Cross-posted from my personal blog – mgraffin.edublogs.org. Originally published May 2013.
A little over a year ago, I woke up in the middle of the night with an idea … What if we could create a physical artefact of global collaboration? What if we could create something to demonstrate the power of global connections with our schools, communities, and the world?
And thus, the travelling scrapbook project was born.
Since March 2012, I’ve coordinated the extraordinary journeys of three #globalclassroom scrapbooks around the world.
As of May 2013, the scrapbooks have been hosted by 16 teachers, in 10 countries; and travelled in excess of 122 400 km (76 055 miles) – which is equivalent to circumnavigating the globe THREE times!
Our participant students and teachers around the world have embraced the opportunity to share a little of their lives, cultures, schools, and countries with the wider global community; and their contributions to our travelling scrapbooks are a true testament to the power of global collaboration.
One journey is coming to an end
Scrapbook #2 came home last week.
It bears the stains and wear and tear that you’d expect from a document which has travelled well over 47 563 km (29 554 miles) over the past year. It’s been to Brasil, Guatemala, … was lost in Honduras, … Texas, and New York City (USA). It’s been shared with children around the world, and its journey is coming to an end.
It’s hard to describe what its like to hold this document in your hands … It’s the embodiment of a dream … made reality through the efforts of teachers and students who’ve I’ve yet to meet face to face. The stories, the photos, the sketches … make this a unique, and very special physical artefact of global collaboration.
Sadly #2 is in no condition to continue on its’ global travels through the mail system, but there is one last trip in store … It will travel (in my suitcase) to the iEARN 2013 conference in Doha, Qatar … in just over two weeks time, where I’ll be presenting on the Travelling Scrapbook Project, and launching a new spin-off iEARN scrapbook project.
But, the journey continues
The Global Classroom Travelling Scrapbooks have become a unique, special part of the #globalclassroom community, and the remaining scrapbooks will continue on their travels for some years to come.
I’m planning the introduction of at least two new books in the coming months, so I’m looking forward to seeing this project evolve and develop over time.
I’d love to have scrapbooks touring Europe and the Middle East, … and I’m now starting to wonder if we can get the scrapbooks to travel more than half a million kilometres?
After eight years of teaching in a technology driven high school and after attending workshops, seminars and conferences worldwide, I thought it was bout time I challenged both my astudents and myself.
I wanted to see if it was possible to find a project that could engage every student in my 11th grade class of English learners and see if we all could work together as a team. Most of all, I wanted to see if they could produce an end product that would be authentic and involve collaboration with educators and students globally.
My thoughts on engagement
Every educator wants to experience the moment of “flow” when all the goals are set and understood and work is moving along easily and naturally. When we read about engaging students in the classroom using technology and social media, authors often leave us with the impression that this work will flow gentle as a stream. When talking about motivation and learning in school, grit is most often left out of the conversation. Yet, according to Daniel Pink, the best predictor of success is grit, defined as perseverance and passion for long term goals.
Our published book proves that when you find the right project — one that really involves all the students — they can find the grit and do what it takes to reach the final objective.
And here’s an interesting fact: The most popular topic to write about in this book turned out to be motivation. It is ironic that motivation and innovation are topics we discuss on almost every level in education, from policy makers and educational experts to school leaders and teachers. We are simply missing the most important link here — we do not spend enough time discussing this with our students. My students’ reflections in this book show us that we should spend a lot more time discussing important topics like motivation, learning, pedagogy and technology with them. In this book, we provide many great examples and discussion topics to get us started.
I am very happy to say that we have managed to write a book that we think will be helpful for teachers all over the world. It explains how to set up your classroom to get you started. It shows how teachers and students can set up blogs, make a Twitter account, use Skype in education and connect with others. I think more teachers should try to open up their classrooms to all the possibility we have with the use of technology!
Our publication of the 200-plus page collaborative book Connected Learners: A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating a Global Classroom.As our press release says, this interactive eBook is
a unique compendium of stories, advice and how-to articles designed to help high school teachers and their students around the globe shift from classrooms that are isolated and teacher-centered to digitally rich environments where learning is student-driven and constantly connected to the global internet.
