Pen Pals 2.0 - Afghanastan and Pakistan

Hi All, I am desperately looking to find resources for a semster long project to connect middle school students in the US with middle school students in Afghanastan and pakistan. We are using Greg Mortenson's book The Three cups of Tea to launch a discussion about education in these countries. I have created a wiki for our students to use as an avenue for a cultural exchange. However, I need English speaking students in Afghanastan and/or Pakistan that have classroom computers with internet access. Does anyone have any contacts for teachers in either of these two countries? Or websites that I can use to find middle school classrooms that would like to participate?

Thank you in advance

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Permalink Reply by Candace Townsley on August 24, 2009 at 6:02pm

Here is a website where you can post your request!
http://onlineproj4tchrs.ning.com/group/needapartner
Good luck!

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Permalink Reply by Eric Hamilton on August 25, 2009 at 6:23am

Thank you Candace. I will take a look at this site. It looks promising.

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Permalink Reply by Aaron Maurer on August 25, 2009 at 6:34am

I love your idea. If you have any success or find ways to create that communication I would love to know. This would be something that I would like to try. We have a couple teachers currently creating a curriculum to use this book in the classroom and the online collaboration would be the best way to really have this book make an impact. Good luck

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Permalink Reply by Jonah Salsich on August 25, 2009 at 8:53pm

Try ePals. But don't just post a profile and hope for responses. If you use the search option of "connect by map" and then select these countries, it will show you the most recent profiles first. These are the teachers who are most likely still looking for partners to collaborate with. Send requests to as many profiles as you think might match your needs and see what happens. Then try back in a week to check for new profiles in the countries. You could also post requests in the teachers forums.
EPals can be a fantastic resource, but I've found that you need to be very proactive for specific projects like yours.
Good luck!

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Permalink Reply by Eric Hamilton on August 28, 2009 at 10:15am

Great! Thank you. I will take a look.

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Permalink Reply by Chris Llewellyn on August 26, 2009 at 8:20am

Hey Eric,

You might like to have a look at www.rafi.ki, our online community for schools, we have many active schools from Pakistan, who use our site's safe online communication and project resources.

I am one of the facilitators so if I can help at all with your project, then please do let me know,

Cheers,

Chris

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Permalink Reply by Eric Hamilton on August 28, 2009 at 10:26am

Thank you. I just filled out the registration. I used your name as the reference. Hope that is OK.

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Permalink Reply by Dr. Rita Oates on August 26, 2009 at 10:48am

Relatively few classrooms in Afghanistan are capable of emailing. It's a country that still has few schools and few English speakers, for starters.
You will do better searching in Pakistan, which is more stable and also has some schools that teach English as a second language. Some of the Beaconhouse schools in Pakistan use ePals. (Beaconhouse schools are private schools that teach English and have some technology and a large presence in Pakistan.)

In ePals you could also search for students of Pakistani or Afghani heritage who are now in the US or UK or elsewhere outside of their home country.
Good luck!

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Permalink Reply by Eric Hamilton on August 28, 2009 at 10:15am

Thank you. After reading Greg Mortneson's book, I figured as much, but thought maybe there would beat at least one or two classes that had the capability. I have a contact in Tanzania, so I may look at other countries as well.