Keypals-I remember using penpals at various times as a student and being extremely frustrated. It took so long to get a response I would lose interest. I see this being a difficulty still. To properly monitor the letters requires extra time on both ends of the dialogue. On the other hand, the quick nature of email could overload the students. They may tire of the project quickly if the responses are swift. They could run out of things to say, vocabulary and suffer from the lack of variety.
I do think that email would be more useful than instant messaging, especially at early levels. This is because students need time to think about what they are going to say. And the nature of an online chat situation may intimidate them to stillness.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
3 comments:
Hey Thea, I like keypal idea too. Besides email, do you think instant message helps students with writing fluency?
I completely agree with you that penpaling is a pain- it's hard to see the positives when it's so time consuming and sometimes frusterating for students!!!
I had a penpal in third grade, and she was horrible-not like I ever met her, but still, it was a difficult communication and friendship.
Hey Leping-
I think instant messaging could help with fluency, however it seems to have its own language. Or at least its own vernacular. I guess I'm not really sure how it would really affect fluency.
Post a Comment