Science, ICT, and the Global Classroom

Cross-posted from my personal blog at mgraffin.edublogs.org

Last weekend, I presented the Dinner Keynote at the Science Teachers’ of Western Australia conference, exploring the topic: Science, ICT, and the Global Classroom: Exploring the Possibilities.

Science, ICT, & the Global Classroom (#CONSTAWA33 Dinner Keynote) from Michael

Our Challenge: Engaging Students in Science

As a primary school teacher & global education specialist, being asked to present to secondary science teachers was an interesting experience

The central theme of the presentation focussed on the use of technology to enable teachers and students Engage, Connect, Communicate, and Collaborate in secondary Science – via connections with external organisations, experts, and science educators around Australia, and around the world.

Building Bridges with REAL Science

My most memorable science teachers were those who were passionate about their subject, and who went out of their way to CONNECT their students to REAL science. As was posited to me on the night, these connections should, and indeed MUST begin, in the primary school classroom, but I was interested in exploring the possibilities at the secondary level.

You DON”T have to be an Expert (when you’re part of a community)

I was also very keen to point out that teachers don’t have to be ICT experts to engage & connect their students in Science. The keys to success lie in keeping an open mind, and and being willing to learn and collaborate with colleagues and experts beyond your classroom walls through engaging in online communities, such as the Scootle Community and Twitter.

I finished up by sharing a crowd-sourced Google Doc, containing links and ideas for Secondary Science teachers interested in exploring the possibilities of ICT and global connections in their teaching. You can access (and contribute) to that document via the short link: http://bit.ly/CONSTAWA2013.

Post Conference Reflections

I was rather pleased with the reception I received at the CONSTAWA Conference. It was rather challenging to walk into an unfamiliar conference audience, but the feedback was very positive.

I’ve learnt a great deal through the experience … not just about how much work and preparation goes into these kind of presentations, but how I can personally integrate ICT and global connections into my own Science teaching in the future. The connections I’ve made … the lessons I’ve learned … will help me a great deal when I eventually find my own space and own classroom – one day.

Thank you to the long list of teachers, scientists, and experts who helped make this presentation possible. I am indebted to you – for your support … and inspiring example of what is possible when you ‘explore the possibilities’ of Science, ICT, and the Global Classroom.

Offering Choices – for Students and Teachers

Ways to offer students choices was the theme of Session #4 of the Virtual Book Club! If you weren’t able to join us, listen to the recording here: Virtual Book Club Feb 18th/19th and please share your thoughts on this blog: Virtual Book Club. We have been reading and discussing Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds by Julie Lindsay and Vicki Davis  and our focus this time was Chapter Seven (Choice) and Chapter Eight (Creation).

We began with some great comments:

• @Durff shared that she tells students on 1st day that they are all intelligent (Gardner), it is her job to find out how to make them shine
• Jim shared that he believes teachers should be helping students learn, not giving them the answers
• Laurel mentioned that some students need content delivered directly from teachers before they are able to make choices in the classroom (and shared an interesting book: Why Students Don’t Like School?)
• Monica added that she likes to model how she learns so that students feel comfortable making mistakes in her classroom

We also struggled with considering how teachers can create choices in the classroom in a time of standardization and high-stakes testing (at least in the United States).

• Paul shared that part of personalizing the classroom is establishing relationships with students – it isn’t just about content, it is about connecting
• Michelle talked about the need to let teachers have choice as well – when something is working, having the freedom to pursue it, not have to stay lock-step with a scripted program
• Elena introduced the idea “of individual teachers being ‘experts’ with specific tools and working collaboratively with their peers is a more manageable and realistic approach for interdisciplinary teams.”

https://saveourrhinos.wikispaces.com/

We also shared our own struggles and challenges with creating and maintaining electronic spaces for learning with choice in mind. We all agreed that monitoring electronic spaces are difficult to maintain and that we would love to have ongoing eportfolios that follow students through their years of learning in a school (Google Sites, KidBlog, Evernote, Weebly and even PhotoStory were shared as ideas). We debated a bit about how to choose new tools – what is trendy, and what is trendy with a purpose? Paul raised a great point about involving students in planning electronic spaces and many shared stories about ways they’ve done this.  As part of this, we also wondered how to make sure more students have access to technology beyond the classroom.

From there, we talked about how to structure learning experience that offer students ways to make meaning. Rocky shared the idea of students meeting with teachers to create useful materials for them and Robyn shared a bit about a project her students are doing to save rhinos! Interestingly, we found we have less experience offering students chances to invent or build. It would be fun to talk more about how we could build these concepts into our teaching more.

