Using chat rooms and social networking sites in education

If I am lucky enough to work in a school where a second language is taught then I would love to work in conjunction with the language teacher in developing a penpal relationship with students in another class speaking the language who may also be trying to learn english. What better way to engage students and have them practice their language skills than by liasing with someone in another country.
Building a relationhip with a teacher/class in another country like this would open up countless opportunities for teaching focuses. The two classes could run projects in conjunction with each other rather than merely writing letters and practicing literacy and language skills. In integrating technology, students could move to to the use of web-cams to present information and share classrooms and culture even further than the written word.
In assisting the learning of a second language students could almost work together to teach other and run activities and groups to help each other learn.

Using the resources and teachers skills in your school (like a language teacher) is one of the most valuable messages I have taken on board to assist and benefit my teaching. A closer relationship with a language teacher means that students are not only making use of the language they learn in 1-2 lessons a week but that some of this practice may continue to be used in the classroom.