E-Mail Projects

E-Mail projects offer a lot of advantages but there are some preparations needed before starting such a project. In the following you will find a list of all aspects which are positive for e-mail projects, a guideline on how to organize one and an example of how such a project could look like.

Why E-Mail projects in school?

E-Mail projects can realize the following learning objectives: language competence (communication, language awareness, language learning awareness), intercultural competence (e.g. writing about cultural specific questions), method and media competence (handling the computer, e-mail programs, search engines etc.) and social competence (group work, social empathy).

E-Mail projects allow authentic communication. The pupils leave the “safe” field of school vocabulary and develop a wish for correct language because someone other than the teacher really reads it. Furthermore the students have the chance to get in touch with students from other countries.

Organization

1. Find a suitable partner group (for example on epals, etwinning, baseportal)

2. Create a concept/find a project (for example “Introducing your pets to the other group”, prepare a power point presentation about your favorite pet and send it per e-mail to the other group)

3. Acquire necessary skills (for example create an e-mail account)

4. Acquire special language skills (here: pet/animal vocabulary)

When organizing an e-mail project with another group there are certain points which have to be agreed on, for example the mode of communication, the frequency of e-mail contacts, the objective of the project, the general length of the project and how the teachers can keep track of the e-mails. Furthermore it is impoertant to agree on a final result or product because this helps to stay focus. The output could be for example a poster, commonly designed newspaper, an interview etc.

Example

see email project

If you would like to organize an e-mail project you could use the following scheme as a structuring help:

E-Mail projects are a good way to get your students become active, communicate with native speakers and gain media competence. I would do e-mail projects with my pupils if the right circumstances were given, for example a computer lab in school, pupils who are able to work independently etc. Of course, organizing such a project means a lot of work and takes a lot of time but if the school provides the required technical equipment and the pupils are open to such way of learning, then I would definitely include such projects in my lesson plans.

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