We ended by trying out the break-out room feature in Blackboard Collaborate. I guess I modeled the idea of the “teacher” not being perfect but willing to take risks since I had no idea how it would work! Thanks to everyone who was there for humoring me and experimenting along with me.  I think we’ll try these small groups again next time with a focus question. Big virtual hugs to @Durff for telling me more about how to use this effectively at future sessions. And my apologies for those of you listening to the recording since there will be a long pause when you are listening (another important aspect of this tool for me to understand!).

Thank you again for everyone that participated. I’m reminded of the quote by C. S. Lewis cited on page 34 of this book:

The next best thing to being wise oneself is to live in a circle of those who are.

Thank you for being in my circle and adding to my wisdom! And to Mara for agreeing to co-moderate. If anyone is interested in co-moderating next time, please leave a comment or send me an email, I’d love your help!

Our next meeting will be Monday, March 4th at 7:30pm EST (that’s Tuesday, March 5th at 12:30am GMT). For your time zone, click here. We will be discussing Chapters Nine and Ten – Celebrating, Designing, and Managing Global Collaborative Projects. Hope to “see” you there!

KNOCK Those Classroom Walls DOWN!

WAIT a minute … before you take that TOO seriously, PLEASE continue reading. Put that sledge hammer down … we’re not talking demolition … we’re talking global connections! That’s right … you can’t BUILD global connections without FLATTENING those CLASSROOM walls!

There is something SO empowering when students feel personally invested in their learning journey!

This month, our #globalclassroom chat will focus on the POWER of blogging with your students. We are SO fortunate to be teaching in an age when the SKY is the LIMIT with technology. Skype has become a staple in MANY classrooms. No longer are BOOKS our sole way of learning about the world … and, while relying on Google to enrich our inquiries is STILL important, we are NOW able to connect in REAL time with others around the world. This ability to connect synchronously and asynchronously, collaborating with other classes on the other side of the WORLD, has changed our learning FOREVER. We are NO longer just learning ABOUT the world. We are in an age where we are learning WITH the world.

Writing for authentic reasons creates MAGIC moments when your students chant “We should BLOG about this!”

Some things to think about PRIOR to our February chat:

• Why is blogging a valuable tool for connecting and sharing global inquiries with a global audience?
• What skills can students develop by sharing their learning with a global audience?
• If you don’t have access to an NGO, (Non-Government Organization), where do you find collaboration opportunities? How can you find projects to join?
• How can you create you OWN inquiry to share?
• How do you fit it into EVERYTHING else you need to accomplish in a day?
• How do you come up with “post” ideas for your blog?
• What are some resources you use? Books? Sources of inspiration?
• How do you address digital citizenship? Global citizenship? Online safety?
• How do you attract readers to your classroom blog?

If you are interested in learning more about flattening YOUR walls and creating a global classroom for your students, you should DEFINITELY check out the Global Classroom Wiki and the Global Classroom Blog! This learning community is ALL about sharing and mentoring, and there are projects already on the go to help you get your feet wet or to continue to enrich you and your students’ learning journeys! TRUST me … once you START blogging with you students, connecting and learning WITH the world and no longer just ABOUT the world, you will NEVER look back!

After you’re done checking out THOSE awesome resources, mark the February #globalclassroom chat on your CALENDAR! See the times below … we’re looking forward to CONNECTING with you!

Chat 1 – Saturday – February 9th (10:00 GMT)

• 10AM London, 3.30PM New Delhi, 6PM Perth, 9PM Sydney (AEDT), 11PM Auckland
• Click here to find out when this is in YOUR timezone. 

Chat 2 – Saturday – February 9th (19:00 GMT) 

• 11AM Los Angeles, 2PM New York, 7PM London, 9PM Cape Town,
• 8AM SUNDAY – Auckland
• Click here to find out when this is in YOUR timezone.

Chat 3 – Saturday – February 9th / Sunday – February 10th (02:00 GMT) 

• Saturday night – 6PM Los Angeles, 9PM New York
• Sunday – 7.30AM New Dehli, 10AM Perth, 1PM Sydney, 3PM Auckland
• Click here to find out when this is in YOUR timezone

Launching The Global Classroom Mentors Project

After several months in the making, it’s time to formally launch the new Global Classroom Mentors project, fulfilling a key goal of Global Classroom 2012-13. 

