eLanguages newsletter 31 March 2008
Hello, and welcome to the latest edition of the eLanguages newsletter. This issue highlights all the recent developments and additions to the site that have been put in place since the start of the school year. We have had a busy Autumn and Winter.
Between December and February a series of workshops were given to teachers across England. Over 150 UK teachers registered on the site as a result and a lot of interesting project ideas came from these sessions. You can look at details of each workshop on the workshop's project page. (eLanguages workshop at Nottingham North eLearning centre on 23rd January 2008)
Click on the teacher names to the right hand side of the page to see their hello page and find out about their school.
In the last week of February, over 200 new overseas teachers were registered on the site They come from a variety of countries including France, Germany, Switzerland, Poland, Bulgaria, Brazil and Indonesia and are initially involved in a project called "My Day At School". This is available at either primary (3-10 years old) or secondary level (11-18 years old). Have a look at the projects to find out what is going on. You can see the new members on the right hand side of each page. Look at their "Hello Page" if you want to find out a bit more about them. If you are searching for a partner from one of these countries, why not send one of the teachers a message? All these new teachers are interested in starting an eLanguage project, so your new partner could be just a click away.
A lot of new and exciting projects have been developed on eLanguages since the beginning of 2008. Collaborative projects such as Namaste! (between schools in UK and India) and Exchange RTQ (between schools in UK and France) are excellent examples of what eLanguages can offer in terms of group collaboration.
In addition, the site is currently experiencing its highest ever use, with over 9000 recorded visits each day.
The Going Green project on eLanguages has great resources for classroom activities you could plan for World Earth Day. Why don't you create your own World Earth Day project page and invite other eLanguages teachers to join your project to share thoughts about for example Climate Change between your students?start a World Earth Day project for your class and invite other teachers to join your project?
If you are a new user to the site remember to use the "Permissions" function when you are uploading pictures or text. eLanguages is open to the public, so to keep your material secure you need to decide who should have access to it.
Whenever you upload a resource, you can click on the "permissions" icon and select who you would like to view the resource. To keep it hidden from the public, unclick the Public "Read" box. This will mean that your text or picture will only be seen by you and other registered eLanguages users.
Also, when you are adding information to your "hello page", give due consideration to which pictures and contact details you include. For example, you don't have to add your e-mail address to the page; people can contact you through the "Send A Message" function instead. This means that you can still receive e-mails, but your actual e-mail address is kept hidden from view.
Also, when you are adding information to your "hello page", give due consideration to which pictures and contact details you include. For example, you don't have to add your e-mail address to the page; people can contact you through the "Send A Message" function instead. This means that you can still receive e-mails, but your actual e-mail address is kept hidden from view.
eLanguages is continuing with its use of mentor teachers. Mentors are typically experienced teachers who have an active interest in ICT and international collaboration in the classroom.
Click on the link to go to one of our mentor hello pages. They can support you if you wish to start a project, or offer advice if you are not sure how to proceed.
