How often is the BICpals program run?
Since the program is only in a trial stage currently, we are not sure how often the program will run. It's likely there will be one theme for each semester starting with Alike and Different. We encourage teachers to keep the exchange of correspondence going even after the program ends.

What is the best way to compose our letters for e-mail exchange?
This really depends on what computer capabilities you have. Trekkers may want to exchange formatted documents with graphics or even HTML web pages as e-mail attachments. Navigators may want to compose their e-mail in a classroom setting together and then have the teacher or an assistant type the letter into the e-mail. Embarkers will most likely rely more heavily on a regular postal exchange of letter. Students here could be as creative as ever with pencil or crayon and paper.

What do we do if we receive a return or "bounced" e-mail?
If the return message says something to the effect of "Undeliverable," that means your partner teacher never received the message. You should contact him or here by another method as soon as possible and make sure you have the correct e-mail address. Certain e-mail systems will also let you know if they are having trouble sending a message, but have not yet given up. (Pretty smart aren't they?) This message might say something like "Message undeliverable for the last five hours." Usually this is just a warning. All you need do in this case is to check your email again later, to make sure you don't get another message that the message bounced. If you cannot attribute an e-mail problem to a wrong address or the like, contact your system administrator or Internet Service Provider and ask for help.

What if our e-mail address changes?
Just like when your phone number changes, you need to let the people who use your e-mail address know. Please contact your partner teacher and then let us know, so that we can update our database.

Still have a question? Click here.