We live in a time when it is easier then ever to bring students from vastly different places and cultures together with technology. A listserv I am on has been discussing good resources to accomplish this connecting.

Here are the resources to date:

http://www.epals.com/ ePALS Classroom Exchange® maintains the Internet’s largest community of collaborative classrooms engaged in cross-cultural exchanges, project sharing and language learning.

http://www.iearn.org/ Started in 1988, iEARNis the world’s largest non-profit global network that enables teachers and young people to use the Internet and other new technologies to collaborate on projects that both enhance learning and make a difference in the world.

http://www.gsn.org/index.html Global SchoolNet Foundation (GSN), founded in 1984 by teachers who believed that in a connected world students need a global perspective, brings together youth online from 194 countries to explore community, cultural and scientific issues that prepare them for the workforce and help them to become responsible and literate global citizens. Global SchoolNet’s free membership program provides project-based learning support materials, resources, activities, lessons and special offers from Global SchoolNet partners.

http://www.iecc.org/ IECC is a free service to help teachers link with partners in other cultures and countries for email classroom pen-pal and other project exchanges. Since its creation in 1992, IECC has distributed over 28,000 requests for e-mail partnerships.

http://www.creativeconnections.org/classroom_connection/ Classroom Connections, the flagship program of Creative Connections, features the formation of “sister class” partnerships between 8-to-18-year-old students from the United States and countries around the world. Students in the paired classes share with one another their way of life first through the creation of letter and video scrapbooks. And new this year, all participating teachers and students will have the opportunity to exchange ideas and insights with one another on our specially designed ExchangeOnline Website.