What ever happened to a good old fashioned pen pal?

This article is about a group of students from California who interact online with a group of students from Japan with the intention of building relationships with one another prior to meeting.  They do this on-line in a virtual reality "world" called Second Life.

Basically, they create this "island" and the students meet up there and collaborate to build their island's environment.  On the island they can share videos they've made as well as photos and have on-line discussions and chats.  The goal of this project is for the students to build relationships with one another before an actual student exchange.  Some of the students from California are traveling to Japan and some of the Japanese students are traveling to California. 

Not only was relationship building a goal, but teachers also hoped it would strengthen the student's second language skills.  The students whose second language skills were stronger were more apt to enjoy the interaction than those students for whom it was more difficult to communicate.

The Second Life website seemed to be quite inspirational for the students as they build their island and interacted with one another.

Personally, I think that this is an interesting way to utilize technology.  Especially when teaching a lesson about another culture or people group.  Having the opportunity to have real conversations with people who a student is studying will provide practical and personal experiences that will help make the lessons richer and more interesting to the students.

However, I still believe that getting mail (like in the mailbox at your house) is one of the most simple and exciting thrills.  How amazing to think a letter traveled around the world to get into a student's hands.  I understand that this process is much slower than the virtual worlds, but it is equally more tangible and provides a sort of souvenir of the relationship.  I would like to couple the on-line conversation with good old fashioned pen pal relationships.  Writing letters and receiving them is a lost art; how much more rich could the experience be with that added touch.

Badaeker, R. (3/21/2007). Student, Exchange, Without the Jetlag:  Educational Collaboration in a Virtual World. Edutopia. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/student-exchange-without-jet-lag