Video Pen Pals

Would your students enjoy exposure to their peers around the world? Do you believe your students could benefit from learning about other cultures or global issues? Would you like a program that develops presentation skills and critical thinking? Are you looking for something fun? If any of these apply, our Partnership program could be a great addition to your classroom.

Does your school put special emphasis on teaching global education? Do students have opportunities to engage with the rest of the world in their homeroom or specialized classes? Is your school looking to expand its global sister school network? If any of these apply, our Custom or Partnership program could be great additions to your school.

We do not have a fixed price for our program. Our costs depend on the duration of program, the number of classrooms, and the specifics of your relationship. Get in touch with us and we’ll help determine the program costs for you.

Our team is happy to conduct an individual phone call (or in-person visit) with anyone interested in our program. Send us a message to get in touch.

Our 2016-17 Partnership program begins in September and runs through April. Classrooms can enroll in the program for one or two years.

Trials or custom programs can begin at any point of the year, including over the summer. The length of a trial or custom program is determined based on your unique needs.

Using our video editing and sharing tools, most teachers spend a total of 30 minutes planning and recording a video or watching and discussing a response. We’ve developed a framework for a weekly exchange of videos, but the number of videos you send is ultimately up to you. Whether you choose to record 2 videos or 4 videos a month, our team is here to make it a quick and easy process. Teachers may spend an additional 10 minutes each week sending messages to their partner and our team members.

In the beginning of the program, you and your partner teacher will agree on a particular Topic Track that is aligned to your goals for the program. For example, you may wish to focus on global problem solving instead of cultural sharing. Each Track we provide contains an outline of topics and prompts to guide you throughout the conversation. Your class can also come up with your own prompts through the year to personalize the conversation further.

Video Pen Pals is not a program based on real-time video exchanges (Skype or Google Hangouts). Instead, we use asynchronous videos to create a learning experience that goes beyond what a classroom Skype session can provide. We want students to work together to plan their videos, record their experiences outside the classroom, and ultimately discuss and analyze what they’ve learned together. As an added bonus, there is no need to worry about poor internet connections or navigating time zone differences.

Next year, our primary partnerships are with schools and NGOs in India and the US. We are working to scale Video Pen Pals to other countries and have already piloted it in Canada and South Korea. If you have a particular connection in mind, please contact us about developing a custom program.

LumenEd has developed a web and mobile application to make the program simple and intuitive. The web app provides useful tools like messaging, a calendar and a video timeline and our app makes creating videos easy for anyone. Teachers don’t need to know how to use iMovie or other video editing tools to participate.

We require teachers have access to a smartphone or tablet to record videos, and projector or screen to watch videos. Teachers are also required to have internet to access videos, messages and other tools from our Web App.