ETEC510:DesignProjectProposalAssignment

DesigningaCrossCulturalEpalUnit
toDevelopStudentsGlobalAwareness

SubmittedFebruary10/2014
AngelaIsaac
RockyLam
MeganDodsworth
RachelSparks
RobMcElroy

KeyFrameworks
Ourdesignprojectwillfocusonthedevelopmentofacrossculturalepalunit
intendedtonurturestudentstobecomegloballymindedindividuals,whilealsoproviding
EnglishLanguageLearners(ELLs)withauthenticopportunitiestopracticetheir
communicationskills.

Weintendtopartnerstudentsfromtwodifferentcountries.(aPrimaryclassinAsia
withaclassinCanada.)ThroughtheuseofonlinetoolssuchasVokiandGoogleDrive,
learnerswillcommunicateaboutweeklydiscussiontopicsthataredesignedtoencourage
thecomparingandcontrastingofeachothersculture.Topicswillincludewheretheylive,
differentholidaystheycelebrate(NewYear'sorEaster)andstepstheytaketowards
protectingtheenvironment.

Withinourdynamicandinterconnectedworld,educatorsrecognizeagreaterneed
topromoteasenseofglobalresponsibilityandglobalconsciousnessamonglearners.The
valuesandattitudesthatwillaccompany[these]studentsforalifetimearebeing
establishednow,intheirearlyyears(Pashby,2008).Wearethereforeframingourdesign
projecttomeetthechangingneedsoftodayslearners,whoarelivinginanageof
globalization,wheretheywillcomeintocontactmoreregularlywithindividualsfromdiverse
culturalbackgrounds.

Thetheoreticalperspectivesthatframeourprojectarebasedontheconstructivist
theoryforlearning.Jonassendescribesauthenticlearningactivitiesasbeingpersonally
relevantorinterestingtothelearnersandasinspiringlearnerstodemonstratesomelevel
ofcriticalthinking(Jonassen,1999).Throughouttheepalunit,learnerswillworkina
collaborativesettingtoconstructknowledgeabouttheworld.Theywillsharetheirown
storiesandwilllearnaboutanotherculturethroughtheirpartnersexperiences.Thistaskis
authenticforlearnersfortworeasons.Firstly,theywillbeusingtheirEnglishlanguageskills
tocommunicateaboutrealworldculturesandissues.Also,studentswillberequiredto

thinkcriticallyandarticulatetheirunderstandingoftheadvantagesandchallengesthatface
bothcultures.

OurepalunittargetsPrimarystudentswithvaryinglevelsofEnglishlanguage,of
whomarelearningEnglishasasecondlanguage.AccordingtotheBCMinistryof
Education,thenumberofstudentsidentifiedasneedingELLservicesinBritishColumbia
hasmorethantripledsincethe1990s(BCMinistryofEducation,1999).Onestrategyto
supportELLsatallstepsintheirliteracydevelopmentishavingthemwriteontopicsthat
areculturallyrelevanttotheirlives(OME,2012).Wehavedesignedourepalprojectto
focusonculturalcomparisonsthatallowlearnerstosharethoughtsthatarerelevantto
them.ThiswillincitethetypeofintrinsicmotivationdescribedinReigeluthsInstructional
DesignTheory(Reigeluth,1999).

WewillalsosupportELLsthroughtheuseoftheGradualReleaseofResponsibility
Model,whichwasinfluencedbytheworksofPiagetandVygotsky(Fisher&Frey,2008).
Beforestudentsinitiateconversationswitheachother,teachersfrombothcountrieswill
guidelearnersbymodellingaconversation.Learnerswillbegivenexplicitguidanceon
howtobeginandconcludeaconversationonline,howtoaskmeaningfulquestionsandto
allowenoughwaittimefortheirpartnertorespond.Learningthesebasicskillsforeffective
onlinecommunicationwillproveusefulintheirfuture.Astheunitprogresses,studentswill
begivenmoreindependenceinformulatingandsharingtheirownopinions.

