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Communicating with your team
Audio and video conferencing A video conference (also known as a video teleconference) is a set of interactive telecommunication technologies which allow two or more locations to interact via two-way video and audio transmissions simultaneously. (Wikipedia) Audio and video conferencing provides students with the opportunity to learn by participating in a two-way communication platform. This can also be a good way to introduce classes at the beginning of a project or discuss its outcomes at the end.
Other audio and video conferencing tools available via the internet include:
Electronic mail is a method of composing, sending, storing, and receiving messages over electronic communication systems (Wikipedia). Email allows for asynchronous communication and is often used in school projects. It can be used by teachers to plan the project but also by pupils to get to know their partners and to exchange information on the project. In case you need an email address, there are several international providers of free email services which we list below but you can surely find email providers at national level as well.
An internet forum is a web application for holding discussions and posting user-generated content. Forums differ from chat rooms and instant messaging because forum participants do not have to be online at the same time; forums also usually deal with one topic and personal exchanges are typically discouraged (Wikipedia). The forum is a very popular feature in a number of eTwinning projects. It allows pupils to go in depth in their discussions, take time to formulate and exchange their opinions on any topic. Teachers generally like to use forums because they can take the time to help pupils prepare for such debates in a foreign language and on challenging themes. Here are some examples of free forums available on the internet:
Instant messaging and chats are a form of real-time communication between two or more people based on typed text. Instant messaging offers real-time communication and allows easy collaboration, which might be considered more akin to genuine conversation than email's "letter" format. (Wikipedia) Teachers sometimes think that it is enough to have the pupils in front of the computers and chat with foreign partners. Unfortunately, this is often quite unsuccessful as pupils soon run out of vocabulary in a foreign language and topics to talk about. It is much better to carefully prepare the first chat sessions (e.g., the tandem method) and then informal chats between pupils can follow.
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