Going International

The 8th grade students today learned what it means to connect across the world. I told them they were going to talk in a foreign language to a restaurant in any foreign country about something on their menu, all today. They doubted.
They:
- used Google Maps to find a restaurant and Phone # (gMaps because it lists restaurants in a nice organized format with websites)
- Used Google Translate to read about the menu choices. Also gTranslate to learn how to ask a simple question like "What is the cost of _____?" The translation can then be played by a computer voice out loud so the students can memorize their sentences and correct pronunciation.
- Used my extra Skype credits (I bought $10 worth for calling home from England while metal detecting last year) to dial the phone number
- Before the first students called to Frankfurt, Germany I had $9.48 in Skype. After the call I had $9.42. Now that's cheap international calling rates.
- We'll let each group (3 students) make a call during this week. This demonstrates the way technology flattens the Earth, and shrinks it, allowing almost anyone to communicate as if they are calling a neighbor.