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September 1, 2002
Professional Development Goes Global
By Barbara Bray
It's a small, small world. And on September 11, 2001, it became smaller. Yet our connection to each other grew. A man who barely survived sent out e-mail to 25 of his good friends about his experience. The next day he received over 1200 replies from people around the world.
The Internet connects people in ways we never thought possible.
"Children in dozens of countries around the world are living the reality of the global village in personal, hands-on, interactive ways," says Al Rogers, chief operations and financial officer, Global Schoolhouse Network . "Through the medium of networking and telecommunications technologies these students are for the first time learning to think of themselves as global citizens, seeing the world, and their place in the World, in ways much different than their parents."
Professional developers can help facilitate international connections by working with teachers on the development of classroom online collaborative projects. First, determine which appropriate resources are available to the teacher, review the student learning goals, and do the research to find suitable projects to tackle.
The Resources
Find out what technology is available and working well and what you can do with it, before you jump in with a class project. For instance, online projects work best with dependable, fast Internet connections and at least one computer in the classroom with browsers no later than Netscape 4 or Internet Explorer 5. Some online projects can use the simplest e-mail programs, which do not need the latest browsers and fastest equipment. Let the student learning goals guide you in choosing the type of project that will meet them.
If this is a teacher's first time using the Internet in the classroom, start by teaching how to: use the Internet for their own purposes; research something they are interested in; easily navigate using the chosen browser; and send and receive e-mail messages with attachments.
The Learning Goals
Teachers are probably aware of their students' needs but may not know how to choose a project that meets them. Professional developers can help teachers focus on student achievement data and curriculum goals to find an appropriate project.
- Review student test scores and student work to determine where new strategies will be needed to increase academic achievement, e.g., low ninth-grade reading scores and poor writing samples.
- Decide on a specific curriculum focus, e.g., Language Arts and Socials Studies: connecting core literature to history.
- Review existing lessons for curriculum focus, e.g., Grapes of Wrath and the causes of the Depression.
- Align content standards to curriculum, e.g., Language Arts 3.4: Determine characters' traits by what the characters say about themselves in narration, dialogue, dramatic monologue, and soliloquy; Social Studies Historical Interpretation 2: Students recognize the complexity of historical causes and effects, including the limitations on determining cause and effect.
The Right Project
Start with a simple task or project that expands on the existing lesson. An e-mail project that involves one exchange with another classroom can be a good beginning without making a major commitment. With more experience, you can build the selection of activities you can use with your students that gradually include more complex themes and exchanges of information. The type of collaborative projects can involve:
- Exchanges where students share personal data, stories, images, analyses, and information about activities or community.
- Collection and sharing of data where students measure statistical data, facts, answer questions, track events and compare results.
- Creation of original work such as essays, stories, letters, paintings, graphs, multimedia, and video.
- Online adventures where students follow expeditions, email the explorers, and contribute data for the adventure.
- Live conferencing that includes Web cams, real-time online meetings, and video conferencing.
Teachers can use existing well-established programs to promote collaborative projects. Several of the following organizations not only provide ongoing projects that classrooms can join, but there are opportunities teachers can take for their own professional development.
World Links connects and trains teachers and students in developing countries to improve education and employment opportunities and links students and teachers around the world in collaborative projects. Many of these projects include online tutorials and tips for developing projects.
iEARN, International Education and Resource Network, enables young people to use the Internet to engage in collaborative projects that both enhance learning and make a difference in the world. All iEARN projects involve a final "product" or exhibition of the learning that has taken place as part of the collaboration. Every project proposed has to answer the question, "How will this project affect the quality of life on the planet?"
ThinkQuest is a nonprofit competition of teams of students, teachers, and coaches that develop Web-based projects. Check out the ThinkQuest Library to see finalists and thousands of entries. A new program provides a perfect opportunity for pre-service professional development: ThinkQuest for Tomorrow's Teachers (T3).
