Kidlink


 * __Kidlink __** – http://www.kidlink.org/kidspace/index.php

When I clicked “Kidlink”, a world of opportunities opened at my fingertips. This website is an amazing tool for teachers and students to communicate with classrooms across the globe. The Kidlink Project is run by the Kidlink Association, a newly created non-commercial, user-owned organization in Sweden. The goals of this organization include: (1) to help children understand their possibilities, (2) help children set goals for life, and (3) help children develop life-skills. This program is open for all children in any country under age 15. Currently, this website is used by children from 176 countries.

(1) Resources links and/or class examples About Kidlink - http://www.kidlink.org/kidspace/start.php?HoldNode=26745 Membership information - http://www.kidlink.org/kidspace/start.php?HoldNode=26749 Sample projects: [|Response] [|The LandmarkGame] [|Describe yourself, your partner will draw you] [|Draw a Story for me] [|MCC] [|Hunt for country Capitals] [|ECards]

(2) SWOT (a) Strengths ·  FREE ·  Cross-globe classroom collaboration ·  Awareness of outside cultures, traditions and schooling ·  Promotes global dialog among the youth of the world ·  "The Kidlink Projects” are created and developed through an international collaboration of volunteers and are offered to schools, organizations and youth around the world for free Do not need to sign up to explore: can log in as guest Allows children to share their work with others and leave feedback for others

(b) Weaknesses ·  US classrooms would be limited to countries that speak English, Italian, Japanese, Swedish (unless using this in a language course) –the website does not have a language conversion tool for other languages. ·  <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">The Kidlink projects are currently limited to 4 languages: English, Italian, Japanese, Swedish Only available for children up to age 15 Spanish projects are not available, making it difficult for students who do not speak English and not practical for Spanish class Not all ongoing projects are available in English Some projects contain registration deadlines and are not available year around Some projects require the teacher to apply in order to participate, so children cannot choose to participate on their own time <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> (c) Opportunities · <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Motivate student learning by helping teachers relate local curriculum guidelines to students' personal interests and goals · <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Opportunity to collaborate with 176 different countries Opportunity to collaborate with teachers and students from other countries on challenges and mutual projects Opportunity to share project ideas and teaching techniques with education professionals

(d) Threats · <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">The amount of time this would take for teachers to learn the program and incorporate it into their classroom. · <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Students would be required to take turns using the computer during class, thus limiting the amount of time spent with students from other countries Very time consuming for the teacher and students in terms of set up Child Safety: children can share personal information with a "guest"

(3) Ideas for the classroom Kidlinks has projects already set-up for the classroom and these projects collaborate with classrooms speaking English, Spanish, Japanese and Swedish. This will allow multicultural classroom collaboration, and make it easy for teachers and students to communicate with other students from across the globe. I think an excellent project would involve a “getting to know your foreign student friend”, sort of like the old-fashioned foreign pen pals. Students will develop questions to ask about their foreign students’ culture, schools, holidays, religion, country, etc. Then, the students would present their new friend on a designated day. It would be especially fun (and technologically advanced) if the students presented using Flixin, Kadoo, PodCasting, or something similar to present live presentations of their new friends.

Another great activity could involve preservation of the environment. Students could collaborate from across the globe on strategies to improve environmental conditions and perhaps create a classroom campaign. This activity could serve as a way for students to serve as advocates for the environment and set goals for themselves in regards to being “green”.

Students could form a literature club where they share critiques of books from their country that they've read

Students could take photographs and write creative stories based on the images to share with others.