There are many books on the topic “learning in the 21st century,” and I think I have read most of them. The authors are educators and educational experts I know and admire. Many write about what students want and how students learn. What occurred to me was that there are no books about this topic written by students.
Let’s listen to the students! Want to buy the book? Click on the picture of the book. We are saving up for a field trip and would love to visit one of the schools we have been collaborating with! Text previously posted at Powerful Learning Practice . See full text here:
This is a guest post from #globalclassroom teacher @LParisi. Lisa blogs at http://thelisaparisi.com, and this post was originally published here.
I belong to an amazing group called The Global Classroom Project. I love this group. The teachers have fabulous ideas, talk about the ups and downs of global connections, and seek out collaborators. If you haven’t looked at the site, you must check it out.
Recently, a blog was posted by Michael Graffin as a reposting of a blog created by a student in Honduras. The class had just completed a mystery skype call, and this student was discussing the awkward, nearly offensive questions asked by the mystery class, which turned out to be in Texas. The two questions in point: “Do you guys use cell phones?” and “How does your house look like?” You can read her blog to see her view about these questions.
This started a conversation in the Google group about being careful how we communicate with each other and what questions we ask. So I just want to put in my two cents on the subject. (You should note that I already talked online with Michael about my response. He, as usual, invites conversation.)
My purpose for Going Global with my class is an idealistic one. I hope that my kids do a better job than we have. I want them to understand, accept, and connect with others, regardless of language, religion, race, gender, etc. I want them to learn that we are all people, deserving of respect and consideration. And I want them to remember this when it comes time to work with others, have discussions with others, argue with others. We are all people!
When I was growing up, in the 60s, we were just starting to talk about differences as positive. ”Be yourself.” ”Love who you are and love the one you’re with.” But, along with loving each other, I was taught not to insult anyone. And it was insulting to stare, to ask questions, to recognize differences. So we never even looked at each other. Really. If a person of color walked into the restaurant where I was eating, in my very white neighborhood, everyone would look away. To make eye contact might indicate that you were afraid of them or didn’t want them there. So, in order to show our respect, we just didn’t look. Strange but true. I wasn’t taught to do this. It was modeled for me.
Did this work? Of course not. I learned that people are different and deserve different treatment from one another. Poor and rich, black and white, abled and disabled. Labels were important. They defined for us how to act and how to treat each other.
But I have grown up. I have learned that this is not the way. And I have taken it upon myself to model differently for my students and my own child. I ask questions. I talk about clothing, jewelry, political beliefs, religious practices. I ask questions. And I keep talking. And I make eye contact. And I smile. And I invite people to sit down with me. And I make plans to go to dinner, the movies, a book club. And I ask questions.
My students recently did a Mystery Skype call with a class in Texas. Once we figured out the states we came from, the questions started flying. They thought we were all gangsters (New Yorkers are usually depicted that way). We thought they were all cowboys. After finding out the truth was quite the opposite, we laughed about our misconceptions.
What did we learn? That Texan students like the same music we do, watch the same movies and tv shows, and shop at the same stores. Hmmm. Not so different. The accents were certainly different but not much else was. And my students now have a new understanding of Texans and other Southerners.
I work in a very multicultural climate. We often have conversations about similarities with our religious rituals, our family dinners, and our weekend responsibilities. We are so different and yet so similar. I don’t ever want my students to stop asking questions. Eventually, their questions will get more mature, less “insulting”. And, maybe someday, they won’t need to ask questions about each other. They will just accept and understand.
We are very privileged to have a visitor from Pennsylvania, USA at the moment. Flat Tyler is from Mrs Tina Schmidt’s class and he has come to find out about our children and our school. We are all very excited and the class teacher has been taking photos for a slide show that the children will present to the rest of the school on Tuesday.
These global projects are wonderful for developing literacy in a real world way. The children have to read about their friend and write about their adventures and they do so in a motivated and unstressed way. They also learn about continents, hemispheres, day and night and time zones by participating in global projects. This particular class are now going to make their own flat friends and send them out to classes around the world.
