the magic of email! teresa almeida d’eça university of pittsburgh 23 october 2000
TRANSCRIPT
The magic of email!
Teresa Almeida d’EçaUniversity of Pittsburgh
23 October 2000
Email and me
• love at first sight!
• inseparable
• ideal match: we go together like soup & sandwich
• favourite means of communication
• enhanced personal and professional development: peer contact, student exchanges, etc.
Email and the teacher/my career
• opening up of perspectives and horizons
• no more excuse for typical teacher ‘isolation’: fabulous world of contacts at fingertips
• infinite world of information 24hrs/day, 365 days/year
• constant sharing of hints, ideas, plans, experiences, knowledge
• invaluable tool for professional development: mailing lists, newsgroups, distribution lists [pn], email updates [nytimes], personal messages
• discovery of a New World: similar to Columbus´s discovery of this New World 5 centuries ago??!! ;-)
Email and my students
• magic words email exchange (eyes brighten up and ears seem to grow antennas)
• magical new world of contacts and experiences
• atmosphere– total support and solidarity (back me up 100%)
– excitement about getting in touch with kids from distant cultures, countries, continents
– high levels of motivation, interest and engagement (including weaker students)
– good standards of collaborative work
– good and healthy support of weaker students
– healthy added confusion, excitement and noise
– permanent expectation: ‘have we got mail?’
– absolute excitement: ‘you’ve got mail!’
• curious peculiarities– added care and attention to their writing:‘phobia’ of
correctness
– correction: peer (mainly) and teacher (minimum)
– more easily notice keypals’ mistakes than own!
– some improvement of writing and reading skills
– mixture of business and pleasure
• training & added knowledge in new communication and information skills (email & the Net for research)
• integration of new technologies into the curriculum in a natural way
– excitement about being part of a pioneering experience
– proud of having work and names on the Net
Email, friends and family
• informality of email: new contacts and friendships
• magic of email: daily contact with my family– convenience (assynchronous: different time zones)– speed (of light)– immediacy (‘just-in-time’)– low cost (‘a local phone call away’)
