In the past we have covered several resources on student blogging such as guides for teachers and blogging platforms. It’s truly something that we, here at TTB, feel is one of the next giant leaps in education. The ability to provide students with a global audience for their creative and analytical thoughts can provide an impact that is extremely hard to accomplish within the four walls of any school building. With that in mind, it was exciting to sit down with E-Pals’ Rita Oates, their Vice President of Education.

Nearly a decade ago E-Pals had a vision for connecting educators and classrooms that were literally a world apart. They provided a way for teachers to sign their classroom up and connect, allowing students to discuss real life cultural values and happenings with students that lived in areas that most would never even have the chance to visit. Valuable. Case studies began to confirm their beliefs that giving students this real world opportunity was priceless to their development, both as global citizens and writers. And if this were the only feature that the modern day version of E-Pals had to offer, it would be worth mentioning. But they have grown to offer quite a bit more.

The company no longer only supports just a means of connection. They now provide the tools to do it at no cost to the school. Recently they have incorporated a blogging and email platform that boasts some incredible security features. With these tools, classroom can connect in a safe way that provides a teacher a way to monitor every activity that happens. Emails and blogs can be filtered through the teacher before being sent or published, and blogs can be set to a number of security settings. These settings insure that only the appropriate people see the information and keep students protected like few programs that we have covered. And they do it for free.

These days security is high on any school’s agenda. Since most are wanting to equip their students with the appropriate 21st century skills in a safe environment, this would definitely be something worth checking out.