Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Theresa Allen on July 26, 2011 at 7:54pm

Hi Lucy,

 

I'd like to share the site www.icollaboratory.org where students can upload a story of a certain theme, share it with participating classes, and comment on each other's works.  The first project starts in October with Scariest Stories and Fall Poetry.  They can also participate in the China/USA Exchange:  The Moon Over Us. Sept. 5 - Oct. 1 (Grades 5-8)  designed for students from the USA and China to learn about the phases of the moon and share information with each other. They will be introducing themselves and then sharing their images of the moon.

 

Thanks!

Theresa Allen

Permalink Reply by Matt Nink on July 26, 2011 at 9:58pm

hi Lucy,  I can join by skype in the afternoon or come up and see you all in person. My skype name is gylimjn  I have contacts in India, Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Rwanda, etc. etc. 

 

 

matt nink

global youth leadership institute www.gyli.org 

 

 

Permalink Reply by Pernille Ripp on July 27, 2011 at 8:59am

Hi Lucy,

 I am in Madison but home with my daughter so I won't be able to join either.  However I would love if you would share the Global Read Aloud with the teachers there.  We have more than 200 classrooms signed up this year, two options for books Flat Stanley or Tuck Everlasting, and we are running it both in French and English.  Students will share a read aloud with other students around the world for 4 weeks starting September 19th and then connect to discuss via Skype, Twitter, Wiki, Edmodo, blogs etc.  Our website is www.globalreadaloud.blogspot.com

 

Thanks!

 

Pernille Ripp 

Permalink Reply by Dr. Rita Oates on July 27, 2011 at 10:37am

Information about free projects and global learning through ePals
An easy way to find projects AND global partners is through ePals. It’s free to join the Global Community and it’s free to use their projects, jointly created with National Geographic. http://www.epals.com/projects ePals is the largest online K12 community, touching nearly 25 million students and teachers in 200 countries each month. ePals also translates to 58 languages, opening opportunities for your students in places without English-speaking teachers.

Some of the ePals projects are translated to Spanish and have weblinks to Spanish-language sites because the majority of teachers in Latin America do not speak English. So if you speak only English, it’s hard to do a project with a teacher who speaks only Spanish. The most popular project to start with, for teachers who have never done a collaborative project with a foreign teacher, is The Way We Are. Several science projects are extremely popular with ELL teachers in places like Russia and Belarus, as they seem to emphasize science vocabulary in their ELL classes so that their students can apply to universities in the UK or US.
If you create your own project be sure to submit it after you are done to the ePals Teacher Spotlight: http://www.epals.com/projects/info.aspx?divid=spotlight_main Four ePals teachers are in the finals today of the Microsoft Innovative Educator Forum in Redmond. Last year the North America winner was an ePals teacher in Colorado who worked with an ELL teacher in Beirut. Their students were in gr. 1-2 and had amazing experiences. You can read about their project, see a 3-minute video, and see samples of student work on the site under ePals Ambassadors.
In addition, ePals has Project Forums for both students and teachers. Students can post questions and answers there, things they want to know, such as “Are there homeless people in your country?” In fact, without signing up for anything, you and your students can read the Student and Teacher Forums and the Project Forums and the Book Club Forum.
A simple way to globalize your classroom is to view the work of students in other places through the ePals Student Media Galleries. http://bit.ly/StMedia You can see photos, videos, hear audio, see PPT, Word and access other digital files of work created by students in other places.
What do high school girls in Egypt have to say about the peaceful revolution in January? View what students do before school in 17 one-minute movies from Senegal, from a school with no electricity and a dirt floor. I hope that you will contribute some work from YOUR students to this global online community, so that other students can see and hear from your part of the world.

If you would like more information or to attend a webinar about ePals, sign up at http://epals.101.sgizmo.com or contact roates@corp.epals.com. Here’s a link to a presentation that the Asia Society invited me to do twice at their conference on July 8:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/59869726/Authentic-Global-Collaboration-a...

If your school is interested in a robust collaboration workspace -- Facebook on steroids but designed for K12 use, with features teachers ask for -- take a look at LearningSpace. That’s what the International Baccalaureate is using to connect their students across 140 countries, almost 1 million students. See a brief video of how they are using it: http://bit.ly/IBvideo 

I’m sorry that I can’t join you during your workshop today. The State Dept. asked me to meet today with four legislators from South Africa from their Education committee, as they gather ideas of how to transform learning through digital collaboration.

Permalink Reply by Dr. Rita Oates on July 27, 2011 at 10:37am

Highly recommended book from ISTE:
Global Education: Using Technology to Bring the World to Your Students by Laurence Peters, 2009

Eleventh grade students in Bangladesh exchange video interviews with 10th-grade students in Georgia. High schoolers in Illinois learn Japanese, Hebrew, Latin, Spanish, French, and German using online discussions with counterparts from many different countries. Students from around the world research endangered animal species from their areas and publish their findings to a shared website. Connecting globally through advances in Internet technology, including Web 2.0 tools, can now be a reality for any student in any classroom.
As our local communities reflect more of the world's diversity, students need to be prepared to communicate with and relate to individuals from different countries and cultures. Integrating global education into standards-based lessons allows students to connect personally with their peers across geographical boundaries, expand their knowledge and awareness of the world, and increase their interest and curiosity in what they are learning. Global Education is a guide to get you started. It provides an introduction to global networks such as iEarn, Global Schoolhouse, and ePals; an overview of Web 2.0 tools that support global learning, such as wikis, blogs, and podcasts; and hundreds of Web resources. No matter the grade level or subject area, Global Education's numerous examples, case studies, and lesson plans will provide you with ideas and inspiration for bringing your students the world.

Features:

• A sampling of global education projects from around the world
• A glossary and lists of hundreds of global education resources
• Historical perspectives on global education

http://www.iste.org/Store/Product.aspx?ID=305 to order

Permalink Reply by Warren Thomas Rocco on July 27, 2011 at 4:50pm

Lucy, it was great joining you and your host schools in WI today via Skype. Interesting from our perspective at Global Citizenship Experience (GCE) Chicago HS to see your interpretations of inquiry/experiential/project-based learning, city/urban environment as classroom/window to the world, and development of curriculum organized near/around social-emotional concerns. Congratulations! You're clearly creating opportunities for learning that matters!