We know what it’s like to get started with ICT and global projects … It can be a very difficult, challenging road; yet almost all of us have been informally mentored along the way.

Connecting and working with an experienced mentor makes a HUGE difference, and this is something we are hoping to share more widely through our new Mentor Teacher Contact Directory; helping teachers new to ICT and global projects find a source of support and guidance as they embark on their global journeys.

The directory, which can be accessed via our project wiki, is designed to help teachers find a mentor who works in a similar grade level and time-zone. You can connect with a mentor through email, Skype, Twitter; and request advice or assistance in areas where you need support. It could be a one-off contact, or the start of a long-term relationship – it depends on your learning needs and preferences.

We are also delighted to announce the addition of an online mentoring community group, run by Keith Tompkins from @Groups4Schools, which you can join here.

Do you have skills, or need support in these areas? 

Global Connections & Collaboration 

• Designing Global Projects
• Digital Handshakes
• Project Management Tools
• Personal Learning Networks
• Digital Citizenship
• Project Celebration

ICT Skills

• Use of ICT in Early Childhood
• Multimedia (Video, Audio projects)
• Skype / Video-Conferencing
• Blogging
• Wikis
• Edmodo

Can you help? 

If you’d like to become a Mentor, please register your interest here. All you need is a little experience, and a willingness to share.

We’d really appreciate it if you’d help spread the word through your social networks, and you are most welcome to add our Mentor’s Badge (above) to your blog / website. Please include a link to this post, or the permanent Global Classroom Mentors page. Thank you!

Do you need some advice or support to get started with global collaboration?

We’re here to help1 You can join the @Groups4Schools community, and access our Mentors Directory via our Global Classroom 2012-13 wiki – following the instructions here. (You will need to join the wiki to access!).  You can contact a potential mentor via email, Skype, or Twitter, and go from there.

If you have any questions, please send us an email at globalclassroomorganisers AT gmail.com.

January #globalclassroom Chat Reflections: a HUGE Celebration of Collaboration and Community!

Photo shared by the Global Grade 3s.

#globalclassroom Vision: to uphold our new class motto: we learn WITH the world, not just ABOUT the world.

— brette lockyer (@brettelockyer) January 13, 2013

It’s hard to believe that the January #globalclassroom chats have already come and gone! The new schedule proved to be a huge success, with all three chats occurring within a 24 hour period. Although it was certainly a celebration, it was a powerful work party as well.

It was a WONDERFUL opportunity for participants to share their  highlights and SUCCESSES in a #globalclassroom as well as some of the FROGS that @iEARNUSA got us thinking about and sharing during the December “Eat that Frog” discussion. This specific “frog” chat was a highlight for MANY!

@rentonl A1: My favorite chat was about eating frogs! Overcoming the obstacles that get in the way of global activities. #globalclassroom

— Louise Morgan (@MrsMorgansClass) January 13, 2013

@rentonl My students learn as much when things don’t go as planned and that happens a lot. They roll with it now. LOVE THEM #globalclassroom

—Karen Lirenman (@KLirenman) January 13, 2013

Several fantastic suggestions were shared for future chats and have been saved in order to guide our journey going forward. Please remember that this is ALWAYS a working “document” of sorts, morphing and changing with the needs of our #globalclassroom participants. If you think of a topic that you would like to see explored you are urged to share it on the wiki or to contact @mgraffin!

@rentonlIdea for #globalclassroom – sharing literature to enhance global understanding

— brette lockyer (@brettelockyer) January 13, 2013

As I said this afternoon, would like to hear about international cross-curricular projects. #globalclassroom

— José Popoff (@JosePopoff) January 13, 2013

The #globalclassroom community is a vibrant, collaborative and generous one. People share willingly and eagerly. Even if you do NOT have a #globalclassroom, this is the place to begin discovering how EASY it is to bring the WORLD to your students, within the supportive #globalclassroom environment! After all, learning WITH the world, not just ABOUT the world, makes our learning authentic, personalized and meaningful!

@rentonl I just can’t believe how much my teaching has changed since I got connected. Lots of true friendships formed too.#globalclassroom

—Karen Lirenman (@KLirenman) January 13, 2013

Be sure to check the archives of these chats. Each contains a WEALTH of information, links and on-going projects! Thank you to EVERYONE for making this January chat a HUGE success! We COULDN’T do it WITHOUT you! We are looking forward to seeing you at the FEBRUARY #globalclassroom chats!

