An email link can be conducted in the same way as a postal link for class groups and individual penfriends. It has significant speed and cost advantages.

However, computers can offer many other dimensions to a link:

• Creating/exchanging PowerPoint presentations. Don’t forget, these can include video and sound clips as well as text and photographs.
• Designing a webpage for your partner. This might comprise of introductions to pupils or the school. Some schools have used webpages to set interactive quizzes for their partners.
• Using digital cameras or a web cam to show daily life. Digital photographs can be emailed easily. Web cams have the same time-difference problems as video-conferencing, but seem to have fewer compatibility problems. Use of this option is still in its early stages – do let us know how you get on!
• Using drawing and word-processing programmes.  Pupils can exchange art works, stories and poems. Joint arts projects can involve pupils at one school finishing work started by pupils at the other.

As well as a general structured online exchange, Japan UK LIVE! can offer you a private area in which to work with your partner school. In the Project Pages area, you will be given your own talkboard to use to plan your link. You can set up a collaboration with your link school on any subject you choose and pupils can work with their partners to create a joint website showing what they have found out.

Where necessary, The Japan Society can provide language support for schools using Project Pages talkboards. Please contact Heidi Potter for more information about this.