This document provides guidance for students to create email accounts to communicate with pen pals. It outlines the steps for setting up a Gmail account, including getting parental permission to share limited personal information. Students are instructed to only include their name, age, gender, and discuss as a class what private information should not be shared online for digital security. Creating email accounts allows students to connect with others, join online communities, and facilitates relationship building with pen pals while following guidelines for appropriate online sharing.

1. Creating an E-mail account to keep in
contact with a Pen Pal
• Students will have permission from parents about giving out
personal information such as, name, age and gender
• http://www.theteacherscorner.net/penpals/
• NB: Teacher to use this site in order to help find a country to
PenPal
• Whanaungatanga is the idea of creating relationships, through
this activity students are creating relationships with Pen Pals.
But this E-mail address may be used for other things in the
future, such as communicating with parents (Ministry of
Education, 2011).

2. • Give students the opportunities as groups to
discuss information that they think will be
appropriate to share with any website online.
E.g. Name, age, gender, photos, phone
numbers, address
• Have a class discussion about the information
that we share online.

3. Links to the New Zealand Curriculum:
• E-learning and Pedagogy
assist the making of connections by enabling students to enter and explore new
learning environments, overcoming barriers of distance and time
facilitate shared learning by enabling students to join or create communities of
learners that extend well beyond the classroom
assist in the creation of supportive learning environments by offering resources that
take account of individual, cultural, or developmental differences
enhance opportunities to learn by offering students virtual experiences and tools that
save them time, allowing them to take their learning further
assist the making of connections by enabling students to enter and explore new
learning environments, overcoming barriers of distance and time
facilitate shared learning by enabling students to join or create communities of
learners that extend well beyond the classroom
assist in the creation of supportive learning environments by offering resources that
take account of individual, cultural, or developmental differences
enhance opportunities to learn by offering students virtual experiences and tools that
save them time, allowing them to take their learning further (Ministry of Education,
2007).

4. Possible activities to do to introduce
the lesson:
• Compare Letters and Emails using a P.M.I
chart
• Why would we use an Email over using a
letter? Convenience?
• Discuss the time it would take a letter to get to
somewhere compared to an Email
• How are people’s lives changed because of
Email?
• How easy is it to access an Email?

5. 1. Students to search gmail in their
google tab
2. Screen will open
up to look like this
3. Press the “Create an
account” button

6. Students are required to enter in first and last names.
You will get a sheet of paper with your username and password on it. Your birthday must be
entered, but only if your parents have signed consent for this information.
By having parents
consent to their
children including their
birthday and names on
this site, it fits in with
Ribbles Principle of
Digital Security (Ribble,
2008-2009). Another
aspect that fits in with
this principle is, that
students need to
ensure that they are
keeping their password
to themselves and not
sharing it with their
friends.

7. Enter in your gender, but you do not have to enter in a mobile number or current email address.
Why is it important that we don’t give this information away?
At the bottom of this page, there is a prompt to enter in the number or word on
the screen, do this and you can use the sound button if you have trouble
hearing. Location is automatically entered. If you have consent from parents you
can tick the “I agree” box, as this information has been discussed between the
parents and children, when this is complete, press the “Next Step” button.

8. Example of Information being added

9. Press the “No thanks” button, as we
are not going to be adding photos of
ourselves

10. Your account has been made!
This is
where your
email
address can
be found
Press here to
continue to
our account

11. This is your home screen for your
gmail account
Use the red
button to start
an email

12. This is the side panel of your account.
Inbox- This is where all your emails will be stored.
The number next to it tells you how many unread
emails you have.
Starred- This is where you can store important
emails.
Sent box- You will be able to view the items you
have sent in here.
Drafts- If you have written an email, but don’t have
time to finish or send the email, you can save it to
your drafts folder and it will be there for you to
complete when you have the time.

13. Click Compose message to start your new
email
This will pop up and you are ready to start
writing the E-mail.
In the “To:” column you write the E-mail
address of the person that you are mailing.
In the “Subject:” column you write the idea
that you are talking about. E.g if you are
writing your first letter to someone you might
put in the subject column- Hi From Ashley

14. References:
Google (Ed.). (2014). Gmail. Retrieved October 23, 2014,
from https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/
?pli=1#inbox
Ministry of Education, (2007).The New Zealand
Curriculum. Wellington; Learning Media.
Ministry of Education, (2001). Tātaiako: Cultural
Competencies for teachers of Māori Learners.
Wellingotn; Learning Media
Ribble, M. (2008-09). Passport to Digital Citizenship.
Journey toward appropriate technology use at school
and at home. Learning and leading with technology.
December/January. 14-17