Come One, Come ALL … to the #globalclassroom January Chat!

Come One, Come ALL!

Photo by Krissy Venosdale

It’s a PARTY … okay … a WORKING party,  but a PARTY nonetheless!

What: Celebration Get Together!
Where: #globalclassroom chat
When: second week in January-ish (See new times and check time zones below.)
Who: anyone with a #globalclassroom or dream of creating a #globalclassroom … yes, you can BRING a FRIEND! After all, the MORE the MERRIER!

Photo by Krissy Venosdale

Bring your #globalclassroom celebrations, frustrations, (or as @iEARNUSA likes to say “frogs”), questions, hopes and DREAMS to our January 2013 chat! By beginning the year with an open discussion, this will be an opportunity for people to share their highlights and burning questions! After all:

“No one is as smart as ALL of us!”

~Japanese Proverb

Things to think about:

• your favourite #globalclassroom topic
• a highlight of your #globalclassroom journey
• some of the pitfalls you’ve overcome in your #globalclassroom
• your vision for the future, (hopes and dreams), for your #globalclassroom
• topics you would like to explore further during our upcoming #globalclassroom chats

Photo by Krissy Venosdale

Join the celebration!

NEW #globalclassroom Chat Schedule:

This month, we are implementing a NEW schedule for the #globalclassroom chats, which will now run over one 24 hour period, starting on the second Saturday of the month.

This is a significant change, so please check which time works for you, and put a note in your calendar!

Chat 1 – Saturday – January 12 (10:00 GMT)

• 10AM London, 3.30PM New Delhi, 6PM Perth, 9PM Sydney (AEDT), 11PM Auckland
• Click here to find out when this is in YOUR timezone. 

Chat 2 – Saturday – January 12 (19:00 GMT) 

• 11AM Los Angeles, 2PM New York, 7PM London, 9PM Cape Town,
• 8AM SUNDAY – Auckland
• Click here to find out when this is in YOUR timezone.

Chat 3 – Saturday 12th / Sunday 13th (02:00 GMT) 

• Saturday night – 6PM Los Angeles, 9PM New York
• Sunday – 7.30AM New Dehli, 10AM Perth, 1PM Sydney, 3PM Auckland
• Click here to find out when this is in YOUR timezone

*IMPORTANT NOTE:

Chat times are displayed in UTC+0/GMT+0 (Greenwich Mean Time – No Daylight Saving)
To convert the UTC/GMT time to YOUR time-zone, please click on the event description, and copy the event to your personal calendar. Or you may calculate the chat time for your area with the World Time Zone converter.

New Project Announcement: The Travelling Rhinos Project

The students at Elkanah House in Cape Town, South Africa are very concerned about the scourge of rhino poaching that is taking place in South Africa at the moment. South Africa’s rhinos are under attack and they would like your help in raising world-wide awareness of the problem!

To do so, Karen Stadler (@ICT_Integrator) has launched the Travelling Rhinos Project – a project whereby five uniquely African stuffed rhinos will travel from classroom classroom in schools  in different parts of the world to bring awareness to the problem. It will run much like a Flat Stanley project, just with rhinos.

The project is suitable for all ages from K – 12 and will run from December 2012 to December 2013.

The project also has its own Facebook page (please go and ‘Like’ us) and a Twitter profile. Follow our project: @travellingrhino

To find our more about the project visit the Global Classroom 2012-13 wiki or go directly to the project wiki: saveourrhinos.wikispaces.com

Launching a Virtual Book Club

Since I first responded to a tweet from @mgraffin about joining a global project, I have become a vocal advocate of connecting teachers and classrooms. Thank you so much to Global Classroom Project for inspiration and a place to connect and contribute.

I am giddy with excitement about a new opportunity to connect educators and get more inspiration for expanding global projects. I will be hosting a Virtual Book Club discussing the fantastic book Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds: Move to Global Collaboration One Step at a Time by Julie Lindsay and Vicki A. Davis. The book club was announced last Sunday night in my school division and I am thrilled that we already have thirteen teachers signed up! Even better, we have teachers from across our school division and from all different grade levels. It is a wonderful thing when already busy teachers find time in their lives to discuss powerful educational ideas with their peers. 

Now, I am ready to get some global participation in this book club. I can’t think of a better way to brainstorm about global projects than to have teachers from across the globe in the session together. So, we are inviting all teachers, parents, students, thinkers and learners out there to join us for six live meetings to share what they think about the projects, resources, and research discussed in Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds.

