Level One

Level 1: Guide to International/ National Links

Information Exchange

Pen pal initiative, messages, letters, discussion forums, statistics; begin with a focus on tourism activity and facilities in the location of the respective partner schools

Student pen pal initiative through e-mail, personal letters or postcards; match up your students with key pals in other Academy schools nationally or internationally. Students can learn about other areas of the world or simply get to know other students through correspondence. This is especially attractive to language, history and geography classes.
Research destination characteristics and development, visitor statistics, marketing materials, role and status of regional tourist boards/offices, travel services (local retail travel agents, tour operators, transport companies, etc.)

Types of industry involvement in school/college courses in two locations. Who supports and how – exchange examples of good practice
Exchange of information about leisure and tourism facilities in the two locations, to enable comparisons of areas like marketing, customer care policy, and staff induction.

Ideas and expectation-setting to help make e-mail work…

Establish the school year ad holidays at each end and schedule mailings when school is in session at both ends. Establish the gender of a foreign teacher, if it is not apparent from the name, and how to address him or her.
Make a clear set of assignments and/or expectations from the project. Establish deadlines and protocols, such as how much personal correspondence, as opposed to assignment-based writing, will be allowed. This is important so that you and the students know what is expected.
To avoid the sending of offensive material either on purpose or inadvertently, and to ensure acceptable spelling and grammar, the safest and easiest way is to have students type their correspondence on a word processor and save it to disk or a central file. You send the file as an attachment or as a copy within the e-mail. You can filter out anything inappropriate and mail is then sent in controlled batches.
Do not disclose the other site’s e-mail address. It’s fine if the students want to write to each other using their own personal e-mail but keep the path from you to the other teacher confidential.
Pairing students is helpful, but be ready for the unexpected, such as a student dropping out.
Be aware of cultural differences and how to avoid serious gaffes. Students in a community which is culturally or religiously different from your own may be offended or may not understand certain references that you take for granted.

Onto Level 2