In Wilsall, students lived in a Rocky Mountain town of about 200 people with one general store. Little Wound students came from the Pine Ridge Sioux reservation in one of the poorest counties in the United States. Although the three of us were all familiar with computers and word processing, we had varying degrees of experience with electronic networks. It is not necessary to know intimately how a modem works if you have access to someone, another teacher or a student, who can help send and receive messages. It is crucial to agree on a common schedule, one that is both very carefully planned and flexible.
Students depend on timely responses to their mail.
The central goal of the project was to improve writing skills. We did this by creating a situation where students were motivated to write to real readers. Other goals were to increase awareness of writing as a situation, to increase confidence in writing and communicating, and to increase knowl- edge and understanding of the cultures and histories of different American communities. At the end of the course, almost all of my students agreed that they were more aware of cultural differences in the United States and had learned not only about Wilsall and Little Wound, but also more about their own community. But I feel that I have learned something valuable to me along with improving my writing.