Reading and Other Media: Computer Pals

from: Celebrate Literacy

Brief Description
Students develop their reading and writing skills by using computers.

Objective
To introduce students to the use of computers as a means of developing their communication skills within an authentic context.

Procedure
Explain to your students that the computer can be a powerful tool to increase their language, reading, and writing. Tell them that they will be given the opportunity to correspond with other students, whom they do not know, with the aid of the computer. Your students can conduct computerized correspondence in a number of ways, depending on your school's hardware:

1. More and more schools are going on-line with capacities for electronic mail (E-mail) via Bitnet, Internet, Telnet, and other electronic networks. If your school is plugged in electronically, your students can communicate directly with their electronic pen pals as soon as you and/or the computer teacher get them up-to-speed using the communication protocol.

2. You can simulate E-mail in the following way: Have your students key their messages into computers, download their files onto a disk, then mail or otherwise transfer the disk to the target destination. The pals at the other school can then respond to the electronic messages addressed to them on the disk, write their own messages, and return the disk to your students. Virtual E-mail!

3. If all else fails, your students can at least gain valuable hands-on experience and increase their computer literacy merely by using wordprocessing software to write ordinary letters to their computer pals. They key their messages into the computer, print them out, and mail or otherwise transfer paper copy.

You will need to make contact with an appropriate school to establish a connection so that your students and those students can correspond.

In order to initiate the project successfully, the corresponding school needs a computer and printer for the students' use. You and the other teacher work out a plan to mail student correspondence to one another every so often.

After each student has been matched with a peer from the other school, the following correspondence activities may get underway:

  • Write a letter to introduce yourself. Use the computer to introduce yourself to your Computer Pal. Tell him/her about your interests, family, school, and the like.

  • Go into detail about a topic alluded to in your first letter. Choose a topic that you included in the first letter to your Computer Pal, and explain it more thoroughly to your new friend.

  • Write a fictional story or poem, which could be sparked by seasonal activities or activities occurring at school. Write a story or develop a poem which you think your Computer Pal would enjoy sharing with his/her friends. Try to use interesting words to express yourself.

  • Become a journalist and write interesting articles about current events in the community and your school. Choose a topic about your school or community to investigate, and write your findings to your Computer Pal.

  • Choose a topic associated with a social issue to write a bout. Pick a topic that is interesting to both you and your Computer Pal. You now know your Computer Pal quite well. Choose a topic we have discussed in our class and write about it to your Computer Pal. Perhaps your Pal will want to share his/her thoughts and feelings with you on the subject after reading your letter.

"The use of computers as tools in the language classroom reveals exciting possibilities for enhancing reading enjoyment and competency, particularly when the word processor and modem are utilized." (Czerniejewskik, 1988)

Extension Activities
1. Use the computer for peer student writing activities beyond local school-district boundaries by arranging Computer Pals in other States and foreign countries as well.

2. Use the computer for students interested in learning the foreign languages of their Computer Pals.

3. Foreign-language learning software is available for purchase. Arrange communication exchange between students with handicaps such as impaired hearing and sight.

Observation:
The use of correspondence between pen pals has long been an established activity in our schools. Computers update this traditional activity as an extension of students' curiosity about the new electronic medium.

Source
EJ 388 489
Beasley, Malcolm R. "Reading for a Real Reason: Computer Pals across the World," Journal for Reading v32 n7 April, 1989 pp. 598-605.

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