We will be meeting on Tuesdays at 00:30GMT (Mondays at 7:30pm EST)

(find the time in your country/time zone here)

on the following dates:

January 7th – Meet the Flat Classroom, Chapters 1 & 2

January 21st – Connection and Communication, Chapters 3 & 4

February 4th – Citizenship, Contribution and Collaboration, Chapters 5 & 6

February 18th – Choice and Creation, Chapters 7 & 8

March 4th – Celebrating, Designing, Managing a Global Project, Chapters 9 & 10

March 18th – Rock the World

Meetings will be live using Blackboard Collaborate and will last one hour. We will spend the time sharing thoughts about ideas raised in the book. It will also be a great opportunity to connect with other educators that share similar passions and beliefs about flattening our classrooms walls. We will share strategies and resources for building those 21st century skills like collaboration, communication and creativity in authentic ways.

Inspiration for this Virtual Book Club came from Julie Lindsay and Vicki Davis themselves. I was lucky enough to participate in a Virtual Book Club hosted by Engaging Educators last spring. It was great because I

• actually read the book (instead of the book just staring at me from my book shelf, desperate to be read but collecting dust instead)
• met educators from across the United States and around the world
• learned about global projects that already exist that I could participate in
• was inspired to do more to help students and teachers connect and collaborate

I hope that you can take some time to read the book and join us for our discussions. If you are interested, please complete this quick form so that I know you are interested and I’ll get back to you with information about our first meeting. And, please, spread the word!

If you aren’t familiar with the idea of a virtual book club or with this text, here’s more!

What is a Virtual Book Club?

A virtual book club is one in which readers come together to discuss a text using a web-based platform. Readers connect by logging onto a website in which they can be active learners and collaborators. The virtual room allows readers to speak, listen, chat and read about what others think about the text. All participants need is a web link, a computer with access to the Internet (and preferably a working microphone) and thoughts and ideas about the reading. It is like a book club but you can stay home and be in your pajamas!

What book will we be reading?

We will be reading the text Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds by Julie Lindsay and Vicki Davis. This book is co-written by classroom teachers that have transformed learning in their classrooms by communicating and collaborating with other classrooms around the world. Learn more about how global learning provides authentic literacy experiences, gets students engaged in their learning and opens up numerous opportunities for differentiation.

The Power of a PLN

Hi I’m Shaileigh and I teach at Flinders University in South Australia. I have been teaching since 2007 and am primary / elementary trained although have been lecturing and researching at the uni in most recent years.  I am passionate about mathematics education, education philosophy and most recently I have found a passion for ICT.  Next year I am heading back into the classroom and will be teaching in Whyalla – very exciting times ahead for 2013.

This post was published on my personal blog back in July and I hope it encourages you and inspires you to continue to grow your PLN and get connected!!

Thanks to The Global Classroom for the opportunity to post on their site – keep up the good work!!

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Today I’m writing about an awesome experience I had recently thanks to Twitter which has not only grown my professional learning network (PLN) but has also enriched my life and the lives of the pre-service teachers I work with in Adelaide, South Australia .

So, let’s go back in time about 3 weeks…. I had just joined Twitter and felt a bit overwhelmed by the amount of “stuff” there was to read, YouTube clips to watch and teaching practices to investigate. Although I felt overwhelmed, there was also a sense of feeling inspired and sudden motivation to experiment as tools like Weebly, Moodle, Google Docs, Edmodo, Wikkis and blogging jumped off the page and into my grand visions for my preferred classroom and ideal student learning. I then found myself spending a great deal of time reading blogs and asking questions on Twitter to find out more.

In amongst the jumble of all these new ideas, one idea caught my attention, stopped me in my tracks and compelled me to take action. The following tweet signified the beginning of an amazing learning journey, a journey that I believe will never end and for the sake of my students it MUST never end:

“Have you signed your classroom up? Doing #mysteryskype is a great way to engage ALL students in your classroom! http://mysteryskypes1213.weebly.com/”

Craig Badura (@MrBadura) 1^st August 2012

I was immediately interested in the idea of a Mystery Skype but hadn’t actually used Skype before so…..I felt scared BUT I didn’t hesitate in tweeting Craig (@Mr Badura) to find out more:

@mrbadura … what is the process of setting one up? I’m interested in doing this with my preservice teachers at Flinders University

Craig was very generous, replied promptly and offered to Skype my class to explain what Mystery Skype is all about! I was SO excited that I had the opportunity to connect with an educator overseas AND share this with my students. I also felt very nervous leading up to the big event but had the wonderful support of Selena (@Teachertechnol teachertechnologies.com) who calmed my nerves greatly and after we had a test run with Craig and discovered all of the technology was working – I was ready to introduce my Master of Teaching students to my new friend Craig and the world of Skype and Mystery Skype as a pedagogical tool!