We have another Grade 2 class waiting for the arrival of a Travelling Rhino. Through this project they will be made aware of the plight of rhinos and the scourge of poaching.
Our other two Grade 2 classes are participating in a Global Pen Pal project in Edmodo. Edmodo is a Facebook social network look alike for children. It is a closed environment but through the class teacher we are able to make connections with other classes.
We are excited about all the connections we are making and the children love to pore over our large wall map of the world and a big atlas we have in our library. Technology helps us to flatten our classroom walls and make connections whilst we learn and grow. The technology at our school is only available in the lab where we have 17 six year old PC’s and an internet connection but it’s amazing what one can do with a little. My dream for our school is to have a laptop and a large monitor for every classroom so that teachers who catch the vision for integrating IT into their lessons can do so. One day …..
We’ve had over 820 hits in 3 days (we’re still hoping to hit 1000!), and received comments from around Australia, Spain, Greece, Denmark, South Africa, Trinidad, Canada, Russia, Taiwan, and Argentina! We even hosted an original music video created by high school students in Trinidad.
I’d like to thank the Year 2 students, and their teacher, from West Leederville PS for ‘hosting’ my third #WorldWaterDay project, and extend my sincere thanks to all the students and teachers around the world who helped make this project possible.
You can check out our 2013 LinoIt page here, and we’d greatly appreciate it if you’d watch, and leave a comment, on our Year 2 students’ PuppetPal presentations (see video below)!
My Year 5/6 students are researching Asian countries, and I’m hoping to introduce them to global connections through a simple inquiry project. I’d like to use Skype and Edmodo, but given that this isn’t my own class, I’m keeping things relatively simple (for now at least!).
Over the past week, almost all of my students have contributed some questions to a class Google Doc, which I’m sharing with my PLN around the world. While their questions barely scratch the surface, I hope that this project will start to raise awareness of global perspectives and connections within the school, with a view to forging deeper connections in future.
If you are a teacher or a student living in one of these countries, or you know someone who does, could you help answer my students’ questions?
You can access the public Google Doc here. Thank you!
@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.”
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!
Looking forward to our fourth meeting of the Virtual Book Club discussing Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds by Julie Lindsay and Vicki Davis Monday, February 18th at 7:30pm EST (that’s Tuesday, February 19th at 12:30am GMT). For your time zone, click here. We will be discussing Chapters Seven and Eight.
The post below is something I originally posted on my personal blog, where I share my thoughts, explorations, and reflections on technology integration in early childhood education, particularly as a means for global collaboration. One of the core ways I feel connected to to the global education community is through the Global Classroom Project and the monthly #GlobalClassroom chats so I was excited to have an opportunity to share my experiences directly with this community. I am currently engaging in a massive online open course on educational technology (#ETMOOC), which is what inspired me to write this post about my (mis)adventures in connected learning and trying to form relationships between my school and other classes and teachers around the world. I hope it might have an inspiring or intriguing idea that will spark your own collaboration and if you have tips or ideas for working through these misadventures, I would love to hear them!
Before the second week of #etmooc “Connected Learning” slips away, I wanted to write a post reflecting a bit on the prompt: ”Is it possible for our classrooms to support this kind of (connected) learning? If so, how?“
I definitely think that our classrooms can support connected learning and that technology can make the “how” much easier and more feasible to facilitate that learning. To me, connected learning involves engaging students in real-world applications of skills and knowledge. One way to do this is by asking students to try and solve problems that people face everyday, such as concerns with the environment (Inspiration from GOOD.is) or building prototypes to help the elderly more easily navigate outdoors (see the FIRST Jr. Robotics Challenge).
I also view connected learning as a motivation to teach my students tools that can empower and enable them to be change agents. With these tools, students can build meaningful connections across different mediums, connections that not only facilitate learning but establish relationships. This means introducing ideas of digital citizenship and cyber safety at very young ages so students can begin using tools that they will likely continue to use as they grow older instead of tools that they will quickly grow out of (e.g., teaching 2nd graders how to conduct safe and effective Google searches versus restricting them to KidRex and allowing kindergarten students to tweet with other kindergarten students in class).
