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Empatico
Pros: Excellent teacher resources help provide a head start in creating meaningful exchanges.
Cons: Because of time zone differences, connecting live with another classroom across the globe might be challenging.
Bottom Line: Teachers will find almost everything they need to create the opportunity for meaningful exchanges with students from faraway places.
Empatico is a free platform for classrooms around the world to connect through video exchanges. Teachers can add information such as student ages and dates they're available -- as well as pick some of Empatico's prebuilt activities -- to get matched with another teacher. Once matched, chat with your partner teacher to prepare for an upcoming session, and provide photos and videos of your class if desired. Also, to make sure you're not caught off guard, check out the teacher resources that provide tips on intercultural experiences and how to set up your room.
Most important, be mindful of why you're using Empatico and how you plan on assessing learning. Students need to be aware of expectations up front, and there should be enough time given for reflection afterward. In addition to any content they might be learning, students can use Empatico to practice communication skills and possibly to reflect on the social and emotional learning (SEL) that's happening in areas such as empathy, self-control, and humility.
Empatico is a platform that allows teachers to connect their students to other classrooms around the world. After signing up, teachers set up their profile with information about their students' ages, location, availability, and classroom language (English, Spanish, or both). Then teachers wait for a match. Once a matching teacher has been identified, the two teachers can communicate through messaging, photos, videos, or live video calls, all on the platform. Ideally, teachers work toward scheduling a live video session during which their students can meet each other and exchange ideas and experiences. If teachers aren't quite sure what to do with the students, there's a large activity library with lots of ideas. Many lesson plans have instructions on how to prepare students for their exchange and what to do during the live video call with the partner classroom, as well as suggestions for reflection afterward. Some suggest using additional resources such as Kahoot, or slideshow presentations. Continue with as many live or recorded exchanges as both teachers want. If teachers want a new classroom, they can end their match and wait to be assigned a new one.
Empatico takes the pen pal tradition into the 21st century -- and makes it easy to connect your classroom with others, near or far. Pretty much all the tools teachers would need are right there at their fingertips, from finding a partner classroom to communicating to lesson planning. The one missing piece might be assessment: Teachers will need to decide on their own how they'll gauge and evaluate what their students have gotten out of the experience. The chances for success in finding a good match is very much dependent on variety of teachers who decide to sign up; of course, the more buy-in there is, the better each teacher's chances are of finding a great match. Though it offers most of the tools teachers could need, the success of any exchange also depends on how well those teachers are able to collaborate and facilitate a meaningful experience. In fact, the biggest hiccup might be difficulties in finding a time when two classrooms on opposite sides of the globe can both have students in the classroom to participate in a live session, though asynchronous experiences are also possible. Overall, the potential for growth is really high when students are able to make connections with other students and explore what's similar and what's different about their lives.
Learning Rating
Community Rating
Excellent resource! High value for students with low teacher prep!
Well, I love this resource. First off-it's free, it's easy to use, the resources and prep are already developed and the kids love it. The most important thing is that the students (and the teachers) learn so much by talking and sharing with another class from far away. We had so many rich conversations with our partner classes and then reflecting with our own class.
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