If you haven’t heard about Mystery Skype – head to Craig Badura’s blog: http://comfortably20.blogspot.com.au/  and his Mystery Skype website.  Very simply put, it is where two classes Skype and they use problem solving skills and closed ended questions to investigate, gather clues and find out where the other class is located.

Here is a list of jobs, compiled by Silvia Tolisano (Twitter - @langwitches) that need filling for Mystery Skype to work effectively in your classroom. Every student has a role and is responsible for something – each role seems to have links to other curriculum areas!! See if you can spot them!

Mystery Skype is a fun, fast paced activity that is jam packed full of cross curricular perspectives. For example (this is not an extensive list but explores only a few of the curriculum areas): Geography- mapping skills, locations; English communication, closed ended questioning, effective questioning techniques; Maths- problem solving, lateral thinking, data collecting and analysing; Social Studies- finding out how others live by following up on any similarities and differences between the locations of both classes; and of course Technology and ICT- use of Google Earth, Google Maps, IPads, blogging, capturing movie clips of the Skype session and using digital cameras to capture moments of learning and the connection between the classes. It also seems that the seven thinking hats are covered nicely.

Overall, it seems that Mystery Skype has potential to help develop numeracy, literacy and ICT skills and capabilities which are very important within an Australian context as these areas are called “General Capabilities” within our new Australian Curriculum (ACARA) document and are expected to be developed in ALL learning areas across the whole curriculum and across ALL year levels!!

To find out more about using Skype in the classroom and Mystery Skype check out the following links:

Using Skype in your classroom:

http://comfortably20.blogspot.com.au/2012/08/connect-your-classroom.html

Mystery Skype:

http://mysteryskypes1213.weebly.com/mystery-skype-jobs.html

http://mysteryskypes1213.weebly.com/resources.html

The Skype with Craig was engaging, fun, super inspiring and encouraged my students to think outside of the four walls of their classroom and to think globally! Craig gave us so much to think about and changed how we view technology in the classroom!

Mystery Skype with Craig – Thanks to Selena (@teachertechnol) for taking the picture!

Never before has it been this easy to gain a global perspective on learning or to connect with educators in other countries and to hear about their teaching practice! Twitter empowers us as teachers to develop a PLN where the extent of our personal learning and the new ideas are endless!

This amazing experience is all thanks to Twitter….. if you’re not part of the Twitterverse yet – sign up today www.twitter.com and develop your own PLN. Many of my students have joined Twitter since this event and they too are amazed the at the power of a PLN through twitter! Make sure you follow Craig (@MrBadura) George Couros (@gcouros) and Selena Woodward (@teachertechnol) just to name a few!

Keep an eye out for future blogs and for the launch of Mystery Skype in Australia! Exciting times ahead!!

I would love to hear from you and connect with you…… you can find me using:

email: shaileigh.page@gmail.com

about.me: about.me/shaileighpage

Twitter @DrShaileighPage

Instagram: shaileighpage

Guiding Light

The sun was shining today in my particular corner of Ireland and as I sat at my laptop reading through e-journals – highlighting and underlining and adding notes – I kept reminding myself that all this reading will be worth it. My pale Irish skin was also better off inside shaded from the sun anyway – wasn’t it?!

The reading focus of today wasLeadership and ICT integration (still searching for a definition on this one!). There was such a volume of literature but I’m only going to share one of the studies I read today with you as I really enjoyed reading it and it just made sense!

I am going to state the obvious but if a school hopes to achieve any level of ICT integration then leadership is key. A strong leader will assess where the school currently is with regard to ICT integration and create a vision of where the school needs to go next. A carefully designed plan must be created to guide the school on the journey to ICT integration and supports should be put in place for students, teachers and other members of the school community. This premise however assumes that principals or ICT coordinators are comfortable with assessing the needs of the school, creating this vision and supporting others on the journey – so who supports the principal and the ICT coordinators?

