronically
will have to be decided. |
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Rules and sanctions
are in place to protect and support people in both schools. |
Whole-class discussion: how and why do we use email?
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Who has used email?
Where? Why? What did you think of it? |
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What is the
difference between email and letters? |
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Who has their own
email account? |
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How was it set up? |
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Where and why do
family members use email? |
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What are the
advantages and disadvantages of email? |
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What did people do
before email? |
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Do you think most
people communicate by email? |
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What is the
difference between email and chat? |
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What sorts of things
can’t you communicate using email? |
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How can email help
with school work? |
Email knowledge and skills
Following an introduction and an opportunity to practice, the children's
composing, sending and retrieval skills will develop as they continue to
use email. Confident pupils may be asked to take responsibility for
collecting or sending email.
Sending and receiving email
How will you monitor the project? It is a good idea to keep a back-up
file of sent and received messages.
Integrating email with classroom activity
All children should be involved in receiving, creating and sending email
during the project. Groups or individuals will need time to collect
email, reflect on it, create a response and send it. You will have to
accommodate different speeds of working and different content. You will
need to consider whether additional exchanges beyond the strict range of
the agreed project can be exploited and whether these are worthwhile or
distracting.
This advice is based on information from the
BECTA website
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