At Salisbury Middle School, students in Beth Prokesch's English class are using technology to connect with their ePals, the newer version of pen pals.

Last summer, Prokesch worked with ePals Corporation, an education media company and the leading Global Learning Network focused on the kindergarten through grade 12 market. ePals offers elementary and secondary school administrators, teachers, students and parents worldwide a safe and secure platform for building education communities.

After researching the site, Prokesch discovered the global community involved 200 countries and territories, it was safe and secure and was teacher monitored.

"I wanted to connect with classrooms globally and make learning real and engaging," Prokesch said.

She chose to connect with teacher Franca Fromia-Polignano A Mare in Italy, teacher Athanasia Domouhtsi-Serres in Greece and teacher Deborah Mitchell in New Zealand.

Prokesch's students researched the school's websites, the country, cuisine and sports and created slide shows and translations using ePals translation and Google translation tools.

"Students practiced different types of writing by exchanging emails and letters on a variety of topics, while practicing skills of collaboration and communication," Prokesch said. All of this while building friendships and learning about different cultures in the world.

Prokesch said the group also studied similarities and differences between Salisbury kids and the pals from Italy, Greece and New Zealand. "This was an aha moment for my students as they discovered the kids in other countries worry about many of the same issues they worry about in the United States," Prokesch said.

Students read nonfiction pieces on their area and wrote about it in their emails to their pals utilizing their writing and critical thinking skills. Prokesch said the entire project generated excitement about reading and writing.

"Kids wrote emails on their own without me assigning them! This is an English teacher's dream," Prokesch said.

At the end of the school year, Prokesch's classes had the opportunity to once again utilize technology by skyping their ePals in Italy. Skyping allows the students to see and talk to their ePals over the Internet. The opportunity to see their ePals was very exciting for the class. Because skyping is done over the Internet, there are no international dialing charges to the district.

The students discovered they had the same interests. Questions to the students in Italy such as favorite food (pizza) to their favorite sport (soccer) showed the students they really have much in common with students in other parts of the world.

"Skype provided a communication opportunity between students who speak different languages while creating a firsthand learning experience into another culture," Prokesch said. The project also helped students develop critical 21st Century skills necessary for their future.

Prokesch said the experienced enhanced and enriched her students' learning experience as well as her own.

"I am excited to plan an entire year of communication and skyping opportunities for the upcoming school year through the use of the ePals global community site. The site has also added a variety of Common Core activities for teachers to use with different assignments which will be helpful as SMS forges ahead with the application of new rigorous standards."