Meier & Mineo (2011) recently conducted a study focusing on how ICT integration becomes more probable when supports are put in place for principals. The study showed that cohesive long term processes for ICT integration could be developed when principals were provided with the necessary training and mentoring. During the study principals were mentored by other principals who were successfully leading efforts to integrate technology into their own schools. Teachers demonstrated to the principals how they were using technology in their classrooms to support the development of 21st century skills. The principals involved in the study also had the opportunity to used the technologies themselves during the course of their learning activities. All of these supports enabled the principals to develop an understanding of how technology can support learning and increase understanding for students.

The design of the study was quite simple and the supports put in place for the principals were straight forward and practical. The principals had their eyes opened to the uses and benefits of technology and through using the technology themselves perhaps they lost some of the fear they felt around it. I particularly liked the fact that teachers demonstrated how they used technology with their students and that the principals got advice from other principals – a professional learning network of sorts. As educators we all need to support one another and share resources and best practice – we are all striving for a common goal after all aren’t we? Principals supporting teachers, teachers supporting principals, principals supporting principals – everyone learning all the time

Looking Forwards, Looking Back Webinar & Recordings

The Global Classroom 2011-12 Closing Webinars were held over the weekend, and marked the official conclusion of our 2011-12 project.

Despite enormous technical problems with the first (Americas) webinar, the second (Australia/Europe) webinar was a great success, with speakers from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Romania, Taiwan, India, and Germany.

The sessions were recorded, and can be downloaded via the links in this presentation.

Looking Forwards, Looking Back

View more PowerPoint from Michael

May 2012 – #globalclassroom Chat Archives

The seventh monthly #globalclassroom chat hosted several incredibly lively conversations about inquiry learning and global collaboration.

As Laurie Renton (@RentonL) so succinctly writes;

The process of choosing a topic, selecting questions to ask, participating in and moderating the #globalclassroom chat, was an eye opening and rewarding experience.

This chat reinforced, for me, the POWER of my online PLN, and the inspiration that Twitter connections provide for my professional growth as an educator.  It was exciting to discover the number of people who are also interested in global inquiry projects and their openness and eagerness to share their discoveries with others.

Creating a meaningful and sustainable global inquiry project is no easy feat.  Fostering buy in and personalisation for students, fitting it meaningfully into your daily curricular student learner outcomes is tricky, although it IS possible. This occurs when you are able to connect with experts who are willing to continue a meaningful relationship to enhance your journey, through Skype, blogging, and other such communication tools.

Finding the PERFECT global project to fit your needs IS possible when you nurture it, connect with others, inquire through your PLN and allow your students to ask questions to further enrich the journey and learning experiences.  It IS worthy work.

The Archives are now available

Thankyou to Laurie Renton and Jennifer Fenton for helping to organise this month’s #globalclassroom chats. A special mention goes to @WorldVUSE, who although relatively new to Twitter, successfully took on the challenge of moderating their first Twitter chat!

This month’s archives have been saved using Storify, and you can find the links here, or follow the direct links below.

• Chat #1 – May 1
• Chat #2 – May 13
• Chat #3 – May 15

When Collaboration and Great Minds Come Together

This is an update to the Global Hello Project, blogged originally at Planet Smith:

“Collaboration is the key to a truly successful Professional Learning Community. This in turn supports student learning in ways that are not possible when working alone. An example of really great collaboration has been simmering slowly for the last year, and has recently heated up into an exciting and meaningful project. This endeavor is called The Global Hello Project.

I need to start by explaining a little bit about a teacher that I find the time to work with often. And when I say find the time, I really mean that I seek out this person, (even though there are always a million things going on) and make time to collaborate because of his great mind. Every so often in your life, you come across people who not only think like you, but challenge your thinking in ways to help you become a better person. My colleague and friend David (@grnngold) is easy to work with, has a positive attitude, and has innovative ideas all while keeping a focus on his students. As teachers I believe we all need to find the people who bring out the best in us, who keep us positive and allow us to achieve some of those lofty goals that are floating around in our heads.

