Tips for Successful Exchanges

General Communication Tips

1. Time line for the project is clearly stated in your announcement for collaboration. This includes:
   1. beginning and ending dates for this project
   2. when participants can join and how they will be notified whether or not they have been selected to participate
   3. when registration for this project is closed
   4. when delivery of materials is due
2. Set up a mailing list so participants can easily communicate with each other
   1. check with your systems administrator to see if they can create a temporary mailing list for your project
   2. or, use other web resources to set up a mailing list:
      • Yahoo Groups
   3. you may want to set up a moderated mailing list so you can keep communication focused on this project
3. If possible, consider creating a unique email account while you are hosting this project
4. Send weekly email updates of the scheduled events for this project
5. Send personal "web postcards" to your participants:
   1. thanking them for their participation
   2. if you are celebrating a milestone in your project
   3. for general holiday cheer
   4. suggested sites to use:
      • 123 Greetings
      • Blue Mountain
      • Jan Brett's Postcards
      • Buddy Project Postcards
      • create your own personal webcards (ask your systems operator suggestions on how you can do this)
6. Make sure that you meet your promised deadlines
7. Don't fuss at your participants if they are unable to fulfill their promised information exchange. They may have a good reason why they are unable to.

Sharing Project Results

This is the culminating activity of your project. Deciding how you will share the results of the project will depend on how and what information is exchanged. Brainstorm with your class to decide the following:

1. What information do you want participating schools to share?
2. How will this information be delievered to you?
3. How will you share this information with all participants?

If you plan on publishing student work created by other schools, make sure that your participating classrooms have a publishing policy with parent and student's permission to post their work.