Themaineducationalmediabeingusedinourepalunitarefree,easilyaccessible
andhighlyengaging.Theseareimportantelementsconsideringtheyoungageofour
targetstudents.Thelearnerswillbeexcitedaboutthisprojectbecauseofthetechnologies
theywillexplore,includingcreatingtheirindividualspeakingavatarsusingVokiClassroom.
ForPrimarystudents,aswellasELLs,whoarejustbeginningtowriteindependently,Voki
willallowthemtowriteashortandsimplefirstintroductionofthemselves..TheVoki
websiteincludesiconsandimagesthatprovidelearnerswithvisualfeedbackandmake

thesiteeasiertonavigate(Norman,1999).Teacherswillalsoscaffoldlearnersbytaking
themonatourofthesiteandpreteachingunfamiliarwordssuchascreate,publish,
characterandcustomize.Laterintheunit,studentswillsendlongeremailstotheirepal
usingGoogleDrive.GoogleDriveprovidesteacherswithaccesstostudentsworksoit
canbeassessedonanongoingbasis,andsotheycanofferimmediatefeedbackto
furtherscaffoldthewriters.

Scaffoldingthelearnersonhowtousevariousonlinetoolsandonhowtofurther
developtheirownopinionswillencouragelearnerstoreachVyogtosky'sZoneofProximal
Development.TheinteractionamongpeersthatisimplicitinourEpalactivity,particularly
betweennativeEnglishspeakersandELLs,willalsoservetomotivatelearnerstoreach
theirfullpotential.

IntentionsandPositions
Theintentofthisprojectistoallowteacherstoconstructanonline,globallearning
environmentinwhichstudentscancommunicate,shareandcollaboratewithpeersfrom
acrosstheglobe.Throughtheutilizationofvariouscommunicativetechnologies,students
willcorrespondwithanepalfromanothercountry.Thiswillenablethemtoexploreour
worldsdiversity,whileatthesametimeinvestigatingcommongoalsweholdaspartofa
globalcommunity.

Thefollowingarethecentralgoalsofourepalproject:

Tofosterstudentsglobalawarenessandacceptanceoftheculturaldiversitypresent
withinourworld

Topromoteunderstandofglobalcitizenshipandinvestigatewhatismeanstobepartof
aglobalcommunity

Toexplorethevaryingwaystechnologycanbeusedasameansforonline
communication

Toenablestudentstoworktogethercollaborativelytotakestepstowardssolvinga
globalproblem

Expandingastudentsperceptionoftheworldiscriticaltowardsunderstandingtheir
placeasaglobalcitizen.Withtheexpansionoftheinternet,technologynowenables
studentstolearninwaysthatwerenotpossiblebefore.Schoolisnotsimplyaspacewith
fourconfinedwalls,butanendlessopenspacewithopportunitiestocreate,editandshare
theirideasallaroundtheworld.Inourproject,weprovideanopportunityforstudentsto
interactwithstudentsfromothercountriesthroughVokiClassroom,ePal,blogsand
GoogleDrive.Byfosteringasafeenvironmentforstudentstofreelyexploreandexpress
themselves,studentsexaminetheirownunderstandingofidentity,cultureand
representationandhowtheyrelatetotheworld.

Globalcitizenshipeducationdoesnotprecludeordenynationalcitizenshiporits
attendantrightsandresponsibilities.Rather,itbroadensthescopeofcitizenship
educationtoincludeeducationthataimstodevelopinterculturalempathy,concernfrom
globalproblems,andmotivationtoactforjusticeandpeacethatopposesdiscrimination
andinequities(LeRoux,2001).

