Global Frustration

My GAME plan goal is to become more globally connected within the teaching community. My action plan is to connect online with other teachers, communities and possibly other classrooms. I will also monitor these endeavors, recording the time I spend and what I am learning. I will spend time reflecting and evaluating my experiences (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009).
My first try to connect was seemingly successful. I found a teacher in Japan who wanted to correspond. Then I found out that she wanted to correspond via snail mail. This seemed okay at first until one of my Walden classmates, Williams (personal communication, July 14, 2011), mentioned I needed to check the cost. I went to the post office and found out that it will cost ninety-eight cents per ounce to send mail to Japan. This seems expensive, even if my class mails it all together, and it will also be very slow. I would rather find someone with whom I can email skype or chat.

Next, I began searching epals (http://www.epals.com) again. I had a difficult time finding a teacher with whom to collaborate online. Epals is 300+ pages of requests, takes a lot of time to read and few fit my needs. I posted a request with no takers as of yet. I wish epals had a way to search those ads. If they had a check box to fill out where you could check class age, country, etc., and then search by those criteria, it would be helpful. I have found a few people on epals and am waiting their responses to my requests. There is so much I want to do this year and I really want to find some collaboration with other teachers. If this does not work, maybe I can email my Walden class and connect with some of them for my collaboration. I had really hoped for some collaboration with someone of another culture, but maybe I need to take baby steps and be more patient.

I also tried edmodo (http://www.edmodo.com), which takes forever to get started. My first request for community was denied because they could not confirm I am a teacher. My second request took several days to process. It seems I waited weeks just to be able to join a community. I finally got confirmed as a teacher and was able to post my request. Within hours I had two teachers with jobs similar to mine excited about collaborating online. However, edmodo is not very user friendly and I cannot figure out how to respond to those two teachers. I tried everything. I know edmodo has a user’s guide somewhere, but I cannot figure out how to get to it. I finally posted on Walden’s Question and Answer board for my class. Maybe some of my classmates can help me. I also replied to my own post on edmodo asking for help. My hope is that someone will read it and give me the help I need to start communicating through edmodo.

Edmodo has some communities to join that I think will be very enlightening for me. I have joined the technology community and am considering joining the professional development community. I am sure these will be helpful and will provide what I need. I just need some help getting started. Also, I originally wanted to connect with a foreign country, however, the two responses I have in edmodo are in the United States. A Walden classmate, Pepper (personal communication, July 16, 2011) suggested I collaborate with teachers in America. I am taking her suggestion and refining my plan to any teacher who might have things in common with me.

Also, another Walden colleague, Withington (personal communication, July16, 2011) is also trying the same type of activity I am doing. I plan to email and see if we can collaborate as well. Perhaps we can email our parent forms for permission to let our students collaborate, talk about what we are learning, etc.

Cennamo, K., Ross, J. & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: A standards-based approach. (Laureate Education, Inc., Custom ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.