But most importantly, in my opinion, connected learning translates into global connectionsand collaborations for all students and teachers.
With modern technologies like Skype, Voicethread, Google Translate, Twitter and other (a)synchronous tools, it can be simple and free to connect students, even if their time zones never overlap or they speak different languages. There is no longer a need for expensive web conferencing technologies and with web 2.0 tools, students don’t have to wait weeks for a reply from students in another country. Therefore, it seems to me that we should be scaffolding and encouraging global connections in every classroom, starting with our youngest students. These connections can blossom into meaningful relationships where students can share experiences and learn together about the cultures, perspectives, and knowledge of each community. That feels like true connected learning.
The Global Classroom Project Logo
So what does that look like in the classroom? At my school, I have slowly been working to build some of these local and global connections so students can engage in more connected learning. While we have had some success, we have definitely had a few misadventures as well.
We tried signing up for an Elementary Mystery Skype project created by some educators who had seen it done with older grades. Three of my teachers signed up, willing to take the risk and do something they had never done before, but although all three were paired with another teacher, none of them heard a response back about setting a date to actually Skype. After following many inspiring #kinderchat teachers, I talked with a kindergarten teacher at my school about having her class join Twitter. We sat down and discussed how it could work, we wrote up a detailed letter to parents, we planned how to introduce it to the students but since their initial Twitter “launch” the class hasn’t been able to get other classes to tweet back. I think the kids are beginning to feel like tweeting means sending a message on the computer and never hearing back. Whether it’s been via Skype, Twitter, or even email, we have found that making that connectionwith another teacher and class can be much harder than getting the technology or other preparations in order.
1st Graders Excited to Skype with a class in Canada
Luckily, we also have some success stories to share. Thanks to the Global Classroom Project database, I was able to connect our Spanish teacher with a class in Spain so her students could Skype in English and Spanish. While moderating a #globalclassroom chat, I connected with another educator who wanted her students to be able to share their experiences of a Quaker meeting. This led to two of our fourth grade classes Skyping with their fourth grade and discussing their religious practices, as well as the similarities and differences in their schools. Comparing lunches and “specials” was a big highlight. Through Twitter, I was also able to set up a Skype session between a Canadian class and one of our first grade classes – our students were shocked to see all of their snow! And in a few weeks, we have a session scheduled with NASA for our youngest students, who are studying space, to hear about “Humans in Space,” one of the offerings in their Digital Learning Network.
So, while the actual “how” of connected learning can certainly be a challenge, I think it is doable. My students have been able to use a range of web 2.0 tools that have enabled them to develop deeper relationships within their individual classes, between their class and other classes at the school, and between our school and other schools. They are becoming more comfortable with the idea of leaving messages through various platforms and receiving comments and messages back from parents or other students after a pause (which can be tough to understand when you’re only 5 or 6). Teachers are beginning to consider ways we can connect with other students and classes in other parts of the world to enrich their units of study and make different topics and concepts more concrete while also more making them more complex. I hope that with time, patience, and perseverance our connections will continue to grow and with it, the connected learning that we are all able to share.
Hi all. We’ve been a little slack in posting the archives for the #globalclassroom chats – partly due to the arrival of Summer holidays here in Australia. We’ll all be back on deck in early 2013; however, here are the links to the archives from our last few chats:
November 2012: How can we support students to inquire into global issues that help develop empathy and compassion?
Open World began as a senior legacy project for Buhler high school in December of 2010.
Govinda is the director of the SAV school in Bageshwori, Nepal.
Benjamin Honeycutt, the original founder of the cause, became acquainted with Govinda Prasad Panthy through Artsnacks, an online artists’ community run by Kevin Honeycutt for the last few years. After speaking with Govinda, Ben and Kevin learned that his school (known as the SAV School in a rural region of Bageshwori, Nepal) lacked items that many would consider to be absolute necessities in education. After further discussion, he told them of his dream of bringing internet to his school. However, it soon became clear that his school’s lack of connectivity was going to make helping them a challenge. Govinda made it clear that some of the biggest issues they faced were resource-based.