Ourproposalaimstoexplorenewliteraciesamongmultilinguallearnersinthe
Elementarygradesbyconnectingstudentstogethertopromotetheirunderstandingof
globalcitizenship.Bygrowingawarenessoftheinterconnectednessofoureverydaylives
withothersaroundtheworld,weexposeourstudentstotheworldsgrowingcultural
diversity.AsLeRoux(2001)suggests,globalcitizenshipeducationallowsstudentsto
developinterculturalunderstanding,wherewearemorelikelytoopposebias.Educators
mustrecognizethatanytechnologycanbeharmfulorhelpful.Bydefiningtechnologyasa
tooltosupportteachingandlearning,studentsrecognizetheimportanceoftechnologyto

allowthemtobecomelifelonglearners,makingcommunicationmoreeffective.Through
thisproject,studentsalsogainanappreciationonhowtopromoteenvironmental
responsibilityandsustainabilityintheworld.Studentsunderstandtheglobalimpactoftheir
ownactionsandchoicesbysharingtheirownexperiencesinhowtheyreducetheir
ecologicalfootprint.

Infindingnewwaystocommunicate,SolomanandSchrum(2010)agreethat
traditionalwritingandbloggingbothenhanceswritinghabits.Studentsareengagedinthe
processofwriting,brainstorming,prewriting,organizing,writing,editingandrevisingtheir
workforanauthenticaudienceonaparticulartopic.Byinfusingtechnologyinthe
classroom,studentsaremotivatedtocommunicatewithothersthroughblogs,emailsor
chats.Educatorsprovidemeaningfulandauthentictasksforstudentstocollaborate,
communicate,andengageincriticalthinkingskillstomakeEarthamorehabitableplace.
ThestudybyTealeandGambrell(2007)showedanimprovedstudentsliteracylevels
throughtheIn2Booksprogram,wherestudentscorrespondedwithadultpenpalswiththe
booksthattheyread.Meaningfultaskshelpedstudentswhotraditionallystruggledin
readingandwritingtoimprovetheirliteracylevels.

Indeed,anepalprogramnotonlyaimstopromotetheliteracylevels,butalso
studentsunderstandingoftheirglobalcitizenship.Demski(2008)revealedthatthrough
SchoolMail,anemailingtoolbetweenaclassSanDiego,USAandLiuzhou,China,itnot
onlydiditimprovestudentswritingskills,butalsotheirunderstandingforeachothers
culture.Studentsbecamemoreawareingaininganappreciationoflivinginacapitalistor
acommunistcountry.

Althoughhavingstudentscommunicatinggloballyseemsbeneficial,teachersmust
beawareofthestudentssecuritywhensharinginformationonline.Aspartofdigital
citizenship,studentsmustrecognizetherisksinhowmuchandwhattheyshareonline.
Teachersshouldprescreentheclassesthatareexchanginginformation,perhapsusinga

trustedwebsite,likeePals,(www.epals.com),21Classes(www.21classes.com)orGaggle
(www.gaggle.net).Anadditionalcounterargumentisthedangersofcyberbullying.The
conceptofcyberetiquetteshouldbeintroducedtohelpstudentsmakepositivechoicesin
whattheywriteandthewaytheywrite(Demski,2008).Bymodellingandscaffoldinggood
examplesinwhattowriteinthesubjectline,addressandthecontent,studentscan
communicateeffectivelyandclearlytotheirproposedaudienceandinteractinasafe
environment.Ultimately,whentakingonaprojectofthisnaturetheresponsibilityof
monitoringstudentsonlineinteractionslieswiththeteacher.Wewanttofosteropen
communicationandcollaborationwhilekeepingourstudentscomfortableandsafe.

ThestatedgoalsinourprojectfitwiththestandardsasstatedintheCanadian
InternationalDevelopmentAgency.Ascountriesaroundtheworldmoveintoglobal
integration,encouragingstudentstoberesponsibleglobalcitizenisnolongerdefinedby
nationalborders.Byhelpingstudentsunderstandbecomemoreinformedandengaged
aboutglobalissues,theygainanappreciationofdifferentworldviewsandunderstandtheir
ownchoicesandactionsonaglobalscale.

KeyConceptsandContexts
Ourproposedemailexchangebetweenpairedstudents(NativeEnglishspeakers
andELLs)representsasanauthenticwaytoteachthelanguageartscurriculum,develop
studentscommunicationskillsandfostertheirglobalcitizenship.

