Many of the resources I found while searching for news and reviews of EPals.com came from what I like to call topic-specific news sources. The sites provide information about technology designed for educational purposes. This entry will examine an article from the site www.mmischols.com, or MultiMedia and Internet@Schools.
Article: (2009). EPals Connects African Classrooms with Schools Worldwide. MultiMedia & Internet@Schools, 15(3). Retrieved from http://www.mmischools.com/Articles/ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=13777.
Article synopsis: This article recapped a visit from the EPals co-founder to the eLearning Africa conference in Ghana that focused on ICTs in development, education and training. The conference is held each year with the purpose of connecting leaders, educators and technology providers to build relationships that will foster technology development in Africa. The EPals co-founder's visit was meant to show conference attendees how EPals.com's "collaborative technologies help schools make global project connections to improve critical digital literacy and 21st century skills."
The "Resource Review" verdict: At first, I was afraid the article was merely accessing another piece of propaganda literature to highlight the free pen-pal and project sharing services available for schools in Africa through EPals.com. However, I found the article surprisingly different from other sources I have researched thus far. Its foundation on an actual event that was meant to be educational, not so much promotional, about EPals.com enhanced its status as a significant piece of media communication intended to provide the MMI community with a factual perspective on efforts to encourage use of the website's services.
So in closing...: I think topic-specific sites about certain technologies are very useful for anyone, whether educator, parent or otherwise interested individual. Rather than providing a summary of certain technologies' "About Us" info, these articles focus on news surrounding the technologies' promotion, implementation and everyday use. This type of news isn't the sort you will find on most - if any - sites elsewhere, and even if it is, it would take some committed searching to find it amidst other more "newsworthy" stories. So for those looking for this sort of information, topic-specific sites are the go-to place to get what you need.
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