Global Schoolhouse Network, provides collaborative and community building projects. Some include an international learning challenge where students produce an educational Web site telling a story about how their local "community cares." Check out CyberFairs, Online Expeditions where you can follow explorers, and Projects Registry to find even more collaborative projects.
Make the Most of Your Participation
The best way for teachers to learn about collaborative projects is for them to join one. Try these ideas with your teachers when they begin their online journey:
- Start with a simple project.
- Go through the project before you have students use it. This encourages your own problem solving and can help you anticipate questions students may ask.
- Expect for some problems the first few times. Don't give up!
- Be realistic about the amount of time available and how much time the project will take. Less is more!
- Develop a logical plan and classroom management strategy for each activity.
- Combine online and off-line activities to encourage cooperative group and individual desk work.
- Plan assessment strategies before you start the project and align to curriculum goals, content standards, and what students are expected to be able to know and do by the end of the project.
- Be committed to the project even though you may have problems. When you join a collaborative project, other classrooms may be depending on your input. Do the best you can even if you have to compromise some type of solution if you miss any deadlines.
- Create a portfolio of student and teacher data including reflections on what worked and what did not work. Ask students for feedback.
The world is now truly our classroom. With help from professional developers who understand collaborative projects and their use in the curriculum, teachers and students can learn together, share ideas, collaborate on the Internet, and become a true learning community.
Resources for Students: Global Collaborative Projects
The Department of Education Teacher's Guide to International Collaboration on the Internet is a great starting point for professional developers who facilitate online project development. This guide was created for teachers to "reach out" globally.
Fight Against Child Labour an ongoing project of the International Education and Resource Network (iEARN), brings together 11 -19-year old students in research on and discussion of issues relating to children's rights and the burdens carried by millions of children through excessive and harmful labor. Students create Web sites that adopt action agendas to assist in the abolition of the worst forms of child labor. Contact Bob Carter in Australia for information.
Friends and Flags is a collaborative learning project which engages classes in a dynamic many to many exchange. The main theme of this exchange is multicultural awareness that fosters mutual respect, tolerance and communication. Each participating class joins a mailing group with 5 other countries and students from each country assume the role of young ambassadors. Contact moderator Karen Eini for more information.
Peace Corps World Wise Schools Program engages five- to 10-year-old students in inquiry-based virtual discussions about themselves and others in order to broaden perspectives, promote cultural awareness, appreciate global connections, and encourage community service. Classrooms are partnered with a Peace Corps volunteer who e-mails a monthly message to the students. Some projects can go into more depth such as the Water in Africa Project where classrooms have use of photos and stories about water or the lack of it in communities in Africa. Contact them for more information.
Folk Tales and Values is an iEarn project that gathers folk tales from around the world that have a special undertone in encouraging good moral values. Students contribute their stories to be published on the Web site to be used in moral lesson classes.
Who-Am-I?, from Kidlink, is an educational program that encourages students to make friends in other countries. The eight-month, multilingual program assists by guiding them to knowledge about themselves, their place, rights, friends, families, roots, and by bringing them in contact with other students around the world.
Connecting Math to our Lives program asks students to join with others around the world in examining their own lives and communities and broader issues relating to social justice and equality from a mathematical perspective.
Resources for Educators: International Professional Development Opportunities
ECIS, European Council of International Schools, has an information technology listserv where you can read what technology and curriculum teachers have to say about technology use in their classrooms. Newsletter archives tell what subject committees are doing re: INSET.
International School Services, along with ECIS, dominate the professional development agendas where every year, there are subject-specific conferences in Europe. Check out the technology notes section.
Email: Barbara Bray is president of Computer Strategies, LLC and My eCoach. She moderates the CUE techstaffdevelop listerv and writes PDQs for TechLearning.com where you can also submit tips.
Computer Using Educators
Copyright 2002, CUE, Inc. Reprinted with permission.
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