With this problem in mind, the project was adopted and began seeking ways to help. After learning more from Govinda, it was discovered that it would cost around $2,000 USD to bring two laptops and a year’s worth of internet to his school. Also keeping Govinda’s dream of building a library in mind, the Open World Project set out to raise a total of $5,000 for the school. This later became known as “Phase One” for the cause.
Originally, Jake Waters, who is a member of the team and assists with filming, and Ben constructed a website explaining the mission of our project. They also built Facebook, Twitter, and Plurk pages to help spread the word about their goals.
After successes with spreading the story of the mission, an article done by a local paper was picked up by Associated Press. This allowed an individual named Nicolas Lal to discover the project through Google Alerts. He contacted Open World, and revealed that he had plans to travel to the school. Wanting to help in any way he could, Nicolas was able to coordinate with the cause and provide a first-hand account of the situation there. Nicolas witnessed the difficulties the school was facing and captured thousands of pictures, along with video, that he which he shared with those involved with the project. Observing the poor conditions of the school through Nicolas’ travels galvanized Open World’s determination to deliver aid to the SAV students.
This year, we’re doing something different. We’re working to build better connections & participation in the #globalclassroom community through the launch of “The Handshake Space” for K-3, 4-6, and 7-12.
What is it?
For those unfamiliar with the concept, a “digital handshake” is an opportunity for teachers and students to join our online project spaces (find out more here) andintroduce themselves to the community.
Traditionally, these handshakes feature individual students or whole classes; however, in Global Classroom 2012-13, we are experimenting with a mix of classroom AND individual teacher handshakes.
The #globalclassroom handshake has three distinct parts. Teachers and students are welcome to contribute to one, or all components.
1) The introductory voicethread.
Teachers, we hope you will take this opportunity to introduce themselves, tell us where you come from, and share a little about why you connect and collaborate globally.
The Global Classroom 2012-13 wiki now hosts K-3, 4-6, and 7-12 “handshake spaces” for teachers to post class introductions.
How you choose to create and share your handshake is up to you, but we’d love to see links to your class blog / websites, and a few pictures of your classroom learning spaces! You will find instructions, video tutorials, and classroom examples on our wiki.
“The Handshake Space” will run for the duration of the 2012-13 project, and new additions will be showcased on the project blog over time.
Check out this fantastic example:
3) Teacher Introductions on our Google Groups
If you are a member of our email list, you will receive the kick-off email this week.
If you are NOT receiving emails from The Global Classroom Project, and you would like to be involved in informal planning discussions, project brainstorming, and receive news updates like this, please apply to join here (with a note telling us who you are, and what you teach).
An opportunity to learn, share and connect and globally
The “handshake” is an important, and vital first step for teachers engaging in global collaboration. We hope you will take this opportunity to make yourself known, and introduce your class to the wider #globalclassroom community. Through this process, we will be able to learn more about you, and better enable teachers to explore new ways to connect, learn, share, and collaborate globally.
Last year many Global Classroom members enjoyed having their students take part in the Edmodo Pen Pal Project. Edmodo is a social network that allows teachers to create closed groups for their students. It looks very much like Facebook, but students need a code from the teacher to access the group. If you have never used Edmodo, go to their website (Edmodo.com) and click on the video link at the bottom of the page to see it in action.
Due to the suggestions of last years’ members, the project will run a bit differently this year. Last year we had 3 large groups with 200 plus members in each. Some of the teacher and students felt overwhelmed with that many members and said they couldn’t connect with any one class. I also had a hard time keeping up with the moderation of comments on such large groups. So this year, we will run the project a bit like the Quad Blogging sign ups. Once teachers sign up, I will group them into clusters of 4 schools with similar age groups. An Edmodo group will be created for each cluster and the 4 teachers in the group will be responsible for signing up their students, deciding on the chat topics, and moderating their own Edmodo group. There are sample chat topics listed on the wiki page and I would really love it if teachers would add on more ideas. The chat topic should be changed either biweekly or monthly and each class should try to get in and chat a few times a month at the very least. If you don’t think your class can commit to that, then please don’t sign up. It is not fair to the other students/teachers taking part when one class doesn’t follow through.
