Skype & Global Cooperation

I think a cool project idea would be to link two target language classrooms using Skype. Skype is a tool that facilitiates video chats for FREE around the world.

In my experience my students have always taken quite an interest in gestures of the target culture. For some reason they love to know those little gestures that kids their age in other cultures use everyday, such as if you don't believe someone, you're bored, you're angry, etc.

Using ePals, I would find a classroom of native Spanish-speakers learning English who were around the same age and language level as my students. My classroom could research and discuss with the Spanish-speaking classroom some of their typical gestures and vice versa, maybe in small groups, each with a different theme or gesture. They could use wikis, ePals, or even Skype to exchange information, learn about, and practice these gestures and plan a short role-play presentation showing what these gestures would look like in the target culture. Then, we could Skype each classroom to have students from both countries see live student presentations of these gestures in role-play scenarios.

The possibilities really are endless with the global cooperation tools and all the technology we have at our fingertips!