Collaboration Corner

Most of the time when I think of classes collaborating, it involves talking or working on the same project at the exact same time. The many technology tools that we now have available make it even more possible for classes to collaborate even when on opposite sides of the world.
I stumbled across the Collaboration Corner Blog one day. This blog is an example of two classes in opposite hemispheres (one in America and the other in Australia) collaborating.
From a page on this blog:

Since early 2009, Mrs Yollis' third grade class and Miss McGeady's grade two class have been blogging buddies.

We created this blog at the start of 2010 to collaborate and learn together.
***

We are finding that through technology, the barriers of distance, time zones and cultures can be broken down and collaboration is a very powerful tool!

***

Have a look at some of the great things we are doing and leave us a comment!

On that blog, you can find clocks that show the current time for each school. (I think that would be a great way to introduce time zones.) There are a couple of projects both classes are completing throughout the year.

Project #1: What's for lunch? This project involves each class posting pictures of descriptions of the contents of a student's lunchbox a couple times a week. There are questions on the blog for students to discuss after seeing and reading about the lunches.
Project #2: Our School This project both schools posting about about various places around their school each week. The students in each class are hoping to learn more about their blogging buddies.
***Notice the variety of web 2.0 tools used for posting videos and pictures in the blog

Asynchronous Global Connections

The classroom of today does not have walls. Through the use of Skype, teachers can connect with other classrooms around the world! Which do you think would be more memorable for your students, learning about how children live in a far away country from a book or seeing and talking to these children through Skype. The opportunities through these global connections are exciting and endless. You could have your students talk to the author of the book they are reading in class. You can take your students on a field trip without ever leaving the classroom. You could have your students learn foreign language from students their age in other countries. You could include a classroom student with a long term illness in your lessons so that he or she still feels like they are part of the group. You could let a parent see their child give a speech or present their project to the class. You would score some major points for that one! The possibilities could go on and on.

The steps to take are one, create a Skype account, two, find the connections and three, setup a time that works for both parties to connect. This is what my blog is about. These connections can be anywhere in the world. This is a great thing. However, there are 24 time zones around our magnificent planet. The time to meet may be your biggest challenge. If they are asleep when you and your students are in school, this puts a damper on this whole exciting adventure. No worries, you can meet asynchronously. You can record your students either through video or audio and place it out on the web. Your connection from that far away land can watch it or listen to it and record their response and send it to you. This is called an asynchronous connection.

The recording or podcast if it is audio, can be done with Audacity, a free audio editing program. If you are recording a video, or in other words, creating a vodcast, this can be done through Movie maker. This is an exciting way for your class to learn. Make it happen!

Make Connections - Make a Difference

Multiple education sectors stress the importance of global connections and refer to classrooms without walls, but how do we begin the process of expanding our classrooms?

Will Richardson's recent blog post titled "Working Together to Make a Difference" shares the work of 11 year old Laura Stockman. Laura uses her blog to promote community service and global connections to honor the memory of her grandfather who passed away in 2005 after a battling brain cancer. Visit her "25 Days to Make a Difference" site to learn more. Check out Laura's Ning titled "Working together 2 make a difference" for more suggestions.

These sites offer a variety of ideas, large and small, for helping people in your neighborhood or across the globe. Learn how other educators have taken advantage of opportunities to bring the world to their classroom. Then take the leap and look beyond the textbooks to see how you can make learning relevant and make a difference. Start checking out options now then make plans to take Laura's challenge and share your 25 days of making a difference next December.

Near or far - Make new connecitons - Make a difference

Undeniably Global

For at least a year, we've talked about 21st Century skills and the imperative to go global. We've asked school level Technology Facilitators and district Instructional Technology staff to read the ISTE publication Digital Citizenship in Schools by Mike Ribble and Gerald Bailey to focus attention on the need to teach the appropriate use of technology. We've expanded staff development offerings to share tools that promote collaboration inside the classroom and across the globe. We've asked educators to rethink the possibilities.

Some folks "got it". A few folks were willing to take the leap and make time and financial commitments to implement change and explore new ways to reach our digital natives. Some folks just weren't ready to go there or didn't feel the need to stretch their community to include global connections.

Last week I read a blog article posted at Public School Insights by Claus von Zastrow titled "Lessons of the Fall". He feels the current economic crisis is a "teachable moment" about our interdependence. I see the extensive coverage of our struggling global markets as undeniable evidence that we are part of a global society.

It is all too easy to get caught up in the problems in our individual schools or our district and forget to look past the county line, state line or national borders. That may have worked for past generations but we don't live in the same world we grew up in. We don't have the luxury of ignoring the millions of people outside our communities because what happens to them affects us and our communities.

Let's take a fresh look at the bigger picture. Let's acknowledge that we are members of a global society. Let's help our students take advantage of the expansive wealth of knowledge and resources available to this generation. Let's make sure our students are prepared to safely interact with people beyond our walls and borders. Let's develop an awareness of our interdependence and the need to consider broader consequences of our actions. Let's learn to look beyond our selves because ...

We Are Undeniably Global.