Feel free to get creative with your pen pal cluster. Last year Kimberley Rivett and I used an Edmodo group in conjunction with a Flat Stanley Exchange. We paired up students in my class with students in her class and had them exchange Flat Stanley’s and letters by mail. We then created an Edmodo group and put the children into smaller sub-groups of 6 children where they chatted to learn more about each other, their schools, countries, hobbies, and more. At the end of the year, my class came in at night to meet her students in a live Skype. It was an exciting connection that the children (and teachers) won’t soon forget!
Teachers who are interested in having their students take part, can sign up on the Edmodo Pen Pal wiki page. I will do my best to connect classes in different parts of the world. We will have 2 rounds of sign-ups for this project. Round 1 will start now and go into January and Round 2 will go from February to May to accommodate the schools in Australia and New Zealand who will be going on summer holiday in about 5-6 weeks. As always, I will be on hand to answer questions and help anyone who is new to Edmodo or the Global Classroom. You can contact me on Twitter at @MrsSchmidtB4 or by email in the K-3 Global Classroom Directory.
I hope you are as excited as I am to get this project into gear. My students had a lot of fun and learned so much from the other project members last year. It opened their eyes to other parts of the world and made them appreciate the opinions, cultures and customs of others. Can’t wait to see where this year’s project takes us!
The school year has begun, and you are settling into your classroom … Why not go beyond the curriculum to give your students a first-hand experience in their global education?
PTPI’s School & Classroom Program links classes in different countries for pen-pal exchanges and projects that improve cultural understanding and encourage friendship. Since it was created, this free program has served more than 3,000 teachers with 200,000 students in 126 countries – and we want you to join now!
When two groups are matched, contact details are exchanged between the teachers so that they may communicate directly. Each teacher receives a Program Manual with suggested projects and tips for success. We encourage teachers to modify or incorporate additional concepts or technology to best suit their needs, goals and resources.
Successful partnerships start with consistent communication. Remember, you are a representative of your country, as are your students. This allows for conversations with your students about letter writing etiquette, punctuation, grammar and spelling. How better can you introduce these important topics while motivating and engaging your students?
Find out more by reading my last guest post, or register today.
Registration is easy! Visit our website and fill out the online registration form: http://bit.ly/PTPISCP. We will be matching partner classes through October.
This month’s #globalclassroom chats are a spin-off from my presentation at the Australian Computers in Education Conference, held last week right here in Perth, Western Australia.
As the co-founder & leader of The Global Classroom Project, I have learnt a great deal about the challenges, opportunities, and steep learning curve faced by teachers making their first connections beyond their classroom walls.
Issues faced range from finding collaboration partners, integrating global perspectives across the curriculum, and providing ongoing informal professional development for teachers involved in projects.
In this presentation, we will present a compelling rationale for global collaboration in education, and explore ways teachers can overcome the challenges they face as they begin to flatten their classroom walls.
In an effort to continue the discussions we started during the presentation, this month’s #globalclassroom chat topic is simplly:
How can we enable teachers and students to connect, share, learn, and collaborate globally?
Specifically;
WHY should teachers and students explore ways to share, connect, and collaborate globally?
WHAT does global collaboration look like?
HOW can we help teachers overcome the challengesand obstacles faced by teachers interested in flattening their classroom walls?
WHERE can teachers find international partners, and access professional development to support their integration of global perspectives / collaboration across the curriculum?
What do you think?
Please join us for our October chats this coming weekend. Please check out the times below – please note that these times have changed due to due to the start of DST in some countries.
Chat 1 - Saturday, October 13, 17:00 – 18:00 UTC – N America, S America, Europe, Africa
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!).