We started the Global Hello Project last year when our class made a video about their school day. We shared it on a wiki page and encouraged others to do the same. Many schools (34 as of today) from all around the world have joined this project. In our current social studies curriculum we have requirements to teach map skills and global awareness. Global citizens need to be sensitive to other cultures, as well as how to find their way around the world. We figured there are two options to teach this skill:

1. Hand out a generic worksheet with fake maps and meaningless questions.

or

2. Map the Global Hello locations!

This is where things got exciting. David imagined a map taller than our students (I put away my pathetic 11 x 17 map)! Together we worked and tweaked and figured out how to get our students excited about using the map. Yesterday our two classes joined together and got a crash course on continents, countries, states and cities. We broke out to the computer lab, using Google maps to find the locations of the schools. The students then put a sticker of the school they picked on the map. On the spot, we were able to correct misconceptions (Alabama is NOT a country!). The students were engaged, working and were EXCITED. In one hour we were able to map everything and even collect data about the temperature of the city they picked. They logged their data on an index card, giving us instant feedback about their level of geographical knowledge. At the end of the lesson we noticed how the temperatures in different regions got warmer as we got closer to the equator. On the way out, students were asking each other what their favorite country was, and which school page they liked the most.

Students mapped the Global Hello Project

When your biggest problem as a teacher is that you have to tell your students to stop running back and forth from the map to the computer, you’re in a good spot.

When great minds truly do come together, students can and will achieve their potential.”

Enabling Student Collaboration: January #globalclassroom chat

Here’s some food for thought …

• How can we create authentic opportunities for our students to talk, share, learn and collaborate with their classmates and other students around the world?
• How can we enable our students to learn, communicate, and collaborate using 21st Century literacies and tools?
• How can we inspire and motivate our students to practice their English / second language skills in authentic, natural, and spontaneous ways?

Through flattening our classroom walls, and engaging in global projects, we are creating opportunities for teachers and students to learn, share, and collaborate globally.

Yet, how can we make authentic student collaboration happen?  How can we adapt our existing curriculum to enable our students to learn with the world, not just about it?

We’re keen to tap into the collective thoughts, experiences, and expertise of teachers around the globe: which is why we’re putting these questions up for discussion in the #globalclassroom chats for January 2012:

“Ways and ideas to enable our students to collaborate globally”

Chat Details – January 2012:

January 2012 marks our inaugural Asia / Australia chat – which runs on a Sunday afternoon / evening in Asia & Australia; and in the morning in Europe. If you’re online in Europe at that time, you’re more than welcome to join in!

January 14 / 15

• 3PM New York, 8PM London – Saturday
• 7AM Sydney, 9AM Auckland – Sunday
• Or click here to find out when this chat runs in your timezone.

January 15 - NEW Asia / Australia Chat

• 2.30PM Delhi, 5PM Beijing, 6PM Tokyo, 8PM Sydney – Sunday
• Or click here to find out when this chat runs in your timezone

January 16 / 17

• 5PM New York, 10PM London – Monday
• 9AM Sydney, 11AM Auckland – Tuesday
• OR Click here to find out when this chat runs in your timezone

The #globalclassroom chats are moderated by teachers around the world.

If you’d like to moderate a chat, or suggest a topic, please tweet @mgraffin, or leave your details here. We sincerely appreciate your support!

The #globalclassroom Twitter Chats

Do you enjoy meeting teachers around the world?
Are you interested in global education or global collaboration?
Have you heard about global projects, but don’t know where to start?
Would you like your students to have opportunities to practice their language skills with authentic speakers?
Are you on Twitter?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, why not join us for the the monthly  #globalclassroom Twitter chats in 2012?

How It All Began …

The monthly #globalclassroom chats were born out of the Global Classroom Project: 2011-12, and first ran in November 2011. Proving to be the first of their kind, the chats generated significant excitement in the #globaled community; and covered topics relating to global collaboration in education, ICT, and authentic cultural connections. You can find our archives here.

Where to from here?

The unexpected interest in a global education / collaboration themed chat has forced a rethink of our chat times, which were (and perhaps still are) very American-centric. Over the course of 2012, we hope to enable teachers around the world to connect, share, learn and collaborate globally via our Twitter chats.

For our January chat, we will be trialling a third time – targeting teachers in Asia (e.g. India, Russia, China, Japan, etc), and Australia (depending on DST). If you haven’t already voted in our Asia/Australia poll, please do so ASAP – http://twtpoll.com/4wb9of.

We are painfully aware that many European teachers find it difficult to participate in the chats as the times currently stand, and we hope to address this later in the year.

We appreciate YOUR suggestions & support!

The #globalclassroom Twitter chat is a work in progress, and we’d sincerely appreciate YOUR feedback and suggestions for future topics. We are also keen to involve guest moderators from the #globaled community. If please leave your details here if interested!

Dates and Times for the January 2012 chats will be published HERE on January 8, and they will commence on Jan 14/15th, depending on your timezone