Theconceptualknowledgethatstudentswilllearnthroughanemailexchangeisto
beabletocommunicateideasforaspecificpurposeandaudience,tosharetheirown
pointofviewandtowriteanorganizedparagraphwithamainidea(OntarioCurriculum
Expectations).Asalargeroverallconcept,studentswillbelearningaboutglobal
citizenship,howtointeractappropriatelyonlineandtocommunicaterespectfullywhile
learningaboutanotherculturethroughemailinteraction.Theproceduralknowledgethatwill

betaughtishowtouseGoogleDrive.Studentswilllearntoreadandcomposeemails,
howtocreate,editandsharedocumentsonGoogleDriveandhowtoaddlinksand
attachmentstotheiremails.TheproceduralstepswillbemodeledontheSmartboard,
andananchorchartofthestepswillbepostedinthecomputerlab.Afterpracticingwith
GMailandGoogleDrive,studentswillbecomefamiliarwithloggingintoemailandworking
onsharedGoogledocuments.

Thecontextoftheenvironmentwillconsistoffacetofacelearningaswellasonline
learning.Theclassroomwillbeanenvironmentoflearningwheretheteacherwillbeableto
guide,modelanddevelopEnglishwritingskillsofthestudents.Theonlineenvironmentwill
betheemailexchangebetweenthetwoclasses,andtheongoingwritingprocesson
GoogleDrivethattheteacherwillhaveaccesstoview.Studentswillalsobeableto
exploreonlineidentitiesthroughcreatingavatarsusingVokiClassroom.

ThestudentsinvolvedinourproposalwillbeaprimaryclassofELLsinAsia
learningtheOntarioCurriculumandaprimaryclassofmulticulturalstudentsinCanada
learningtheBCCurriculum.TheclassofstudentsinAsiawillbeinanInternationalschool
context,therefore,therewillbeavarietyofnationalitiesrepresentedsuchasVietnamese,
Korean,JapaneseandChinese.TherewillbevaryinglevelsofEnglishproficiencyinthe
classroomrangingfromStep1throughStep4.AccordingtoSTEP,differentiated
instructionshouldbeusedtohelpthevaryinglevelsofstudents(Ontario,2012).Themain
goalofSTEPistocreatecontextforlearners,thefirststatedsuccessoutcomeisuse
Englishtocommunicateeffectivelyinavarietyofsocialsettings(STEP,2012).

Fromaconstructivistsview,authentictasksarevitaltoanindividualslearning,
learnersshouldengageinactivitieswhichrepresentthatsametypeofcognitive
challengesasthoseinreallife(Jonassen,1999).AsanELLstudent,reallifechallenges
wouldbetopracticecommunicatingEnglishwithaNativeEnglishspeaker.Throughusing
email,studentswillhavetheopportunitytomakeaNativeEnglishspeakingfriend,in

whichtoengageinmeaningfulconversationsaboutspecifictopicsthatrelateto
themselves.

ELLstudentswillbeencouragedtodeveloptheirideasintheirfirstlanguageusing
aduallanguagejournal.Throughcommunicatingintheirfirstlanguage,studentscanbuild
ontheirpriorknowledgeandschema,andlaterconnecttheirnewlearningofEnglishto
theirideas(Ontario,2005).Usingtheduallanguagedictionary,studentsarenotonlyable
toexpresstheirideasintheirfirstlanguageasawaytolearnEnglish,butalsotomaintain
andvaluetheirownlanguage.Londondescribesmultiliteraciesasawaytofocusonthe
realitiesofincreasinglocaldiversityandglobalconnectedness(NewLondonGroup,
1996).Itisanessentialpartofsociallifeforpeoplearoundtheworldtolearnto
communicateandinteractwiththoseofdifferentcultures,nationalitiesandlanguages.

