I was thinking of an exciting and motivating way for my students to learn about cultures from around the world.  What better way than to actually “talk” with those people to get an accurate and understanding of their lives.  There is this site called epals that allows you to find other classrooms from around the room to communicate with through E-mails, blogs, video streaming, etc. 

The possibilities of infusing technology with epals is endless.    Imagine having your class learn how to create and manage blogs written to students across the world.  Technology aside, they will be practicing writing, editing and learning about different cultures all at the same time.   Instead of reading about these cultures in a text book, they can be asking those students from different countries what it is actually like. 

I have tried out the site and created an account.  You go through this lengthy process where you need to fill out a questionnaire based on your reasons for using the site.  Then you wait…and wait…and wait for another teacher around the world to contact you.  I have to admit that I was not very diligent with checking back to see if anyone was interested in communicating with my class.  Nevertheless, the site is a wonderful tool for stretching the creativity for current events and leaning about different cultures.