LC Virtual Exchange Document - Flipbook - Page 13
Stepaside Educate Together Secondary School, Co Dublin
We started this project with 5th Year students but it is hoped that it will become a whole school exchange in the
future. The aims of the virtual exchange are to motivate students, to bring the country of the target language
into the classroom, to share cultural perspectives and gain linguistic improvement.
Initially, in September we had a call through Teams with the Spanish Department in our chosen partner school.
We exchanged emails with their lead teacher regarding with which group we would start. Unfortunately, he
became ill in December but we still managed to have everything arranged before Christmas. We used Wakelet
after consulting with Gloria Enrique. It proved to be too complicated to open files, seek permissions etc. but the
students did make introductory videos and attempted to upload them.
After Christmas, we had email exchanges with a new lead teacher and set up a Google classroom. We had a
Zoom call organised for last Monday but disaster struck as we got the hours mixed up!
As mentioned, we used Wakelet but experienced some difficulties. We also used Google Classroom but this is
complicated because we are an MS Office school. It was, however a useful experience and we have learnt the
importance of discussing and trialling the technology before getting the students started to avoid similar
problems.
We discovered that the administration aspect was quite time-consuming: seeking permissions; organising class
time; finding a partner etc. So, we decided that we would prefer to do the exchanges outside of timetabled hours
– either before or after school.
Despite all this, we remain enthusiastic about the project and assume it will get easier every year as we develop
it.
Catherine McAuliffe,
Spanish teacher, Stepaside Educate Together Secondary School
Good Luck!
Viel Glück!
Bonne chance !
Buena suerte!
In bocca al lupo!
がんばろう
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