InterActivities
Forthisprojecttobeasuccessandusefulforeducatorsandstudents,weplanto
useavarietyofmethodstoprepare,facilitateandpromoteanonlinecultural
exchange/partnershipbetweenstudents.Thegoal,asstatedpreviously,istoshow
studentsavarietyofwaystocommunicateonline,learnabouteachotherandcollaborate
towardssolvingacommonproblem,suchassavingtheenvironment.Theenvironmentwas
chosenasanexamplebecausewefeltthatnomatterwhereachildisliving,keepingour
planethealthywouldbearelevanttopic.

Withinthisproject,studentswillbegivenanumberoftopicsthatwillencourage
themtolearnmoreabouttheirpartner.Itishopedthatifthestudentslearnmoreabout
eachother,theywillbegintoseesimilaritiesbetweeneachotherandlearntorespectand
valuetheirdifferences.Oncethesebondsareformed,studentswillworktogethertosolvea
commonglobalissue.Forthefinaltaskofthisproject,studentswillbeusingapresentation

toolsuchasPowerPoint,Prezi.comorPowtoon.comtoshowcasewhattheyhavelearned
abouttheirepalandhowtheycollaboratedtosolvetheircommonissue.Thefollowingisa
moredetailedbreakdownonhowweplantoimplementeachofourinteractivitiesandhow
theywillworktogether.

Sinceourunitwillbedesignedtoworkforavarietyofgradelevelstherewillbe
somegeneralitiesworkedintothisplantoallowforteacherstomodifyittofittheirstudents
abilitylevels.ThefirsttoolthatwewilluseinourdesignprojectwillbeaWeeblypage,
http://etec510epals.weebly.com/,whichisdesignedtobealaunchingpadforeducatorsto
understandthescopeandsequenceofthisproject.Therewillalsobeanaccompanying
studentportalwebsite,http://studentepal510.weebly.com/,whichwillbeusedto
consolidateonlineresourcesandensurestudentsunderstandthestepsandoutcomesthat
thisunithopestoachieve.

Onceteachershaveexplainedtheoverarchinggoalofthisactivity,teacherswilltell
studentsthattheywillbegiventhetaskofcommunicatingwithanotherstudentfrom
somewhereintheworldusingvariousformsoftechnology.Topromotethis
communication,andgivethestudentsafirmunderstandingofhowtocommunicatethrough
letters,studentswillbefirstshownexamplesofstoriesthatincludeletterwritingonthesite
www.tumblebooks.com.Studentswillthenwriteanintroductionletterandcreateavirtual
speakingavatarusingwww.voki.com.Thepurposeofusingthisavataristogivethe
studentsboththechancetoexpresstheirownindividualitywhileallowingthemtofeelsafe
behindthemaskoftheirvokiavatar.

Afterthisinitialexchange,studentswillthenbeaskedtouseeitherblogposts
(foundattheWeeblystudentsite)oremailtoanswerquestionsthatweregeneratedby
theirepalsintroductionandtolearnmoreabouttheirpartnerscountry,cultureand
traditions.Tokeepstudentsengaged,teachersshouldintroducealternativewaysto
communicatewiththeirpartnersuchasSkypeorYouTubesothatstudentsdonotfeelthat

emailorblogsaretheonlywaythattheycanshareinformation.Oncethestudentsfeel
comfortablewiththeirpartner,itistimetochallengethemtoworktogethertosolvea
commonproblem.Theexactproblemthattheychoosetosolveshouldbeonethatis
importanttobothparties.Ifthestudentshavecreatedagoodrelationshipthisproblem
shouldbeeasiertofind,butifstudentsstruggleitisacceptablefortheteachertostepin
andgivethemsomechoices.

Thefinalstageofthisprojectisforstudentstocometogetherandcreatea
presentationabouttheirpartner,theirpartnerscultureandfinally,thesolutionthatthey
createdtosolvetheirsharedproblem.Itishopedthatstudentswillleavethisprojectwith
moreopenmindstowardsusingtechnologytocommunicatearoundtheworldandalsothe
feelingthattheyarepartofaglobalcommunity,fullofpeoplewhocanlearnabouteach
otherandworktogethertomakethingsbetterforeveryone.

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